Is this the hill on which you want to die?Garak-Nur should be dead by now. At thirty-five years old, the grizzled orc war chief has outlived most of his kind. His tusks are worn, his knee aches from old wounds, and younger warriors eye his position with hungry ambition.When a silver-tongued messenger arrives offering glory in service to the Witch-King of the North, Garak knows the promises are nothing more than gilded chains. Rather than watch his clan march into slavery, Garak makes an impossible choice. In the dead of night, he leads his most loyal warriors away from everything they've ever known, venturing into the wilderness to carve out a new home.But the exodus is only the beginning. Finding shelter in abandoned dwarven ruins built above a dragon's lair, the newly formed Black Pine Clan must fight to survive the coming winter, rival orc bands, and the simmering resentments within their own ranks. As challenges to his leadership mount and his own harems turn against him, Garak faces battle after battle, both with sword and with words. Each conflict forces him to ask the same crucial question: Is this the hill on which I want to die?In a world where strength is everything and weakness means death, one aging warrior must choose which battles are worth fighting and which are better left for another day. Joe Vasicek fell in love with science fiction and fantasy when he read The Neverending Story as a child. He is the author of more than twenty books, including Genesis Earth, Gunslinger to the Stars, The Sword Keeper, and the Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic at Brigham Young University and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus Mountains. He lives in Utah with his wife, daughter, and two apple trees.
