A Tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen
Weakened by events in Darujhistan, the Malazan Empire now teeters on the brink of anarchy. In the vast dominions of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha'ik gathers a vast army around her in preparation for the long-prophesied uprising named the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in its size and savagery, it will draw the entire subcontinent into one of the bloodiest conflicts the Empire has ever known. A maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust, it will shape destinies and give birth to legends . . .
In the Otataral mines, Felisin, youngest daughter of the disgraced House of Paran, dreams of revenge against the sister who sentenced her to this life of slavery. Escape leads her to the mainland, and Raraku, where her soul will be reborn and her future made clear. The now-outlawed Bridgeburners, Fiddler and the assassin Kalam, are determined to fulfil their vow to return the once god-possessed Apsalar to her homeland and to confront and kill the Empress Laseen, but tumultuous events will overtake them too.
Meanwhile Coltaine, the charismatic but untried new commander of the Malaz 7th Army, will lead his battered, war-weary troops in a last valiant running battle to save the lives of thirty thousand refugees and, in so doing, secure an illustrious place in the Empire's chequered history. And into this blighted land where prophecy, sorcery and armies will collide and ascendant powers converge come two ancient wanderers, Mappo the Trell and his half-Jaghut companion, Icarium, bearers of a devastating secret that is about to break free of its chains.
