Sixteen years it has been since the dazzling Khatrimantine Empire fell to the vast hordes of the Mogaun. Sixteen years since the invaders' evil deity, the Lord of Twilight, was shattered into five hosts, five lost souls destined to become the Shadowkings. Sixteen long years since the forces of the Earthmother and the Fathertree were defeated, and the Rootpower magic itself was destroyed...

But for Suviel, one of the few surviving mages, it was not a final defeat. Nor was it so for Ikarno Mazaret, Lord Commander of the Knights of the Fathertree. They and their companions face a deadly struggle against terrifying odds in their fight for freedom. Byrnak, one of the many warlords who squabble amid the Empire's ruins, discovers that he is one of the five Shadowkings and thus compelled to bring the Lord of Twilight into fleshly being.

Across the battlefields and dreamscapes of the land, he is driven ever closer to this goal. Tauric is the lost heir to the Imperial throne. He must learn courage and the realities of command if he is to survive the battles that lie ahead. These lives and uncountable others will be changed forever when the Empire's last valiant defenders take arms against ancient sorceries and new terrors. Shadowkings introduces a world both dark and fascinating from a writer who is a major voice in the future of fantasy fiction.