The trilogy that began with The Emperor's Blades and continued in The Providence of Firereaches its epic conclusion, as war engulfs the Annurian Empire.

The ancient csestriim are back to finish their purge of humanity; armies march against the capital; leaches, solitary beings who draw power from the natural world to fuel their extraordinary abilities, maneuver on all sides to affect the outcome of the war; and capricious gods walk the earth in human guise with agendas of their own.

But the three imperial siblings at the heart of it all--Valyn, Adare, and Kaden--come to understand that even if they survive the holocaust unleashed on their world, there may be no reconciling their conflicting visions of the future.

Brian Staveley's The Providence of Fire, the second novel in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, a gripping new epic fantasy series in the tradition of Brandon Sanderson and George R. R. Martin

The conspiracy to destroy the ruling family of the Annurian Empire is far from over.

Having learned the identity of her father's assassin, Adare flees the Dawn Palace in search of allies to challenge the coup against her family. Few trust her, but when she is believed to be touched by Intarra, patron goddess of the empire, the people rally to help her retake the capital city. As armies prepare to clash, the threat of invasion from barbarian hordes compels the rival forces to unite against their common enemy.

Unknown to Adare, her brother Valyn, renegade member of the empire's most elite fighting force, has allied with the invading nomads. The terrible choices each of them has made may make war between them inevitable.

Between Valyn and Adare is their brother Kaden, rightful heir to the Unhewn Throne, who has infiltrated the Annurian capital with the help of two strange companions. The knowledge they possess of the secret history that shapes these events could save Annur or destroy it.

“A vividly imagined story of conspiracy and empire.” —Col Buchanan, author of Farlander

The emperor of Annur is dead, slain by enemies unknown. His daughter and two sons, scattered across the world, do what they must to stay alive and unmask the assassins. But each of them also has a life-path on which their father set them, their destinies entangled with both ancient enemies and inscrutable gods.

Kaden, the heir to the Unhewn Throne, has spent eight years sequestered in a remote mountain monastery, learning the enigmatic discipline of monks devoted to the Blank God. Their rituals hold the key to an ancient power he must master before it’s too late.

An ocean away, Valyn endures the brutal training of the Kettral, elite soldiers who fly into battle on gigantic black hawks. But before he can set out to save Kaden, Valyn must survive one horrific final test.

At the heart of the empire, Minister Adare, elevated to her station by one of the emperor’s final acts, is determined to prove herself to her people. But Adare also believes she knows who murdered her father, and she will stop at nothing—and risk everything—to see that justice is meted out.

Un'oscura minaccia incombe sui figli dell'Imperatore di Annur. Kaden, erede al Trono Incompiuto, ha trascorso otto anni in un eremo sperduto sulle montagne, dove i monaci devoti al Dio Assoluto gli hanno trasmesso un enigmatico sapere. I loro rituali contengono la chiave per raggiungere un potere antico che Kaden deve imparare a controllare prima che sia troppo tardi. Sulle Isole Qirin, lontano da tutto, Valyn si sottopone allo stremante addestramento impartito dai Kettral, un'élite di guerrieri che combatte volando su giganteschi rapaci. Prima di affrontare il mondo esterno, però, Valyn dovrà superare un'ultima, terribile prova. Nella capitale dell'Impero, Adare, assurta al rango di ministro, vuole dimostrare il proprio valore davanti al popolo. Ma ha anche un'altra missione: vendicare suo padre. Niente e nessuno potrà fermarla, se riuscirà a dominare l'indole che ha ereditato dalla sua stirpe. Ora che l'Imperatore Sanlitun è morto, il destino dei suoi tre figli sarà deciso in una battaglia spietata contro nemici sconosciuti, sotto lo sguardo di antichi dèi sanguinari.