Wrath of Kings

Dread Empire #6-8

by Glen Cook

An omnibus edition of the final three Dread Empire novels (Reap the East Wind, An Ill Fate Marshalling, and A Path to Coldness of Heart) from a pioneer of gritty and realistic epic fantasy, Glen Cook.

The Dread Empire spans a continent: from the highest peaks of the Dragon’s Teeth to the endless desert lands of Hammad al Nakir; from besieged Kavelin to mighty Shinsan . . .

The time of the wrath of kings is close at hand. Bragi Ragnarson, now the king of Kavelin, has decided to join forces with Chatelain Mist, the exiled princess of Shinshan looking to usurp her throne. But in the deserts on the outskirts of the empire, a young victim of the Great Eastern Wars becomes the Deliverer of an eons-forgotten god, chosen to lead the legions of the dead.

Wrath of Kings collects the final Dread Empire trilogy into a single volume. This epic narrative had been put on hold when the original manuscript to the final volume was stolen. Glen returned to the Dread Empire twenty years later, completely rewriting the concluding novel, A Path to Coldness of Heart.

From the author of The Black Company comes an elaborate tale of nation-shattering conflict, maddening magic, strange creatures, and raw, flawed heroes, all shown through the filter of the author’s inimitable war-correspondent prose.

Genres: Fantasy

712 pages, Hardcover

First published July 3, 2018

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[Robert Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

---A 3 novel compilation of the Dread Empire. They are: Reap the East Wind, An Ill Fate Marshalling, A Path to Coldness of Heart. Almost gave up after reading the first one because of the violence, death & destruction. However the characters were very interesting and well portrayed and kept me reading. The violence continued, but was cushioned by other events and mysteries. By the time I finished the trilogy I wasn't sure whom to favor because most of the main characters had many good aspects to balance their faults. Bragi Ragnarson king of Kavelin, Chatelain Mist exiled princess of Shinsan (the Dread Empire), plus numerous other kings, queens, generals, medicos, spies, sorcerers and families are all portrayed well and kept me reading.---

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I read the Chronicles I've read MoTF and The Black Company, so I was prepared for a long build up and an epic ending to this series. I Have to admit that the build up was superb and I loved all of it, the final 'battle' left me disappointed. Having the whole book be a build up to a confrontation that lasts no more than 5~6 pages is underwhelming. It lowers the rating to a 4-star for me.