Bloodbreaker Though the knight Ovelia Dracaris swore to defend the Blood of Denerre with her life, hers was the dishonored hand that felled the Winter King. Shroud After five years as a spymaster, Ovelia resurfaced in a desperate quest for justice that cost her everything: love, her sight, and almost her life. Shield Blinded and exiled, Ovelia wards her only remaining friend on his quest to save the burning city of Luether, hoping to find what has eluded her for so long: redemption.

Rave Reviews for Shadow of the Winter King, Book 1 of the World of Ruin: Great fantasy stories are less about dragons and castles and spells than they are about great characters, people who leap into life off the page and make us care about them, and want to know what happens next. Then the magic swords and sinister castles, the skyships and pirates and dark secrets become delicious icing on the cake.

SHADOW OF THE WINTER KING has all of these things, and witty repartee, and web upon tangled web of intrigues, and a desperate fight for the future of a darkening world, too. Or rather, lots of fights.

Or to put it another way, this one has it all. And a generous handful of characters I want to meet again, in many sequels to this one.

Lovers of fantasy, this one's a new epic. ~ Ed Greenwood, Creator of the Forgotten Realms, Best-Selling Author SHADOW OF THE WINTER KING reminds me a bit of Rothfuss's THE NAME OF THE WIND. Both are complex ruminations on political and personal duty, which are more realistic than cut-and-dried good-versus-evil stories . . . The world-building is superior, the narrative moves forward with good momentum, and the story regularly poses interesting questions. ~ Peter de Smidt, Amazon Reviewer de Bie has taken off his gloves and delivered a great story that captivates the reader. We become invested in the characters early on, and care about the direction the story goes. There are no "safety" features wherein we, the reader, know certain characters are "safe" because they don't belong to the author. Here, the dialog between characters is crisp yet the prose isn't overwrought with jargon. Although I am a fan of "A Song of Ice and Fire," Martin's work can be as difficult as Tolkien at times. However, Shadow of the Winter King has none of that. The combat scenes are memorable in that they're concise, gripping, and brief. ~ Young Bones, M.D., Amazon Reviewer