A tide of black steel

When Ruhlin's village is destroyed by the mysterious Nihlvarians, he discovers his ability to transform from a quiet fisherman into a strong, if untrained, fighter when enraged. His attackers refer to him as a Fire Blood and kidnap him to fight in their colosseums. Closer to the center of Ascarlia, Thera, Vellihr of Justice to the Sister Queens, is sent to punish a grave-robbing Veilwald and bring his mute daughter, Lynnea, to her queen. Thera discovers en route that Lynnea can communicate with her telepathically. Meanwhile, Thera's disgraced brother Felnir and their younger brother Guthnyr run errands for their great-grandfather: retrieving a message from a spy, then breaking a mysterious old man out of prison for Sister Lore. This, in turn, results in a mission with scholar Elvine to seek the fabled Vaults of the Altvar using the maps tattooed on the rescued prisoner. Rich world building, well-developed characters, and shocking betrayals are precisely what readers expect from Anthony Ryan as he kicks off the Age of Wrath trilogy, set in the same world as the Covenant of Steel trilogy.

Bestseller Ryan (the Draconis Memoria series) launches his Age of Wrath series with a gripping epic that pits pseudo-Viking nations in competition for the favor of their gods. Trouble on the edges of Ascarlia, the domain of the three Sister Queens, sends the monarchs' chief agent, Thera of the Blackspear, to investigate rumors of returning demons. Meanwhile, Thera's brother, the notorious exile Felnir Skyrnrak, is tasked by their great-grandfather, a counselor to the queens, with finding the treasury of the gods by assisting a scholar with heretical religious beliefs. A third story line follows a simple fisherman who's captured by red-tattooed invaders and forced into gladiatorial games after they discover his innate power when enraged to morph into a killing machine. Ryan rapidly shifts between plotlines, bounding from one cliffhanger to the next. While much of the action will feel familiar to fans of Norse fantasy, Ryan distinguishes himself with deep dives into his characters' psyches and motivations. This is an exciting start. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit. (Oct.)