NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR: The first epic fantasy in an “intricate, intriguing” saga set in a conflicted land of humans, elves, and dwarves (Booklist). The weight of the world rests on the shoulders of twin royal heirs as their enemies, both human and not, threaten the only home they’ve ever known. For generations the misty Shadowline has marked the boundary between the lands of men and the lost northern lands of their inhuman enemies, the ageless Qar. But now that boundary line is moving outward, threatening to engulf the northernmost land in which humans still live—the kingdom of Southmarch.
For centuries, the Eddon family has ruled Southmarch Castle, guarding the border against the Qar’s return, but now this powerful royal line has been dealt a devastating blow. King Olin is held captive in a distant land, and it falls to his inexperienced heirs to lead their people in a time of growing danger and dread.
It is on the two youngest Eddons that the heaviest burdens fall. As the Qar’s power reaches out across their land, will Southmarch Castle—the only home they’ve ever known—become in fact what it has long been called . . . Shadowmarch?