Before the rise to dominance of Western Europe, there was a pivotal time in history when the world was consumed by the epic struggle between the Islamic Empire of the Ottomans and the Christian Kingdoms of Eastern Europe. Two civilizations and two very different ways of life confronted each other with the fate of mankind yet to be decided. THE SWORD AND THE SHIELD OF THE REALM debuts MERCHANTS OF TIME A seven-novel tale of mystery and suspenseful adventure, during an epoch marked by turbulence and mayhem. The year is 1448. Transylvania and Wallachia, the sword and the shield of the Kingdom of Hungary, are invaded by an immense army under the banner of Sultan Murad II, the man who calls himself The Shadow of Allah upon the World. Lorian Comosicus, the heir to a mysterious Draconic ring, and his twelve-year-old brother, Silvan, are sent across the border mountains to the fortress of Roter Turm with a secret message from the conspirators who killed Vlad Dracul of Wallachia for pledging allegiance to the Ottoman Empire. Lost in the vast forests of Transylvania, they meet Sir Gregor Dahr Altair, an imperial knight who just escaped from Roter Turm before the Ottomans destroyed it. Gregor is an Excubitor, a powerful secretive fraternity who could change the outcome of the war. He leads Lorian and Silvan ahead of the tempest to the great trading city of Hermannstadt before it is surrounded and destroyed by the Sultan's army.

The Emperor is dead. His son now inherits the throne to the Emrosian Empire and he dreams of greatness.The mercenaries of the Stone and the Shield have fulfilled their contract in the southern deserts of Ahnvesh. Now they must begin their journey to the imperial capital of Emros City to be paid. A long march and an odd job stand between them, a hefty payment, and possible retirement. But as they march, the Empire they thought they knew is changing.In the far west the Councilors of Guilion seek answers to their own problems, and those that would effect the future of the world. Their source of power nears its end, their ties to the Empire are failing. Now, they must decide which part of their world matters most.

They’re braced for threats from everywhere but between them. The world’s first modern wizard, Benjamin Magorian, and Dr. Michael Jones have been licking their wounds and recovering from their near-fatal confrontation with the siren, Aurelius, at Pont du Gard, in France. But time is running out to save the fractured world of humans and Old Ones from Aurelius’ scheme to summon the old gods and avoid the destruction the gods would hail down upon every mortal, no matter what their race. The two bend their talents and expertise to figuring out who Agrona’s shield might have been. Neither of them are braced against threats to their odd, but effective friendship, until Jamie ap Morningside, a lovely fae with deadly secrets, steps between them. The race to find Agrona’s shield and keep it out of Aurelius’ hands appears to have foundered before it has properly begun… The Shield of Agrona is part of the urban fantasy series, Magorian & Jones, by Taylen Carver. 1.0: The Memory of Water 2.0: The Triumph of Felix 3.0: The Shield of Agrona 3.5: The Wizard Must Be Stopped! 4.0: The Rivers Ran Red 5.0: The Divine and Deadly Urban Fantasy Novel ___ Praise for The Shield of Agrona: Exciting urban fantasy that use many familiar tropes while still staying fresh and unique. I like that this is not set in the US. I'm overjoyed to be back in this amazing world building series. Fast paced, exciting reads you won't want to put down! I highly recommend this series to all who love fantasy with a twist, adventure, surprises, and the occasional human. I just love this series! The plot is so unique, the story never boring with a lot of unforseen twists. No wonder i finished in three days! ! ___ Canadian author Taylen Carver writes edgy urban fantasy, doesn’t pull punches, and would rather be writing unless otherwise notified. When not writing, Taylen can usually be found inside speculative fiction of other authors. Favourites include Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Kevin Hearne, Laurell K. Hamilton, and Emma Bull.

Back in print for the first time in decades, Auden’s National Book Award–winning poetry collection, in a critical edition that introduces it to a new generation of readers The Shield of Achilles, which won the National Book Award in 1956, may well be W. H. Auden’s most important, intricately designed, and unified book of poetry. In addition to its famous title poem, which reimagines Achilles’s shield for the modern age, when war and heroism have changed beyond recognition, the book also includes two sequences—“Bucolics” and “Horae Canonicae”—that Auden believed to be among his most significant work. Featuring an authoritative text and an introduction and notes by Alan Jacobs, this volume brings Auden’s collection back into print for the first time in decades and offers the only critical edition of the work. As Jacobs writes in the introduction, Auden’s collection “is the boldest and most intellectually assured work of his career, an achievement that has not been sufficiently acknowledged.” Describing the book’s formal qualities and careful structure, Jacobs shows why The Shield of Achilles should be seen as one of Auden’s most central poetic statements—a richly imaginative, beautifully envisioned account of what it means to live, as human beings do, simultaneously in nature and in history.

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