Kerith, a land devastated by wars that erased all trace of magic and subjugated by the magic-wielding Vaelinars, is once again torn by war when the Vaelinars' feuds reignite, triggering an uprising by the natives and newcomers alike.

The thrilling sequel to Jenna Rhodes' "spectacular series debut"( Publishers Weekly, starred review) The Four Forges As civil war erupts on the world of Kerith, star-crossed elven lovers Rivergrace and Sevryn-marked for possession by both a demon and a vengeful goddess-must find a way to heal the rift between them, stand against their enemies, and save their world from an ancient threat.

Brought to the world of Kerith by an unknown cataclysm, the Vaelinar race is both magical and arrogant, considering themselves far superior to the natives whose own magic has been shorn away by a civil war. As hated as they are revered, the Vaelinars have retreated to seclusion after anchoring their magic to the new world by a series of Talent-wrought Ways, passages of power, always hoping that one day they will create the Way back to the world they lost. Two young people, one broken of soul and the other broken of mind, find their fates intertwined as their mixed bloodlines both curse and bless them. Can a river-borne slave and a street-savvy half-breed find their own personal truth in time to avert another civil war?

On war-torn Kerith, a weapon master named Quendius prepares to shift the balance of power in his favor, while Lariel Anderieon, her brother Jeredon, and a group of rag-tag rebels, armed with Talents, search for the Elven Ways to stop a civil war and return to the home they had lost centuries ago.

Arlette Montrose Banfield angered many marriageable women when she snagged the handsome Lewis Banfield-but were they angry enough to poison her? Mrs. Jeffries doesn't mind getting her hands dirty to uncover the greed behind her murder.

King of Assassins is the third novel in the spellbinding fantasy epic, The Elven Ways. Thrown into exile on Kerith by a sorcerous act of war, the Vaelinars have used their own unique talents to gain power over the races native to this world, and to create magical Ways that remold Kerith forever. But now their war has followed them, ripping holes in the fabrics of both universes. The Vaelinars stand at a dangerous threshold as old and new betrayals threaten the destinies of the peoples of two worlds. Against this background of betrayal and ever-shifting alliances, two star-crossed lovers—the half-breed Sevryn and the orphaned, goddess-touched Vaelinar, Rivergrace—must escape the fury of a desperate ruler. The Warrior Queen Lariel, having accidentally revealed to Sevryn the forbidden powers that gained her the throne, has begun a vicious manhunt to destroy him. Fleeing her wrath, Sevryn and Rivergrace find no safe haven as the world’s magic begins to disintegrate around them and the old Gods wake. In the midst of this chaos, Sevryn is charged with finding the King of Assassins—a quest that may consume him. And only Rivergrace has any hope of discovering the means to save both Sevryn and the world she loves.

This first adventure in a dark fantasy series follows the war between the warriors of Fellein and the mythical people of the Blasted Lands, who worship 7 gods of war . . . Captain Merros Dulver is the first in many lifetimes to find a path beyond the great mountains of the Seven Forges and encounter, at long last, the half-forgotten race who live there. And it would appear that they were expecting him. But when he returns home, an entourage of strangers in tow, he starts to wonder if his discovery is truly something to celebrate—for the gods of this lost race are the gods of war, and their memories of that far-off cataclysm have not faded. The people of Fellein have lived with the legends of the Blasted Lands for many centuries. Lying far to the north, the Lands are a desolate, impassable place—the legacy of an ancient time of cataclysm. But even the dangers of the Blasted Lands cannot stop the occasional expedition into its fringes, where people search for any trace of the ancients and oft-rumored riches that once lived there.