Showing results by author "Michael G. Manning" in All Categories

The ancient magic of wizards was anything but dark. It was the enlightenment that lifted humanity from the squalor of superstition, and the worship of fell spirits and capricious gods, but those days are gone. The shining glory of the sorcerers burned away the subtlety of wisdom, replacing it with easy power, held only in the hands of the elite - a new age built upon the elemental supremacy of aristocrats and the ignorance of the masses.

Kelvin Wiltshire lives the life of a simple cook in a remote village on the far side of Trendham. The townsfolk think little of the man and his son and believe him to be just another refugee from the Terabinian war. On cold winter nights, they share rumors of the bloody conflict and the mysterious death of Will Cartwright, the mighty mage who had the power to command storms. They like the new cook. They fear the fallen king. But the two men are one and the same.

War looms on the horizon, but Selene’s training as a wizard must begin...even though her age makes success nearly unattainable. Will searches for a solution, but their only hope may be a dangerous bargain with the king. The fate of two nations lies on his shoulders, and the future is paved with violence. With few options, he needs the aid of uncertain allies and dubious friends. Traitors lurk among them, and soon he will be forced to choose who to trust - and who to sacrifice. For a terrible power has arrived in Darrow, and the price of victory will be paid in blood.

Selene’s absence has raised suspicion among her friends and Will’s father-in-law, the king, is now directing his ire at the obvious culprit: his daughter’s new husband. Meanwhile, the citizens of Cerria have begun disappearing and a shadowy figure is stalking Will’s sister, Laina.

Will’s journey from naïve apprentice to a mature wizard is almost complete, and his ever-growing mastery has reached unseen heights. But his power does not exist in a vacuum. His rising star threatens to eclipse the existing powers and a new balance must be found, one that either accepts his primacy or extinguishes his light. After Will’s resounding successes in the war with Darrow, the king plots to eliminate his young rival. Driven to desperation, Will is forced to negotiate for scraps between four brokers of power.

Mordecai’s growing power and success have made him a threat, not just to the gods and their minions, but also to the king of Lothion. An unholy bargain has been struck to bring him to heel and increasingly it seems that victory may not be worth the price, not if the cost is measured in the blood of his family. Wizard, lord, husband, father, and now archmage...no man can balance so many roles without sacrificing something. Will the world be worth saving if it costs him the very reasons he has for living in it?

Mordecai’s simple life as the son of a blacksmith is transformed by the discovery of his magical birthright. As he journeys to understand the power within him he is drawn into a dangerous plot to destroy the Duke of Lancaster and undermine the Kingdom of Lothion. Love and treachery combine to embroil him in events he was never prepared to face. What he uncovers will change his understanding of the past, and alter the future of those around him.

Tyrion was a good person who had been born to a simple family and raised with love, but the world has shaped him for a different fate. Twisted by violence and torture, he is obsessed with a relentless desire for vengeance, and he has sown the seeds of wrath in his children. The She'Har have offered him the opportunity to be a great leader and usher in a new era of prosperity and peace, but, despite his gentle beginnings, Tyrion is no hero.

Mordecai has discovered his heritage and must take up the mantle of a lord of the realm, while figuring out what it really means to be a mage of the line of Illeniel. He is beset on both sides by allies and enemies trying to control or destroy his future. Gods and kings both seek to manipulate him for their own ends, and no matter what he chooses his loved ones will suffer. Will he risk destroying his love with a bond that might be her death, or face the madness that comes to wizards who embrace power without restraint?

Mordecai’s shattered family is in chaos, but the world won’t wait for them to recover. Trapped by a fiendish plot he didn’t foresee, Mordecai finds himself powerless to redeem himself or defend his family. Alone and surrounded by enemies, Lady Rose has only her wits to protect those she loves. Though every hand turns against her, Rose Thornbear refuses to give up, and she will sacrifice whatever is necessary to save Penny’s family, whether the price is her rank, dignity, or even her life.

Seven years have passed since Mordecai’s battle with the Shining God, Celior. Since that time, his control of his abilities has vastly improved. He has, at last, envisioned a use for the ‘God-Stone’, but the gods want vengeance and now seek to destroy everything he has built. The secrets of the past threaten the future of his kingdom, his family, and perhaps humanity itself, unless Mordecai can discover the meaning of ‘Illeniel’s Doom’.

The world is on the cusp of destruction as Mordecai’s power grows beyond the limits of his own control, yet most of the powers that rule the world are oblivious. The only hope of salvaging their civilization lies with his children, but they have been scattered and branded outlaws. Meanwhile Tyrion continues to march toward his own goals, heedless of whether they will help or harm their efforts to stop the apocalypse, as even the Queen begins to doubt the archmage’s sanity.

Rejected by all, he must learn to master the darkness within if he is to stop Mal’goroth from destroying humanity. Alone, he battles to control the malevolent magic that has consumed him as he searches for some way to turn his destructive new powers against the Dark Gods themselves. To win, he must somehow transform his own damnation into mankind’s salvation.

Years have passed since the last of the Dark Gods was defeated, and Lothion has entered an age of peace and prosperity. Mordecai’s oldest children have already begun to make a place for themselves, and his youngest are on the cusp of adulthood. By every outward measure, his life has been a success; he has earned his reward. However, Tyrion, the first wizard and brutal liberator of mankind, has returned with an agenda of his own, and dark things continue to stir at the edges of civilization, threatening to undo Mordecai’s accomplishments.

Gram lives in the long shadow cast by his father, the late hero Dorian Thornbear. Struggling to find his place in a world where politics and wizardry appear to have replaced the need for men of might and main, he must make his own mark. Trapped within the seemingly safe confines of Castle Cameron, Gram faces both love and tragedy. His choices will not only define himself but serve to remind others of his family's legacy and the reason only a fool threatens those a Thornbear protects.