author : Jim Butcher

But he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir. And death will follow in its wake…

The guns of the great airship fleets that control the skies between the last bastions of humanity will soon speak in anger, and Spire Albion stands alone against the overwhelming might of Spire Aurora’s Armada and its new secret weapon – one capable of destroying entire populations.

A trading summit at Olympia provides an opportunity for Albion to secure an alliance, and privateer Captain Francis Madison Grimm and the crew of the AMS Predator are dispatched to bolster Albion’s diplomatic agents. It will take daring, skill and no small amount of showmanship to convince the world to stand with Spire Albion – assuming that it is not already too late.

Deep in the Calderon Valley, young Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light his lamps. And as the Alerans’ most savage enemy – the Marat – returns to the Valley, this weakness will seem more important than ever.

Amara is a spy, seeking intelligence on possible Marat traitors to the Crown. And when the Valley erupts into chaos – when rebels war with loyalists and furies clash with furies – Amara will find Tavi invaluable. His talents will outweigh any fury-born power – and could even turn the tides of war.

Tavi is struggling with a dangerous deception. He’s trying to maintain the illusion of being a student whilst secretly training to be one of the First Lord’s spies – a precarious game. And as he hasn’t yet learned to manipulate the elements, he is particularly vulnerable.

In the country at large, a palpable sense of menace has exploded into violence on two fronts. An attack on the First Lord’s life could lead to a bloody civil war. And in the Calderon Valley, the Marat threat is overshadowed by an infinitely greater problem. So now is the time for Tavi to harness his powers, as Alera’s future is bleak indeed.

First Lord Gaius Sextus is facing a rebellion that could destroy Alera’s delicate power-balance – instigated by the ruthless High Lord of Kalare. The traitor Kalare has also seized key hostages, so Cursor Amara has been tasked with their difficult rescue.

But treachery is rife, as young Tavi will also find. Posted away from the fighting, Tavi joins the fray under an assumed name. Then Kalare does the unthinkable – uniting with the Canim, savage enemies of the realm. When treason decimates the army’s command structure, Tavi finds himself leading an inexperienced legion against the might of the Canim horde – the very last resort of a war-torn realm.

Tav1 has been fighting a bitter war for two years, as captain of h1s own Legion. And he’s now discovered the invading Canim warriors are harbingers of a much greater threat. Their enemies are fleeing a savage race that forced them from their homeland, following them even to Alera’s borders. So Tavi proposes a radical solution – alliance with the Canim. But the Senate’s new military commander is determined to eradicate the Canim threat, and all who collaborate with them, including Aleran slaves who have joined them to find freedom.

Tavi must reconcile Aleran and Canim, slavemaster and slave, Citizen and Proletarian, if an alliance is to be forged. And he must lead his Legion in defiance of the law – before the greatest army of all launches its assault.

After bitter fighting, Tavi of Calderon has eventually forged an alliance with Alera’s oldest foes, the savage Canim, and he must escort them on their long sea-voyage home. This will strain their fragile accord – but the worst is yet to come.

The inhuman Vord have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland, making it a desolate place indeed. Then the Alerans become stranded there, cut off from their ships. The Canim alliance will be tested as they enter the killing fields together, depending on each other’s strengths if they both are to survive.

For a thousand years, Alera and her furies have withstood every enemy, and survived every foe. The thousand years are over.

The aging First Lord of Alera has fallen in battle. Yet his people must continue to resist an invading inhuman army. Desperate Alerans even pledge fealty to the Vord Queen to survive, turning the incredible power of Aleran furies back on their own people. And despite all efforts, the Alerans are being ground into dust and pushed to the farthest reaches of their own realm.

However, Tavi has returned with vital insights from the Canim Blood Lands. He knows how to counter the Vord and, more importantly, believes human ingenuity can equal fury-born powers. Now events are rushing towards a last stand, where Tavi and the last Aleran legions must formulate a dangerous new strategy, together. For a civilisation is on the brink of extinction.

