Ian Cameron Esslemont Knihy

Casting light on mysteries spanning the Malazan empire, and offering a glimpse of the storied and epic history that shaped it, Assail brings the epic story of the Empire of Malaz to a thrilling close.

The tumult has passed and the city of Darujhistan and its citizens can at last get on with what matters: trading, bickering, politicking and enjoying. However, not all are ready to leave the past behind.

Fantasy. On the continent of Jacuruku, the Thaumaturgs have mounted another expedition in a bid to tame the neighbouring wild jungle. It is called Himatan, and it is said to be half of the spirit-realm and half of the earth,, and ruled by a powerful entity who some name the Queen of Witches and some a goddess: the ancient Ardata. When Saeng's rulers launch an invasion of this jungle, she and her brother begin a desperate mission

The return of the mercenary company the Crimson Guard could not have come at a worse time for the Malazan Empire. Drained by constant warfare, weakened by betrayal and rivalries, many see the grip of Empress Laseen weakening. Conquered kingdoms and principalities test their old independence.

Greymane has been denounced by the Malazan high command and sentenced to death by the Stormguard - the military cult who hold the stormwall against the alien sea-borne Stormriders who have threatened Korel - and the island of Malaz itself - for millennia. As various mysterious forces, sects and vested interests jockey for position and power, long-hidden secrets are revealed and ancient entities once more walk abroad

The small island of Malaz and its city gave the great empire its name, but now it is little more than a sleepy, backwater port. Tonight, however, things are different. Tonight the city is on edge, a hive of hurried, sometimes violent activity; its citizens bustle about, barring doors, shuttering windows, avoiding any stranger's stare. Because tonight there is to be a convergence, the once-in-a-generation appearance of a Shadow Moon – an occasion that threatens the good people of Malaz with demon hounds and other, darker things ... It was also prophesied that this night would witness the return of Emperor Kellanved, and there are those prepared to do anything to prevent this happening. As factions within the greater Empire draw up battle lines over the imperial throne, the Shadow Moon summons a far more ancient and potent presence for an all-out assault upon the island. Witnessing these cataclysmic events are Kiska, a young girl who yearns to flee the constraints of the city, and Temper, a grizzled, battle-weary veteran who seeks simply to escape his past. Each is to play a part in a conflict that will not only determine the fate of Malaz City, but also of the world beyond ... Drawing on events touched on in the prologue of Steven Erikson's landmark fantasy Gardens of the Moon, Night of Knives is a momentous chapter in the unfolding story of the extraordinarily imagined world of Malaz.

The plan, however, soon goes awry as Kellanved develops a strange and dangerous fascination for a mysterious ancient structure found on the island. During all this, war with the neighbouring island of Nap threatens, recruited allies wonder at Kellanved's sanity, and powerful entities take more of an interest in the little mage from Dal Hon.

It was once a land ravaged by war, minor city states, baronies and principates fight for supremacy, and then the rival cities of Tali and Quon formed an alliance and so Quon Tali came into being. However that was generations ago, that dynasty has collapsed and the regional powers are now clawing at each others throats once more. But at the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city state of Li Heng which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the oProtectresso. She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men into her domain- one is determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age; the other is his quarry - a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill. The sorceress and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron Legions, so how could two such trouble-makers upset her iron-fisted rule? And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumours abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command. So as shadows and mistrust swirl and monstrous beasts that people say appear from nowhere, run rampage through Li Heng's streets, it seems chaos is come - but in chaos, as a certain young Dal Hon mage would say, there is opportunity . . .

After decades of warfare, Malazan forces are close to consolidating the Quon Talian mainland when Emperor Kellanved orders a new campaign to invade Falar. With the main armies engaged elsewhere, a collection of orphaned units and broken squads, led by Fist Dujek—who is recovering from the loss of an arm—embark on this new mission. This rag-tag army is joined by a motley fleet under the Emperor's command. However, doubts linger about Kellanved and his cohort Dancer. As the Malazan force heads north, they encounter an unexpected and formidable threat, an ancient horror that has awakened and will destroy all in its path. Tayschrenn, the untested High Mage of the Empire, is particularly horrified, fully aware of the nature of this terror and his own inadequacy in facing it. He must confront it alongside unlikely allies. Meanwhile, the theocracy of Falar is not defenseless; its priests possess a terrifying weapon, the Jhistal, rumored to be a gift from the sea-god Mael. The Emperor sails towards Falar aboard his flagship Twisted, a vessel believed to be otherworldly. In the Ice Wastes and the islands of Falar, the Malazan Empire faces two daunting challenges, each with the potential to lead to its destruction. These are tumultuous times for all involved in the forging of the Malazan Empire.

Something other and altogether more mysterious has caught his attention and he - together with a reluctant and decidedly sceptical Dancer - traverse continents and journey through the Realms in pursuit .