Dark Mage

What if reality is the worst form of madness? Loneliness, a failing magic business, and stacks of unpaid bills make amateur magician Adam Gray's life one of unending drudgery and desperation. He's trapped in the tiny town of Elliston, and excitement's not exactly knocking down his door. Until it does. A cryptic peddler, peculiar merchandise, and insatiable curiosity combine to tear Adam away from the mundane safety of his everyday existence… and into the impossible world of Tantris: a land of giants, mages and the magic Adam's hoped for his entire life. But is this a world of sanity or madness? A dream or nightmare? Adam must answer these questions, and soon. Because Tantris has a mortal enemy-ruthless, evil and hungry for the souls of the innocent. And the Dark Mage just chose Adam as his next victim.

...so when he awakens in the quiet dark of his small apartment, the young man's sanity seems far from certain. For the past six months, he's battled the undead, befriended giants, fallen in love, and struggled against an ultimate evil. Just a dream? Or has he fallen into complete madness? Maybe he should ask the wizard passed out on his couch. Thus begins Adam's desperate struggle to return to Tantris; a magical land that's undergone a terrible transformation. Friends and loved ones are all dead; slain at the command of the Dark Mage. Armies of Unsouled roam the land, slaughtering and devouring the scattered few who dare to fight back. Burdened by a terrible guilt, Adam must undo the death and devastation wrought by the Dark Mage. With the might he wielded before now turned against him, he must search for another way to save those most precious to him. The future of Tantris lies in its past and on Adam's pursuit of a mythical token of power: the Talisman of Time.

To save his adopted world, Adam Gray must abandon it. Beaten down by despair, Adam's every breath seems an exercise in futility. Alecia, the woman he loves more than life itself, is dead by his own hand. Most of those he counted as friends lie moldering in their graves. Hope itself flickers like a dying candle. Only one chance remains to redeem himself and those he loves: The Talisman of Time. Together with four companions-an elderly mage, a love-sick librarian, an arrogant ship's captain, and a bad-tempered dwarf-Adam sets sail in a desperate search for the mythical icon. Filled with malice and unforeseen death, the world beyond Tantris rivals anything Adam has yet endured. Unknown evils inhabit the shadowy corners of the earth; each one seeking his utter annihilation. Adam's journey toward atonement has just begun. Should he succeed, it is but one step on the road to a dark and terrible confrontation. At its end, the Dark Mage lies in wait, hungry for revenge.

"Hope is the deceiver of fools, and the architect of despair." A declaration of truth, or mere words? How Adam Gray responds to the Dark Mage's claim may well determine the fate of an entire world. Because hope provides his only chance at salvation. Chaos and destruction rule the present; death holds the future in its ruthless grip. Only somewhere in the past can Adam undo the enemy's victory and restore the lives of those most precious to him. But the past harbors great evil as well. Already the Dark Mage's plans are in motion; his teeming hordes eager to massacre the innocents of Tantris. Bereavement, devastation, and anguished betrayal push the young mage to the brink of despair. Broken and alone, surrounded by enemies howling for his blood, Adam must face a terrible truth… Sometimes, a little hope is worse than no hope at all.

"War has come. We can stand as men, hoping to win the day, or be ground beneath the boot heels of a tyrant. There is no neutral side in this conflict."With those words, Adam Gray struggles to rise from the ashes of despair, only to find himself friendless and alone. Shunned as love's betrayer, he can find absolution for his crimes through victory alone.Yet how can one man hope to endure against the hordes of evil incarnate? The harder Adam struggles to unravel the webs of malice and deceit, the more entangled he becomes in the Dark Mage's snares.War has come, indeed. And it leads Adam to one terrible conclusion:Perhaps this is a war he's destined to lose.