As Marika's power grows, she begins to change her world, embracing new technologies and ever darker magics, gathering the packsteads together under her command. But the world grows ever colder. Will Marika save her dying sphere, or will she be the one to destroy it utterly?

"After more than 17 years, Cook returns with a murky and ephemeral addition to his Chronicles of the Black Company series. Chronicler Croaker and the rest of the mercenary band are in service to a mysterious and powerful sorceress known as the Lady, but as they get comfortably dug in at their new posting, they begin to realize that things are a little too quiet. They?re sent to capture a supposed rebel leader who turns out to be an innocent-seeming...

Piper Hecht learns that the legendary sorcerer Cloven Februaren, referred to as the Ninth Unknown, is still alive, more than 100 years old, and on Piper's side. As the dynastic politics of the Empire become even more convoluted, it's clear that while the old gods may be fading, they're determined to do everything they can to bend the doings of men to their own advantage.

Private investigator Garrett, hero of the Cantard Wars, reluctantly agrees to return to the perilous Cantard mining country in search of a missing heiress. His companions include a renegade half-elf, a trio of frog-like "grolls, " and two sharp-tongued women with their own interest in the quest's success or failure.--From Library Journal.