[Read by Ray Porter]One of the mightiest of contemporary fantasy epics continues. Certain works of fantasy are immediately recognizable as monuments, towering above the rest of the category. Those of such authors as Stephen R. Donaldson, Robert Jordan, and Terry Goodkind come immediately to mind. Add to that list David Farland, whose epic 'Runelords' fantasy series continues in this fifth installment. The story picks up eight years after the events of Lair of Bones and begins a new chapter in the Runelords saga focusing on Gaborn's son, Fallion. Gaborn, the Earth King, has been traveling far from his home, to strange and unknown places. While beyond the edge of the earth, he finally succumbs to accelerated aging, the price of all the endowments he has taken.