{"title":"Tale Of The King's Blades","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"impossible-odds-book-dave-duncan-9780060094454","title":"Impossible Odds","description":"\u003cp\u003eElite warrior swordsmen, they are unequalled in any time or realm . . .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe King's Blades\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe King has decreed that new Blades must be sworn into the service of the Grand Duke Rubin, deposed by a foul usurper and currently on the run. But none of the rough youths being readied at Ironhall possess the seasoning to survive what better, more skilled Blades already have not. Still, two woefully unprepared candidates are approached with an offer of early bonding and probable death: deft but dense, rude Ranter, and eager, impetuous Ringwood . . . with a third, the inadequate swordsman but potentially able spy Bellman, enlisted into their threadbare ranks. Joining the Duke's entourage along with the courageous and prescient White Sister Trudy, the would-be champions must restore a rightful ruler to the throne or die in the process. But before them waits an army of the dead. And the Duke whom the Blades must protect to the last drop of their lifeblood is not the liege they imagined . . .\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49562752778513,"sku":"CIN0060094451G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49622391849233,"sku":"GOR002670183","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50342623019281,"sku":"CIN0060094451A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51842567405841,"sku":"CIN0060094451VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0060094451.jpg?v=1750693515"},{"product_id":"lord-of-the-fire-lands-book-dave-duncan-9780380791279","title":"Lord of the Fire Lands:","description":"\u003cb\u003eExceptional . . . Duncan can swashbuckle with the best, but his characters feel more deeply and think more clearly than most (\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Raider and Wasp have spent five years at Ironhall studying to become Blades, expert swordsmen whose talents stand unmatched. Magic both enhances the Blades' fighting skills and binds them to lifelong duty. But when Raider and Wasp are selected to protect the king of Chivial himself, they refuse, an act unprecedented in the living history of the Blades. Now on the run for their treasonous act, the two gifted swordsmen must escape to the Fire Lands, where pirates, monsters, and mixed allegiances wait around every corner. As old hatreds and still-fresh tragedies come to light, these young swashbucklers must confront both harsh truths from the past and a present swarming with their would-be brothers at arms seeking vengeance and intending punishment. Dave Duncan's \u003ci\u003eLord of the Fire Lands\u003c\/i\u003e serves as a splendid sequel and companion to his earlier book \u003ci\u003eThe Gilded Chain\u003c\/i\u003e, and his later Tale of the King's Blades \u003ci\u003eSky of Swords\u003c\/i\u003e. Engaging and complex, it may be enjoyed as a standalone novel or in combination with the rest of the trilogy. Either way, readers are in for a smart, thrilling adventure that cuts like a knife.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49625593839889,"sku":"GOR002584951","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49628062023953,"sku":"GOR009675168","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50215516340497,"sku":"CIN0380791277G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50761941778705,"sku":"CIN0380791277VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51331528687889,"sku":"CIN0380791277A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0380791277.jpg?v=1751072078"},{"product_id":"sky-of-swords-book-dave-duncan-9780380974627","title":"Sky of Swords","description":"\u003cp\u003eA Sky of Swords hangs in Ironhall -- a testament to the courage, breathtaking skill, and enduring faithfulness of the Blades of Chivial, mighty swordsmen bound by magic to defend their noble wards to the death.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Princess Malinda was a lonely and unloved child growing into young womanhood in the cold, intrigue-ridden court of King Ambrose. At an early age she learned to fight for what was rightfully hers. But even her great courage and matchless wits could not withstand her father's treacheries.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eA female -- and therefore a useless ornament in Ambrose's eyes -- Malinda can do nothing but submit when her father offers her to the most notorious pirate ever to sail the seas, in order to end an inconvenient war. But then the King dies abruptly. And suddenly the crown sits uncertainly on the head of his sickly infant son, Amby, with Malinda standing bravely at the babe-liege's side as heir and protector in the face of the insidious plottings, of traitorous would-be usurpers.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCivil war is Chivial's grim destiny, as Malinda -- now Queen -- desperately searches for a way to preserve her rule and her realm. In this bloody labyrinth of schemes and betrayals, the few stalwarts whom she can be sure of are the Blades of the Royal Guard-each one bound to absolute loyalty by the magical ritual of a sword stroke through the heart. These are men-the only men-she can trust to the death.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBut the Blades themselves are in grave peril, as the people rise up against them. And with a rebel army marching on Ironhall -- the fabled school that turns unwanted rebellious boys into the finest swordsmen in the known worldQueen Malinda. must make the most crucial decision of her life: a choice that will either redeem her kingdom from chaos...or bring ultimate destruction down upon it, her Blades, and herself.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49652572848401,"sku":"GOR012915292","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50305959723281,"sku":"CIN0380974622VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50351764308241,"sku":"CIN0380974622G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50565985960209,"sku":"GOR014000742","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0380974622.jpg?v=1751436677"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/tale-of-the-king-s-blades-book-series.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}