The Swords of El Cid (City of Old Gods)

A fantasy set in the alt-historical world of Starybogow that features conspiracies in the court of Ferdinand and IsabellaThe year is 1502, and the Eldar Gods are furious! They seek a doorway into this world, but Catherine of Aragon and Fymurip Azat have other plans. On a mission for the Hanseatic League and hot off their adventures in The Cross of Saint Boniface, they enter Spain seeking to steal Tizona, the fabled sword of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, aka El Cid, one of the finest Medieval warriors of Spain. Their way is fraught with dangers incalculable: spirit bulls, treacherous goblins, relentless wolfmen, and cherub swarms, and when the Spanish Inquisition sniffs out their trail, their mission grows even deadlier. But the most dangerous foe they face may be Catherine’s parents, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. They have secured Spain under one banner, but are they true rulers of the Christian God, or are their personal alliances suspect at best? Catherine faces the ultimate decision: honor the mission, or honor her familial obligations. Death and madness may lay in both directions, and on the very borders of Europe, the Mamluks of Egypt and the Ottomans of Turkey, lay in wait for any opportunity to strike. Catherine and Fymurip must tread boldly but carefully, or the world will fall into darkness and fire.

About the Author

For the past 20 years, Robert E Waters has served in the gaming industry, first as a Managing Editor at The Avalon Hill Game Company, and then as a producer, designer, and writer for several computer game studios. He is currently a designer at Breakaway LTD. He is a valued author for Zmok Publishing Robert has been publishing fiction professionally since 2003, with his first sale to Weird Tales, “The Assassin’s Retirement Party.” Since then, he has sold over 25 stories to various online and print magazines and anthologies, including stories to Padwolf Publishing, The Black Library (Games Workshop), Dragon Moon Press, Marietta Publishing, Dark Quest Books, Mundania Press, Nth Degree/Nth Zine, Cloud Imperium Games, and the online magazine The Grantville Gazette, which publishes stories set in Baen Book’s best-selling alternate history series, 1632/Ring of Fire. Most recently, Robert has put his editorial skills to task by co-editing the anthology Fantastic Futures 13 (Padwolf Publishing) which features science fiction and fantasy stories about Earth’s potential future. From time to time, he also writes short fiction reviews for Tangent Online. He also served for seven years as an assistant editor for Weird Tales. Robert is currently living in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife Beth, their son Jason, their cat Buzz, and a menagerie of tropical fish who like to play among the ruins of a sunken Spanish Galleon. His website can be found at www.roberternestwaters.com.

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