Harry is the best at what he does – and not just because he’s the only one who does it. So whenever the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they look to him for answers. But business isn’t just slow, it stinks.

So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get … interesting.

Magic – it can get a guy killed.

But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse. Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon. Take three guesses. And the first two don’t count.

But in all Harry’s years of supernatural sleuthing, he’s never faced anything like this: the spirit world’s gone loco. All over town, ghosts are causing trouble – and not the door-slamming, boo-shouting variety. These ghosts are tormented, violent and deadly. Someone – or something – is stirring them up to wreak unearthly havoc. But why? And why do so many of the victims have ties to Harry? If Harry doesn’t figure It out soon, he might just wind up a ghost himself.

It seems simple, but Faerie politics seldom work out that way. Then Harry discovers the fate of the entire world rests on this case. So no pressure…

Not to mention the return of Harry’s ex-girlfriend Susan, still struggling with her semi-vampiric nature. And who seems to have a new man. Some days, it just doesn’t pay to get out of bed. No matter how much you’re charging.

And Harry only got involved as a favour to Thomas, his flirtatious, self-absorbed vampire acquaintance of dubious integrity. Thomas has a personal stake in the case Harry can’t work out, until his investigation leads him straight to Thomas’s oversexed relatives. Harry’s about to discover the skeleton in Thomas’s family closet: a revelation that will change Harry’s life for ever.

Luckily, however, he’s not entirely alone. Although most people don’t believe in magic, the Chicago P.D. has a Special Investigations department, headed by his good friend Karrin Murphy. They deal with the … stranger cases.

It’s down to Karrin that Harry sneaks into Graceland Cemetery to meet a vampire named Mavra. Mavra has evidence that would destroy Karrin’s career, and her demands are simple. She just wants the Word of Kemmler – and all the power that comes with it. But first, Harry’s keen to know what he’d be handing over. Before long he’s racing against time, and six necromancers, to get the Word. And to prevent a Haltoween that would truly wake the dead.

Magic – it can get a guy killed.

Harry’s other problem is an old friend’s daughter – all grown-up and in trouble already. Her boyfriend insists he’s innocent of something that resembles a crime out of a horror film. This first impression turns out to be … well, pretty accurate, as Harry discovers malevolent entities feeding on fear. All in a day’s work for a wizard, his dog and a talking skull named Bob.

Unfortunately Harry’s digging around attracts some powerful vampire with a stake in the result. Soon, whichever way he turns, he will find himself outnumbered, outclassed and dangerously susceptible to temptation. And if he screws up, his friends will die.

An old bargain has placed Harry in debt to Mab, faerie monarch of the Winter Court and the Queen of Air and Darkness. Harry still owes her two favours, and it’s time to pay up. It’s a small favour he really can’t refuse, but it will trap Harry between a nightmarish foe and a deadly ally, stretching his skills and loyalties to their limits. It figures. Everything was going too well to last.

A single mistake may mean that heads – quite literally – could roll. And one of them might be his.

As allies are perilously thin on the ground, Harry must find a new source of strength. In the past, there had always been a line he wouldn’t cross, and he’s never given in to the full fury of his own untapped dark powers. But then, only his own life was at stake.

It would just be easier if he could interact with the physical world, had a (working) crystal ball, and had access to his magic. And he’s far from the only silent presence roaming Chicago’s darkest alleys. Hell, he put some of them there himself. And now, they’re looking for payback.

Harry has only twenty-four hours to gather the allies he has left and prevent a cataclysm – all while the power he bargained to get, but never meant to keep, lays siege to his very soul.

Problem is, the vault belongs to Hades, Lord of the Underworld. And Dresden is dead certain that Nicodemus has no intention of allowing any of his crew to survive the experience. Dresden’s always been tricky, but he’s going to have to up his backstabbing game to survive this particular heist…

Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous than the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army.

Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry’s life, Chicago and the mortal world forever.