A Fortress In Shadow

A Chronicle of the Dread Empire
By Glen Cook

The Fire in his hands…

Once a mighty kingdom reigned, but now all is chaos. In the vast reaches of the desert, a young heretic escapes certain death and embarks on a mission of madness and glory. He is El Murid— the Disciple—who vows to bring order, prosperity and righteousness to the desert people of Hammad al Nakir. El Murid incites rebellion against the godless kingdoms and tribes as he plots to execute the justice of the desert. After four long centuries, El Murid is the savior who is destined to build a new empire from the blood of his enemies. Or so it seems.

With Mercy Toward None El Murid has victory in his grasp, the desert tribes of Hammad al Nakir are rallying around him, and the last remaining thread of the royal lineage wanders the desert with only heathens to help him. But all is not as it seems, and the sinister forces pulling the strings of empire come into the light. Who and what lies behind El Murid’s vision of a desert empire?

“Cook’s talent for combining gritty realism and high fantasy provides a singular edge.”
– Library Journal

“Cook provides a rich world of assorted races, cultures and religions; his characters combine the mythic or exotic with the realistic, engaging in absorbing alliances, enmities, and double-crosses.”
– Publishers Weekly

“Over the past 25 years, Cook has carved out a place for himself among the preeminent fantasy writers of his generation.... His work is unrelentingly real, complex, and honest. The sense of place that permeates his narrative and characters gives his ‘fantasies’ more gravitas and grit than most fictions set in the here-and-now.”
– Jeff VanderMeer, author of Shriek: An Afterword and City of Saints and Madmen