Now in mass-market paperback--"Apocalypse Now" meets "The Lord of the Rings" in a bold new fantasy from the acclaimed author of the Iron Elves trilogy, filled with "heroic action that keeps fans coming back" ("Publishers Weekly"). A land of thick jungle and mist-swirled mountains. An enemy moving unseen beneath the lush canopy. The growing threat of thaumics--a magic wielded by few that threatens to destabilize all. The youth of a kingdom sent to fight in a faraway hell while back home, discord and disillusionment reign... Fantasy author Chris Evans masterfully pushes the boundaries of the genre in his brilliant, groundbreaking new epic, a unique and penetrating vision channeling the cultural upheaval, racial animus, and wholesale destruction of the Vietnam War. Plunging deep into the heart of a moral and mortal darkness, reluctant soldiers in the distant nation of Luitox struggle for survival and for meaning amid a blazing drama of blood and magic. They will duel a ghostly enemy, fight to understand their roles in a sprawling maelstrom, and ultimately wage war their way--not for glory or the Kingdom, but for one another. "Chris Evans places the broad sword-and-sorcery archetypes squarely in a new and exciting environment" ("New York Times "bestselling author R. A. Salvatore).