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David B. Coe, winner of the William L. Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Series for the LonTobyn Chronicle, continues his rise to the top rank of fantasy writers with Rules of Ascension, the first novel of an exciting new epic fantasy quartet, Winds of the Forelands.

For centuries the Forelands were disputed by several tribes. Then came the magically gifted Qirsi--physically no match for their foes, but capable of mindsight, creating and controlling mists and fire, and bending solid matter to their purpose. After a Qirsi traitor betrayed his race to save himself, the Qirsi were defeated and dispersed among the seven realms of the Forelands. Those specially endowed Qirsi capable of multiple powers, the Weavers, were all put to death.

For centuries the Forelands enjoyed relative peace. But when Tavis, the heir to the Kingdom of Curgh, is wrongfully blamed for the murder of a noble, the accusation sets in motion a series of events culminating in civil war. The ensuing chaos topples the throne in Eibithar and threatens to rain chaos on all the realms of the Forelands. Tavis, thrust into the center of deadly controversy and stripped of the protection of his family's nobility, turns to the Qirsi, his last remaining hope for redemption. But another Qirsi traitor, secretly fomenting fear and mistrust among the Dukedoms, seeks to destroy Tavis. Tavis must survive long enough to clear his name and save an entire kingdom. A powerful, compelling tale set in an unforgettable land, rules of Ascension will capture your heart and fire your imagination.

The Forelands have enjoyed relative peace in the nine hundred years since the Qirsi Wars, until the stability of the seven kingdoms is shaken by the brutal murder of Lady Brienne of Kentigern, newly betrothed to Lord Tavis of Curgh. Tavis, who is blamed for the crime, has escaped the dungeons of Kentigern and searches the Forelands for his love's killer. But already the Qirsi conspirators who murdered Brienne have taken their campaign of violence and deception to Aneira, Eibithar's hated neighbor, plunging that kingdom into turmoil. Now Tavis's search for redemption takes him into the stronghold of his realm's most bitter enemy.

For the first time in nine centuries, war threatens to engulf all the Forelands. And there are whispers of a new Qirsi threat. A Weaver, they say, is behind the deaths, the betrayals. Nobles who have depended on Qirsi ministers suddenly fear those they have trusted.

If the renegade Qirsi are indeed led by a Weaver, can this powerful sorcerer be found before he conquers the Forelands? And who wields magic potent enough to stop him?

For nine hundred years the Forelands knew peace, but unrest among the magical Qirsi people has blossomed into a conspiracy against the Eandi rulers. What started with an occasional "accidental" death of a lord has exploded into violence, rending the fabric of Forelands society. Led by a mysterious Qirsi "Weaver" with powers that can reach into the minds of others even in their sleep, the rebellion is now turning Qirsi against Qirsi, as it weakens alliances among the Eandi.

Some Qirsi ministers are torn between plotting to overthrow the Eandi and staying loyal to their lords; others have been ready for a rebellion for a long time and are active in the burgeoning and increasingly violent rebellion. Even some Qirsi who oppose the rebellion are forced to take sides against their lords, while an Eandi lord in league with the conspiracy prepares for war against rival houses.

Yet as the world tilts toward terrible upheaval, some stand firm against the chaos. Grinsa, a Qirsi gleaner, is trying to head off the war he knows would spell disaster for his own people as well as the Eandi. Traveling with Lord Tavis of Curgh as the young noble seeks revenge on the assassin who killed his betrothed and thus set the chaos in motion, Grinsa may be the only person who can stop the Weaver from shattering the long peace. But even Grinsa can't do it alone. His sister, Keziah, archminister to King Kearney, himself a staunch advocate of peace, works to prevent war, too. They may be too late, though, as realms plunge toward war, goaded by traitors within their gates.

The Forelands are at war. The magic-wielding Qirsi and their Eandi masters have mobilized their forces. The Eandi have had to look beyond past differences to make alliances for the sake of the future, praying it isn't too late for them to change the outcome of the war. Tavis, an Eandi prince who was framed for murdering the princess to whom he was pledged, and endured torture before winning his freedom, has at last avenged her death. Still, the murder and its aftermath have brought war to the Forelands just as the Qirsi conspirators who bought his love's blood had intended. Now Tavis and Grinsa, a Qirsi shaper with more powers than he reveals, who saved Tavis when nobody else would believe his innocence, venture across the Forelands, risking death to help save the land they love...

A powerful Qirsi weaver has brought this terrible war to the land, bending the minds of those he controls and of his enemies in an effort to forge alliances and mobilize forces to destroy the Eandi. His powerful magical ability estranges lovers, betrays leaders, and wreaks murder and death throughout the land. But even with his powerfully malign intelligence, he underestimates the mettle of his opponents. In a psychological duel with Grinsa, the Weaver's formidable powers are sorely tested. Grinsa withstands the Weaver's most powerful attacks at nearly the expense of his own life, and in the process discovers the Weaver's identity.

Will Grinsa's challenge to the Weaver spell the end of the Weaver's reign of doom? Or has Grinsa's discovery come too late to help the Eandi cause? The answers lie in the growing war that may sunder the Forelands forever.

In the four previous books of his epic fantasy series Winds of the Forelands, David Coe has woven a complex tapestry of magic and politics, courage and betrayal, love and hate. Now, he brings the many strands of this enthralling series together in a climactic novel that will thrill readers of epic magical fantasy.

For years the magical Qirsi people who live among the Eandi courts of the Forelands have conspired, weakening alliances among the realms. The renegades are led by a mysterious Weaver named Dusaan with powers that allow him to appear in the dreams of his followers and to bind the magic of many Qirsi into a single weapon more potent than any the Eandi have faced in a thousand years.

Now, his planning begins to bear fruit. He reveals himself to friend and foe alike, knowing that none can stand against him. Dusaan takes control of the Empire and begins his march toward war, enlisting those who serve him in other realms to join the battle, as the ranks of his army swell.

King Kearney's armies are forced to battle Eandi invaders from Braedon. However, this battle is a diversion contrived by Dusaan to weaken the Eandi armies. Grinsa, another Weaver, fights for the king. Knowing that the renegades are the true enemy, he struggles to make his people recognize this before it's too late. At last, the two Weavers do battle, Dusaan leading his army of Qirsi sorcerers, Grinsa standing with an alliance of Eandi nobles and warriors.

Whichever side wins will bear a heavy cost for victory.