“The blow struck in anger always returns to the striker.”

Such are the words of the Elaugh, the moral code of Gath’s stoic minotaurs. Tarquhanna was raised to revere these words, to love them, to see nobility in accepting what comes without resentment or anger.

“Blood for blood.”

Such is the basic creed of Elisidor’s tribal elves, who hold family ties above all else. H’raden was raised to honor these words, to know that he must always be ready to serve the needs of family, tribe, and blood.

When these two apprentice blacksmiths from different nations and different cultures meet, their friendship is as swift to form as it is to end. A misunderstanding between Tarquhanna’s village and H’raden’s tribe leads to bloodshed, sending H’raden on a mission of revenge.

The ambitious elven lord Helior uses H’raden’s story as a rallying cry to stoke the flames of war, and what could have been an isolated incident turns into a conflict that will bring two nations to their knees. Tarquhanna and H’raden rise in prominence, and their story becomes indistinguishable from the story of the war itself.

With characters on either side of the conflict fit to root for or despise, with no clear hard line between hero and villain, Hammer of Gath will leave you asking: Who would I be in this war?

Book 1 of the Nations End series.

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