Quicksilver Zenith

Quicksilver Zenith
Stan Nicholls

From the author of the internationally accalaimed Orcs series comes a powerful new epic fantasy to rival the work of Raymond E. Feist and David Gemmell.Cursed with immortality and episodes of uncontrollable, berserk fury, Reeth Caldason is desperate to find a cure for his magical affliction. His search has brought him to the island state of Bhealfa, ruled by a despot and trapped between two powerful rival empires. Here, after decades of carefully avoiding all personal attachments, he finds himself entangled with a Resistance movement intent on founding a utopia free from tyranny.The paladin clans, a fearsome order of mercenary knights who provide government security, are determined to crush the growing rebellion. Devlor Bastorran, the cruel, and possibly mad, heir apparent to the clan leadership, is plotting a grotesque revenge against Caldason, having been bested by him in a humiliating and very public swordfight.But Caldason has other problems to contend with. The rebels have decided on the location of their new state – a remote island. Before it can be occupied, a large quantity of gold must be delivered to its legal owner. Caldason is the natural choice to head this sensitive mission – but he soon discovers that a powerful new enemy covets both the gold and the island, threatening to destroy the whole fragile venture before it's even underway.

Quicksilver Zenith

Book Two of the Quicksilver Trilogy

Stan Nicholls

For their love and inexhaustible support, Quicksilver Zenith is dedicated to my dear mother-in-law, Eileen (Paddy) Booth, my sister-in-law, Janet Calderwood, her partner, Owen Sutherland, and my delightful, frighteningly bright nieces, Anna and Elaine Kennedy.

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The world is saturated in magic.

Its influence is felt in every stratum of human culture. It acts as technology, currency, and as an instrument of control. Its possession and quality denotes social status. It can manifest in many ways, including sham life-forms, universally referred to as glamours.

The magical system is the legacy of a long-vanished race known as the Founders. Their era, the Dreamtime, flourished before the dawn of history. But why it came to an end is a mystery.