More by Andrew Rowe
It’s been almost a year since the Trials of Unyielding Steel.
When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.
Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend — Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows — and meets with Jonan to make a deal.
Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment — one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He’ll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.
The immortal sorcerers – three legendary figures that toppled the empire of Xixis. Each has lived for over a hundred years, leaving a powerful legacy in their wake. But their children do not share their renowned immortality – and when the firstborn son of Edrick Theas is killed, the sorceress Lydia Hastings is called to investigate the murder. When she discovers a sorcerous trail left by a creature of unfathomable power, she quickly realizes she needs outside help. And while Jonan Kestrian – a spy for a rival military power – might not be Lydia’s first choice for an ally, she knows that he has the knowledge and skills that she needs. While Lydia and Jonan trace the assassin’s trail, Taelien undergoes the Trials of Unyielding Steel, a series of tests to ensure his entry into the Paladins of Tae’os. As he trains for his trials, Taelien faces his fiercest rival yet – Velas Jaldin, a former member of Orlyn’s Queensguard with the power to manipulate motion at her whim. With skills far beyond those of an ordinary soldier, the former Queensguard might be the killer that Lydia seeks – or the assassin’s next victim.
Corin Cadence is on the run.
After meeting with the Emerald Council, Corin has made himself some new enemies — most notably the Dalenos Six, a group of the most powerful representatives of the nation of Dalenos.
He’s also made dangerous deal.
A place of safety, if he can reach it. One where he can finally have one of the resources he needs time.
But while that strange place may hold the key for Corin to make his final preparations for a long-awaited rescue mission, it also holds hidden dangers. And one final secret tied to the Cadence household. One that could shake the very foundations of everything Corin has been raised to believe.
Corin Cadence has been summoned to meet with the Emerald Council, a political summit including the most powerful of all attuned and their closest political allies. His summons came with a dire warning — that war was coming to the nation of Valia. But while Valia is no stranger to warfare, the circumstances of this invasion are dire.
Valia’s visage, Tenjin, remains missing. Many of the nation’s leaders were slain during Mizuchi’s attack, and others killed or injured through Saffron’s machinations. With a critical power vacuum in Valia’s leadership, few can be trusted.
Surrounded by old enemies, tenuous allies, and strangers with their own agendas, Corin will need to leverage every skill he’s learned to help salvage his nation’s fate.
The Tournament of the Sacred Sword sounded like exactly the type of thing Keras would enjoy: a series of challenges for thousands of contestants seeking a chance to fight for the Sacred Sword of Earth. He knew there would be challenges. It wouldn’t be a high-stakes tournament without a few high-profile assassinations and mysterious murders, after all. But Keras wasn’t ready to run into someone from his homeland, and he certainly wasn’t prepared for the revelations that came from their confrontation.
Still reeling from the strange revelations of their meeting, Keras plunges back into the fight, preparing for the battle royale — a massive free-for-all contest outside of the scope of the standard tournament rounds. When the consequences of that match tear at the bonds between his allies, he’ll have to face new challenges alone.
Satoshi Muramasa, the strange swordsman from the distant kingdom of Artinia.
Crown Princess Edria Song, the Wielder of Diamantine.
Ishyeal Dawnsglow, the Wielder of Soulbrand.
When their blades clash, the heart of the world will tremble.
After bonding with Dawnbringer, the Sacred Sword of Light, Keras Selyrian travels to the nation of Edria to compete in the Tournament of the Sacred Sword. The winner of the tournament will be given a chance to fight for the Sacred Sword of Stone if they can defeat the current wielder, the impossibly powerful Emperor of Edria, in single combat. Winning the tournament will be no simple endeavor. To succeed, Keras will have to face representatives from every nation, other foreign travelers of great skill, his own allies, other sacred sword wielders…and even a familiar face from his past. But the tournament itself won’t be the only challenge. When tournament contestants are found dead, Keras discovers the telltale signs of a familiar type of enemy — one that even his own formidable powers might fail to match. Author's This book is designed to set the foundation for plot and character arcs and for several books to come, and this means that by necessity, there will be a number of elements introduced in this book that aren’t resolved by the end. This is intentional, but it may not work for all readers. If you prefer stories that feel self-contained, you may be best waiting for at least one more book to come out to read them back to back.
Upon returning to Valia after his journey to Caelford and the Unclaimed Lands, Corin Cadence is confronted with a familiar foe — his own father. While his strength has vastly increased since his last encounter with Magnus Cadence, Corin knows that he’ll need every trick at his disposal — and maybe a few new ones — if he wants to survive a duel with his father intact.
While Corin struggles with his family, his friends must face a second year at Lorian Heights with new classes, familiar but new chancellor, and deadly new enemies both on and off the campus. But school itself is the least of their worries. As the year progresses, the nation of Valia faces new travails at the emergence of a mysterious faction targeting attuned commoners and foreigners. Casualties mount as Corin’s allies seek to unmask the leadership of this deadly order — and discover a threat that they cannot hope to face and emerge unscathed.
