Realm Breaker

Irresistibly action-packed and full of lethal surprises, this stunning new fantasy series from Victoria Aveyard, begins where hope is lost and asks: When the heroes have fallen, who will take up the sword? A strange darkness grows in Allward. Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea. She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage-and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won't be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions: • A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. • An immortal, avenging a broken promise. • An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. • An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. • A forger with a secret past. • A bounty hunter with a score to settle. Together they stand against a vicious opponent, invincible and determined to burn all kingdoms to ash, and an army unlike anything the realm has ever witnessed.

On a continent where riders build kingdoms, she breaks them to build empires. Realm-Building is open to all. On the continent of Elondria, anyone may become the next legendary dragon rider by building the greatest towns, cities, and even kingdoms. Skálda Branwright dreams of leaving the Longcold and becoming the first Dragonlord to build an official realm. Only no dragon egg has ever hatched for her. When a hatchling falls to her from another world, begging for rescue, she must decide whether to surrender her dragon to death or become the worst criminal of all-a rogue rider. But this is no ordinary dragon. By the time Skálda realizes what she holds in her hands, it is much too late. Stealing this hatchling will come at a steep cost-breaking the republic she is sworn to serve... and eliminating the elf that created the rules for Realm-Building. The same war machine that manufactures humans into riders to serve the elves. A Queen will rise out of blood and dragonfire... and this is how it begins. Includes A Quest of Rangers, a novella in the Realm Breaker series.

Don't attack riders. Don't break dragonposts. Above all, never test the Order. Skálda Branwright has been betrayed by the Republic. Her dreams of building realms burned in an elvish campaign she was never meant to survive-one that the Dragonsteel Order will fight to keep secret at all costs. But the rules in the Deep North's wilderness are different. Outside the bounds of elvish rule, she may make her own. Elondria faces the beginning of another continental war-with Skálda and Bale at the center. The time has come for the first rider in all history to dare ride a Bael into battle. To protect her dragon and the free peoples of the North from the Order, Skálda will have no choice but to break. She will break many, many things... and herald a Second Breaking of the Realms sooner than she could have ever imagined.

Andry, a former squire, continues to fight for hope amid blood and chaos. Dom, a grieving immortal, strives to fulfill a broken oath. Sorasa, an outcast assassin, faces her past when it returns with sharpened teeth. Valtik, an old sorceress, summons a mighty power. And Corayne, a pirate’s daughter with an ancient magic in her blood, steps closer to becoming the hero she’s destined to be. Together they must assemble an army to face Queen Erida and Taristan’s wicked forces. But something deadly waits in the shadows, something that might consume the world before there’s any hope for victory.

A dark fate descends. A shattered alliance must rise. The Companions are torn apart and the realm hangs in the balance, at the edge of ruin. Taristan and Queen Erida rise triumphant from the battlefield, while Corayne barely escapes with her life; her Companions left behind to uncertain fates. But not all hope was lost: Corayne managed to steal Taristan's Spindleblade. Without it, Taristan can't rip open any more Spindles. Without it, he can't end the world. Now, from every corner of the realm, the Companions race to reunite while they rally old allies and seek unexpected new ones, in one final push against darkness. But Taristan and Erida are all but invincible. With their cruel god, What Waits, on their side, they will sacrifice anything and anyone to his hunger. Everything has come to this. In the final clash between good and evil, a ragged alliance makes its bravest stand against a ruthless enemy... and the demon god who would consume the realm entire.