“If we meet strong aliens out there, will we suffer the fate of the Aztecs and Incas, or find the agility to survive? Gannon fizzes with ideas about the dangerous politics of first contact.”-David Brin Imaginative, fun, and not afraid to step on the occasional toe or gore the occasional sacred cow, his stories do not disappoint.”-David Weber “Chuck Gannon is one of those marvelous finds-someone as comfortable with characters as he is with technology, and equally adept at providing those characters with problems to solve. The temples and council chambers of his own homeland. But, whereas legends tell of heroes who encounter their greatest perils during just such forays into the unknown, Druadaen’s most lethal enemies might lurk in even more unusual places: How do humanoid raiders, known as the Bent, suffer staggering losses and yet return as a vast horde every decade? How do multi-ton dragons fly? How have fossils formed in a world which sacrists insist has existed for only ten millennia?ĭetermined to solve these mysteries, Druadaen journeys into the dank warrens of the Bent, seeks out a dragon’s lair, and ventures into long-buried ruins in search of ancient scrolls. However, fate had something different in store.Īssigned instead to a small group of outriders tasked with watching nearby kingdoms, Druadaen discovers that the world beyond his homeland is riddled with impossibilities. Since boyhood, Druadaen expected he’d ascend to the command of an elite legion and become the leader his father predicted he would be. A young man must face dangers from without and within-and question everything he believes to be true. NEW EPIC FANTASY FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHARLES E.

Charles gannon fire with fire