Burdens of the dead : Heirs of Alexandria. Vol. 4

Sequel to Much Fall of Blood, book 4 in the Heirs of Alexandria series. Civilization at the crossroads. In an alternate Renaissance where magic works, a captain of Italian forces must deal with gods, goddesses and warfare in order to save his daughter at the siege of Constantinople—and prevent a new dark age. In an alternate 15th century where magic still is part of life, the Holy Roman Empire rules Europe. Constantinople is under siege by the Venetians and their allies. Hekate, Goddess of Crossroads, presides over the conflict and carnage as alternate visions of civilization collide. And since Constantinople is the crossroad city of east and west, and it is here that Italian captain Benito Valdosta must deal with the powerful magical manifestation of the Weeping Woman, a disguised Hekate, in order to save his daughter and to destroy the fleets of the Chernobog assembling in the Black Sea before they can cut into the soft underbelly of Europe. With land battle, naval action, cunning assassinations, and heartbreak aplenty—not to mention the ongoing conflict between Lord of the Dead Aidonus and Benito for the love of a woman, civilization is at the crossroads and choices must be made that will bring victory and freedom for centuries to come—or a new Dark Age. About the Heirs of Alexander series: “In this world, broken off from ours in A.D. 349. . . Christian magic battles blackest sorcery. . . making for hours of old-fashioned reading fun . . . Lackey, Flint and Freer [are] mixmasters of nearly every heard-of myth.” Publishers Weekly "[V]ast and absorbing. . .it is almost impossible to put it down while the tension remains high. . .Lackey and associates' areas of expertise, including naval history and classical mythology, are smoothly blended.”— Booklist About the Author Mercedes Lackey is the New York Times best-selling author of the Bardic Voices series and the Serrated Edge series (both Baen), the Heralds of Valdemar series, and many more. Among her popular Baen titles are The Fire Rose , The Lark and the Wren , and The Shadow of the Lion (with Eric Flint and Dave Freer). She lives in Oklahoma. Eric Flint is a modern master of alternate history fiction, with over three million books in print . HeвЂTMs the author/creator of the New York Times best-selling Ring of Fire series. With David Drake he has written six popular novels in the “Belisarius” alternate Roman history series, and with David Weber collaborated on 1633 and 1634 : The Baltic War . Flint was for many years a labor union activist. He lives in Chicago, Illinois. Dave Freer is an ichthyologist turned author who lives on Flinders Island (between mainland Australia and Tasmania) with his wife, four dogs and four cats, and two sons. He has coauthored a range of novels with Eric Flint ( Rats, Bats and Vats , The Rats, the Bats and the Ugly , Pyramid Scheme , and Pyramid Power ), with Mercedes Lackey and Eric Flint ( The Shadow of the Lion , This Rough Magic , The Wizard of Karres , Much Fall of Blood and FreerвЂTMs solo entry in the series, A Mankind Witch ) as well as writing the DragonвЂTMs Ring novels DragonвЂTMs Ring and Dog and Dragon. In an alternate 16th century where magic is still is part of life, the Holy Roman Empire rules Europe. Constantinople is under siege by the Venetians and their allies. The great city is the crossroads of east and west, and it is here that the power of Hekate, the Weeping Woman, Goddess of Crossroads, is at its greatest. Italian captain Benito Valdosta must deal with her deadly magic in order to destroy the fleets of the Chernobog assembling in the Black Sea before they can cut into the soft underbelly of Europe. Then, in the midst of this struggle, Benito discovers that his infant daughter has been abducted by agents of Venice's most resolute enemy, Duke Visconti of Milan. He must set off to her rescue, knowing that he will surely face his own father to do so - for Italy's greatest condottiere, the Wolf of the North Carlo Sforza, is in command of the evil duke's armies. With land battles, naval action, assassinations, and heartbreak aplenty - not to mention the ongoing conflict between the Lord of the Dead and Benito for the love of a woman - civilization is at the crossroads. Choices must be made that will bring victory and freedom for centuries to come - or plunge the world into a new dark age. The sequel to "Much Fall of Blood" and book 4 in the Heirs of Alexandria series. Civilization is at a crossroads. In an alternate Renaissance where magic works, a captain of Italian forces must deal with gods, goddesses, and warfare in order to save his daughter at the siege of Constantinople. A Venetian siege on alternate-universe Constantinople finds Italian captain Benito Valdosta battling a magical manifestation of Hekate in order to save his daughter and destroy the fleets of the Chernobog, an effort that is complicated by Aidonus's resolve to claim the woman Benito loves.