As the Riftwar tears Midkemia apart, enemies trapped in the frozen Northlands must trust each other to stay alive. . . .

In the sprawling, embattled land of Midkemia, fate can form strange alliances. Nine years into the bloody and ongoing Riftwar, Dennis Hartraft's Marauders are cold, hungry, and exhausted. Having only just survived a disastrous encounter with their sworn enemy, the Tsurani, the soldiers are headed for a frontier garrison, where they will be able to rest and recover. But Hartraft's company arrives at the same time as a Tsurani patrol, and both sides discover the...

In the frozen northlands of the embattled realm of Midkemia, fate can form strange alliances.

It is nine long, bloody years into the ongoing Riftwar that is tearing Midkemia asunder. Having survived a disastrous encounter with their sworn enemy, the Tsurani, Dennis Hartraft's cold, hungry, and exhausted Marauders arrive at a frontier garrison--at the same time as a Tsurani patrol. But a more devastating threat resides within the stronghold: moredhel, a migrating horde of dark elves so deadly and vicious that the only hope for survival is if bitter enemies band together and...

Jimmy the Hand, boy thief of Krondor, lived in the shadows of the city. The sewers were his byways and a flea-ridden, rat-infested cellar his home. Although gifted beyond his peers, he was still but a nimble street urchin, a pickpocket with potential. Until the day he met Prince Arutha.

Aiding the Prince in his rescue of Princess Anita from imprisonment by Duke Guy du Bas-Tyra, Jimmy runs afoul of Black Guy's secret police. Given the choice of disappearing on his own or in a weighted barrel at the bottom of Krondor's harbor, Jimmy flees the only home he's ever known, venturing south...