1975. The Secretary of the EEC Commission asks Nick and Rosemary Storey to investigate a discrepancy of nearly 10 million in EEC money used to rationalise coal and steel production in EEC countries. They quickly identify transactions where the Commission has been defrauded and how it was carried out. But the fraudsters seem cautious and cunning, leaving few traces except the involvement of a small man wearing glasses with very thick lenses and a Chinese pistol in the cupboard of a French-Vietnamese woman working in the area of the Commission where the fraud took place and who has since...

Born the son of a fisherman in a small provincial port, Rakvir Stagarnik is given the chance to attend school. There he befriends the son of the local ruler, but, having fallen in love with the ruler's daughter, he is caught with her and has to flee to escape the ruler's vengeance. With two friends, he heads across the mountains only to be captured by a raiding party of barbarians and taken into slavery. He is badly beaten and forced to haul trees up the hillside near a barbarian fortress. In cold hatred, he makes plans to kill the barbarians and escape to make his fortune in the south. The...

Having escaped from a Magd slave camp, Rakvir Stagarnik and his companions flee south to Kardakan, where they are taken up by the Governor of Bulgand, a wise man. Rakvir's career advances in the Kardakan army through his strategic ability and skirmishes with the Magd. His love for Arhilka is put to the test by the Governor's daughter, Ruhqshana. Military success takes him to Arukand, capital of Kardakan were he must remain sure-footed amid the shifting sands of the venal and vindictive court of Saldjaran Jafzim. Various teachers expand his understanding of how he should lead his life But is...

To prevent a violent campaign by Saldjaran Jafzim's army, Rakvir Stagarnik leads a small force to seek the Kalq Runa'at, thought to be a threat to the throne. To persuade him to sign a declaration of loyalty, Rakvir follows him in walking through fire. Cheated of the chance to capture the Kalq Runa'at, Rakvir's enemies send him on an embassy taking tribute to the Kahg of the Magd. Learning he is to be killed, Rakvir escapes and, discovering ships for an invasion, burns them. When war begins he is despatched with a small force on a diversionary campaign within Magdarg. After several victories,...

Reunited with Arhilka and his family, Rakvir Stagarnik marries Arhilka, becoming Duyar of Kerkrand. He defeats the Magd armies on Karizhian soil and subsequently unmasks the traitors at the court of the Zgar. Allied with neighbouring realms also invaded by the Magd, he attacks their main northern fortress successfully with a rain of fire. Asked to command the Karizhian army, he attacks the Magd from the west, destroying their main army at the "Pass of the Warriors," but only after his allies' armies have been defeated by the Magd. As he attacks their last fortress in their capital, an immense...

The Magd are defeated, and the alliance is broken. Rakvir returns to Kerkrand to govern as Duyar and finds problems adjusting, especially when Arhilka nearly dies in childbirth. A unique solar eclipse causes many Thlaxacans to believe that the world has been re-born to the age of "Angry Thlac" who wants all "Otherworlders" to be driven from their lands. The "Nameless Ones" begin a campaign of assassinating "Otherworld" rulers, intending that reprisals will foment rebellion. By chance, Rakvir recognises the man sent to kill the Zgar and gets him to take him to the leader of the "Nameless...

Though the killings by the "Nameless Ones" cease, a rebellion in eastern Kardakan is put down brutally. Rakvir Stagarnik is sent on a mission to preserve peace, but the Thlaxacan ruler who resisted war is murdered and his successor leads his people against all the "Otherworlders." Rakvir breaks their northern army and, by walking through fire, persuades the Thlaxacan temple-priests that the solar eclipse did not mean "Angry Thlac." He demands that the priests dissuade their followers in Kardakan from further violence. Unfortunately in a final battle, death awaits one who least deserves it....

The epic novel "Through Fire" is set in a far distant world. In order to provide background for the events which take place in the novel, a short history and geography of the world are provided here. As the hero encounters many people in different lands, the different lands speaking different languages, a list of characters and of translations of all the foreign words used are also set out. Certain poems play an important part in the narrative. They are collected here, as well as maps of the world and notes on pronunciation. Richard Hernaman Allen, a former Commissioner of HM Customs &...

1974. Nick and Rosemary Storey are seconded to the EU as national experts in an anti-fraud unit. At an EEC-Soviet conference, a Latvian Customs official seeks EEC help to tackle heroin smuggling from Soviet Central Asia through Riga. After an unsuccessful search in Tilbury, Nick and Rosemary, while visiting Rotterdam Customs, encourage them to search another Soviet ship. After a package of heroin is dropped covertly off the side, surveillance picks up a Turkish immigrant, who leads the authorities to a complicated network of Soviet organisations involved in unofficial heroin smuggling. As...