Hero in the Shadows

The ruined city of Kuan Hador reeks of dark mystery. Shunned by brigands and merchants alike, it is home to fearsome wild things and legends that freeze the blood - tales that speak of a time thousands of years past, when Kuan Hador was the capital of a vast empire ruled by evil sorcerers. These mages were able to meld beasts and men into unholy Joinings - foot soldiers of a ruthless demonic army. When the forces of men finally did prevail, the sorcerers and their half-human slaves escaped through a magical doorway... only to find themselves trapped in another world. The doorway sealed behind them, locked with an enchantment too powerful to break. Or so the legends say.

But at the heart of every legend lies a glimmer of truth, and truth can kill. Especially when it comes in the form of slavering white beasts who possess an insatiable appetite for death and destruction. Millennia have passed, and the spell of imprisonment has begun to fade. The sorcerers and their foul minions will soon be free to wreak a horrible vengeance against all that lives.

This time, no army waits to oppose them - only a rag-tag group of unlikely heroes: Kysumu, the rajnee swordsman; Yu Yu Liang, a humble ditch digger with dreams of glory; Taliana, a warrior woman as fierce as she is beautiful. Leading them is the mysterious Gray Man, an enigmatic figure hated and envied for his fabulous wealth. A man with a blood-drenched past, who has killed for principle and for payment. A man of destiny known throughout the lands of the Drenai as Waylander the Slayer.

Now, to defeat a timeless evil, an ancient riddle must be solved... and Waylander, the prince of assassins, must kill a man who cannot die.

"On the surface, David Gemmell's Hero in the Shadows has everything a fan of heroic fantasy could desire: dramatic heroes, an exotic sorceress, deep evil, mood-drenched settings, an array of likeable characters, and a well-designed plot. But the book also has something more, a quality which raises Gemmell's achievement to a much higher level: an empathetic and convincing grasp on the complexities and conflicts of real human beings. As a result, Hero in the Shadows has true power and poignancy." - Stephen R. Donaldson