King Bragi Ragnarson decides to join Chatelain Mist’s coup against the Dread Empire. Varthlokkur — the King’s wizard — tries to dissuade Ragnarson from this chosen path, but only the drum-beat of war is heard. The King’s Spymaster Michael Trebilcock joins with the wizard to stave off *The Ill Fate Marshalling* , to no effect. Many of the characters from past volumes take center stage, and the climatic events of this book shake the world of the Dread Empire to its very core, creating *A Path to Coldness of Heart*. Glen Cook’s final Dread Empire novel was to have been published 20 years ago, but the manuscript was stolen, and the fate of The Dread Empire has been in Limbo — until now! Night Shade is proud to present the long delayed final Dread Empire Trilogy, of which *An Ill Fate Marshaling* is Volume 2.