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The Silence of Unworthy Gods is the fourth book in the Arcane Ascension series, a progression fantasy epic that mixes dungeon crawling and magical school content. This book also references events from the Weapons & Wielders series up to Book 3, a connected series that takes place several years earlier with some overlapping cast members.
After concluding their first year at Lorian Heights, Corin and his friends catch a train from their native Valia to the distant country of Caelford. For most, this would be a simple vacation. Corin has other plans.
-Meet Anabelle Farren, the eccentric owner of Farren Labs, and learn about artificial attunements.
-Seek out Warren Constantine, a previous Arbiter, for training and a potential alliance.
-Find the visage Ferras herself to seek a cure for Sera’s condition.
Of course, Corin is Corin, and there’s absolutely no chance he’s going to be able to stick to a list.
…And even if Corin miraculously developed a sense of focus, he isn’t the only one with plans.
The Blackstone Bandit.
Everyone’s favorite mysterious book entity.
The aforementioned Farren.
A vacationing professor.
The mirror of a figure from Keras’ past.
When their plots intersect, Corin and his friends are, predictably, stuck at the center.
It’s going to be a long vacation.
Some say that in the city of Orlyn, godhood is on sale to the highest bidder. Thousands flock to the city each year, hoping for a chance at immortality.
Lydia Hastings is a knowledge sorcerer, capable of extracting information from anything she touches. When she travels to Orlyn to validate the claims of the local faith, she discovers a conspiracy that could lead to a war between the world's three greatest powers. At the focal point is a prisoner who bears a striking resemblance to the long-missing leader of the pantheon she worships.
Rescuing the prisoner would require risking her carefully cultivated cover - but his execution could mean the end of everything Lydia holds dear.
It doesn’t take a legendary sword to make a legendary swordsman, but it certainly helps.
Keras Selyrian is already well on the way to cutting his name into the annals of legend. He’s fought false divinities, thieving sorcerers, and corrupt demigods — and left them defeated in his wake. But he’s a long way from home, and Kaldwyn offers a different brand of danger than he’s used to.
He’s already got a sword of unfathomable power, but it’s damaged and leaking world-annihilating mana, so he’s in the market for a new one.
Possibly six. The more the better, really.
The Six Sacred Swords are Kaldwyn’s most famous artifacts, forged as the only means to defeat the god beasts. Each sword must be earned by a worthy champion, and no single person has ever managed to collect them all.
Not yet, at least.
Keras is just getting started.
Additional Info:
Six Sacred Swords is a light-hearted fantasy adventure inspired by Japanese game series like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Fire Emblem. It takes place in the same universe as the Arcane Ascension novels, but years earlier and with a different protagonist. While the books are interconnected, they can be read on their own in any order.
Corin Cadence finally has a firm reason to believe his brother, Tristan, is still alive.
Unfortunately, finding more information isn’t going to be easy. Tristan appears to be entangled with a clandestine organization that calls themselves Whispers. And Corin’s last brush with the Whispers didn’t exactly end well.
As much as he wants to follow that lead, Corin has more pressing problems to deal with.
Sera is still suffering from a mysterious malady that has stolen her voice and her magic. Corin knows that a portion of that is his fault, and he’s determined to fix it.
His mother is still off in another country, and there are growing odds that she’s involved with a conspiracy to overthrow the visages.
Corin has also been branded with a new magical mark on his right hand — one that even veteran climbers don’t seem to recognize. He’s going to need to figure out how it works, otherwise it could be more of a vulnerability than an asset.
Corin still hasn’t finished his first year at Lorian Heights. If he fails his final exams, he’ll be sent off to the military, and lose his chance to investigate his brother’s fate.
And finally, there’s the issue of enemies.
He might have made a few of them.
The biggest problem?
He’s not sure if Jin, once one of his closest companions, is one of them.
For thousands of years, there has been a cycle: a Demon King rises and conquers, and a Hero is reborn a hundred years later to defeat him. Each time, civilizations are ground to dust beneath the Demon King's hordes, but humanity has remained secure in the belief that a Hero of legend will always save them. There's just one slight problem. It's only been 23 years since the Demon King's latest rise, and this time, he's already conquered more than half the world. If humanity simply waits for the Hero's return, there may be no world left for him to save.
And so, Yui Shaw sets out with an ambitious plan. A 10-step plan.
She'll find a way to obtain the Hero's legendary sword. She'll earn obscure classes, gain levels, and increase her skills. She'll travel to the meticulously-crafted dungeons that seem designed for one specific Hero to complete. And, if she's truly (un)fortunate, she might even find a fairy.
She might not be a Hero—but if she can fake it long enough, she might still be able to save the world.
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This book is an affectionate parody of classic Japanese games like The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, and Dragon Quest. It's also a work in the LitRPG/GameLit subgenres. Game mechanics exist in the world of the story and characters are aware of their existence.