Leviathan: part one (2nd edition) (Covenant)

Weaponsmasters. Assassins of legend. In their final trials one either joins their ranks, or dies. They are known simply as the Guild. And now comes the youngest ever to gain their favour. He knows only one faith: that of the Guild; he knows only one reality: that of the sword; and he believes in only one principle: cause and effect. Though the Guild is built upon piety, he keeps a dread secret--that he denies the existence of any god. What he doesn't know, what he cannot know, is that his faithlessness may force him down a path that leads to destruction. Each step he takes immerses him more deeply in the schemes of kings and killers, monsters and mages, of the faithful and faithless. Tithonus, the king of Khoralon, chooses Regin as part of guard for a political delegation of historic importance: to entrench the peace between their beloved nation, and her fearsome rival to the north--Radaman. Regin must begin to play a game he doesn't know he is playing. Joining him are three weaponsmasters of great skill: the ogre Chiron, the minotaur Kael, and the dwarf Daric. He has two more companions--the massive wolves Loki and Kasmir, as intelligent as any man. These six start a journey from the palaces of the highest royalty to the whorehouses of the deepest slums, learning piece by piece that everything they do risks the ruination of nations and the enslavement of peoples. Swirling about them are multitudes of players--knights fierce and foul; ruthless women; creatures bred for war. Each man has his own designs, each woman her own machinations--and every gambit they use forces moves and countermoves, each more dangerous than the last. It is a fantasy world inspired much by the philosophical ruminations of Thomas Hobbes, where life is nasty, brutish, and short. There is too the final, horrifying truth: at the center of everything swirls the mystery of the Leviathan, the one foretold to be the scourge of gods, and the fall of man. Here, then, is the first of four volumes, Leviathan, book one of Covenant. In this second edition is a map of the continent of Araman, and a glossary of names and units of measure to help navigate it.

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