Battlemage

An action-packed and magic-fuelled fantasy novel from a British debut author, Stephen Aryan's Battlemage features mages fighting an empire-spanning war for a homeland that fears and despises them

'I can command storms, summon fire and unmake stone. Animals have nothing interesting to say and no one can see the future, because it has not been written,' growled Balfruss. 'It's dangerous to meddle with things you don't understand.'

Balfruss is a battlemage, one of a vanishing breed, sworn to fight and die for a country that fears and despises him.

Vargus is a common soldier - while mages shoot lightning from the walls of his city, he's down in the front lines getting blood on his blade.

Talandra is a princess and spymaster, but the war will force her to take up a greater responsibility, and make the greatest sacrifice of all.

Known for their unpredictable, dangerous power, society has left battlemages untrained and shunned. But when a force unlike anything ever imagined attacks their home, the few remaining magic users must go to war - to save those who fear them most, and herald in a new age of peace, built upon the corpses of their enemies.

About the Author

Stephen Aryan was born in 1977 and raised by the sea in the North East of England. He started reading fantasy at a young age and cites among his early influences Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Ursula Le Guin, Terry Brooks, David Eddings and David Gemmell. He currently lives in West Yorkshire and when he's not sampling real ales or walking in the hills, he can be found reading and writing fantasy.