In this riveting sequel to "Invader" and "Foreigner", six months have passed since the return of a human starship to the skies above the world of the atevi, upsetting the planet's balance of power and putting Bren at the center of a firestorm that could consume both human and atevi.

Heading home from school, Karigan G'ladheon encounters a dying "Green Rider", one of the king's messengers, who begs her to complete his mission. She reluctantly agrees and finds herself caught in a world of dangerous magic and even more dangerous enemies.

Professional diplomat Bren Cameron, a human paidhi to the atevi court, becomes caught in the middle of a potentially explosive confrontation between human space colonists, a mutiny, political intrigue, and a possibly warlike alien race.

Exhausted from a two-year rescue mission to a distant sector of space, and with resources strained by four thousand extra mouths to feed, the crew of the starship Phoenix yearns for the luxuries of home. But when the ship makes the final jump into atevi space, they learn the worst: supplies to their home station have been cut off; civil war has broken out on the atevi mainland; the powerful Western Association has been overthrown; and Tabini-aiji...

Toby Daye, half fae and half human, is the only changeling who has ever earned knighthood in the Faerie world. Her current mission: to visit the County of Tamed Lightning (Fremont, California) and check on Countess January O'Leary, who has been out of contact. This simple assignment becomes deadly when people close to January start turning up dead, and it's up to Toby to find and stop the killer.

Born into post-apocalyptic Africa to a mother who was raped after the slaughter of her entire tribe, Onyesonwu is tutored by a shaman and discovers that her magical destiny is to end the genocide of her people.

Fledgling Water Master Mari Prothero rebels against her expected arranged marriage at age eighteen until she learns that her family's magical heritage is actually protected by these unions. This story combines East of the Sun and West of the Moon, as well as Tam Lin, with the Selkie of Sul Skerry. We'll see Nan and Sarah (from Wizard of London) as adults, coming into their own, and Grey and Neville, of course!

The Empire has declared war on the small, were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-pack, including the wife of the were pack-leader. With the pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen--she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the pack-leader--to save them.

"At last--Cajeiri has his young guests from the starship, three young folk entranced by weather and trees and creatures with minds of their own. It's all he dreamed of...But now safety is foremost: Cajeiri's grandfather has been assassinated, hostile Assassins Guild invaded Great-uncle's house, and now Bren Cameron, paidhi-aiji, who was sent to keep the aiji's son safe, has more than the young guests on his mind. The aiji-dowager knows who's to blame...

Trained as a spy by the King's Own Herald, an orphan named Mags rises through the ranks of the Heralds' Collegium and uses his powerful Mindspeech gift to outmaneuver a royal court plot that risks his mentor and family.