Roger Taylor

Life is good for Farnor Yarrance. It is good for everybody in the valley. And has been for generations. So much so, that few ever feel the need to travel beyond it -- over the hill.And no one ever bothers to enter it from beyond.Until one day, they do.Men come from the south, haunted and pursued. And something else comes, silent and awful, from the north. With their arrival, an ancient corruption, festering slowly in the midst of the community, blossoms into a menace that threatens not only the valley but the land beyond, and the lands beyond that.Only Farnor, scarcely a man yet, has the power to oppose this menace, though he is unaware of it, his own soul clouded with bitterness and anger at the terrible tragedy that events now inflict on him.Not until he is pursued into the Great Forest to the north does he gradually learn the extent of his own power. And the truly terrifying nature of the forces he must face...

The dark lord Sumeral is dead -- His mortal body destroyed and His will scattered some sixteen or so years ago.Now, travellers sent to learn more of the world beyond Orthlund, Fyorlund and Riddin are returning. They bring with them people in need of help and with disturbing tales to tell -- Antyr, the Dream Finder; Farnor, to whom the great forest can speak; Vredech, the once preaching brother; Pinnatte, victim of a fearful experiment by the Kyrosdyn; and Thyrn, the Caddoran.Their disparate stories come together to yield a terrifying revelation -- somewhere, Sumeral is whole again and struggling to return. But other, even darker threads are being drawn together. Andawyr and the Cadwanol, in their relentless search for truth, have touched on a threat to their world more terrible than Sumeral. More terrible by far...

The evil Lord Dan-Tor has at last been driven out of Fyorlund and retreated to Narsindal, the realm of his dread master Sumeral. But Hawklan and his allies have won no more than a breathing space, for Dan-Tor is gathering his forces for a massive onslaught on all the free lands.An alliance of the free peoples must be forged, even those of peaceful Orthlund, to stand against Sumeral's dark battalions. The dwellers in the air and the mysterious inhabitants of the lands beneath the mountains must also play their part.A brave alliance; yet so great are Sumeral's forces that it can do no more than stave off the hour of defeat a little while.For Hawklan and the raven, Gavor, the road ahead is lonely and unknowable, for they must confront Sumeral himself, and in so doing discover, at last, what secret lies buried so deep in Hawklan's soul.

Vashnar is the Commander of Arvenstaat's Wardens. Ambitious, ruthless, and weary of the antiquated and irrelevant proceedings of its government, the Moot, he plans to seize power and re-establish the ancient rule of the Dictators.But, in a terrifying confrontation, his messenger, Thyrn, a young inexperienced Caddoran, sensitive to the point almost of telepathy, reads the intentions beneath his words and flees in panic. Accompanied by his uncle, three Wardens -- reluctant allies -- and Endryk, a shoreman, Thyrn is driven into the Karpas Mountains by Vashnar's relentless pursuit.There, however, a darker power begins to reveal itself: a power which has waited for time beyond knowing for such as Vashnar; a power that will drive his ambitions far beyond the boundaries of Arvenstaat; a power which, apart from Vashnar himself, only Thyrn can sense and oppose.But by any measure, Thyrn is no warrior, and his companions are too few to stand against Vashnar's vicious Tervaidin...

Sinister changes are afoot in Arash-Felloren. Pinnatte, the street thief, has been marked, literally, for a fearful destiny. Imorren, the first woman to lead the Kyrosdyn -- the crystal workers -- has secretly ordered the transfer of the Jyolan Fighting Pits to Barran, the mercenary who controls most of the crystal trade. It will give him great power in the huge and ancient city. But why would Imorren do this?And why would she bring to the surface a creature from the caves deep below the city -- a creature of ancient myth?Then, in a tragic confrontation with a Kyrosdyn novice, Atlon, a Learned Brother from a distant land, travelling with his companion Dvolci, learns how the crystals are being used. The revelation sets him on a terrifying path -- Imorren's plans are far beyond any mere seeking for political power in the city.Atlon, deeply afraid, knows that she must be stopped. But he cannot enlist the help of his Elders. Nor even warn them. He must oppose her alone...

Since their leader Petran died, the Guild of Dream Finders have been timid, and their ancient craft has fallen into disrepute. Petran's son Antyr, young, grief stricken and only part trained, could not begin to fill the vacuum left by his father. Increasingly he has become a bitter spectator, with neither the cynicism to become rich by pandering to the whims of the wealthy, nor the courage to offer them his skills honestly and without fear. His nightly visits to the alehouse have resulted in a dwindling of his customers, and the quarrels with his strange Companion have grown increasingly unpleasant.Then mysteriously one night, Antyr is taken to Duke Ibris of the City of Serenstadt, who has been troubled by mystifying and unsettling dreams. It is the beginning of a journey that leads inexorably to a terrible confrontation with a malevolent blind man possessed of a fearful otherworldly sight, and Ivaroth, a warrior chief determined to conquer the Duke's land and all beyond...

The castle of Anderras Darion has stood abandoned and majestic for as long as anyone can remember. Then, from out of the mountains, comes the healer, Hawklan - a man with no memory of the past - to take possession of the keep with his sole companion, Gavor.Across the country, the great fortress of Narsindalvak is a constant reminder of the victory won by the hero Ethriss in alliance with the three realms of Orthlund, Riddin and Fyorlund against the Dark Lord, Sumeral, hundreds of years before. But Rgoric, the ailing king of Fyorlund and protector of the peace, has fallen under the malign influence of the Lord Dan-Tor, and from the bleakness of Narsindal come ugly rumours. It is whispered that Mandrocs are abroad again and that the Dark Lord himself is stirring.And in the remote fastness of Anderras Darion, Hawklan feels deep within himself the echoes of an ancient power and the unknown, yet strangely familiar, call to arms...

This volume on Captain Linnaeus Tripe, who photographed extensively in India and Burma in the mid-19th century, offers pictures that display the unusual combination of a surveyor's eye and an artist's passion.