2009 Moonbeam Fantasy Award Winner for Excellence in Literature Named Dragonroots Magazine's Best New Fantasy Saga of 2009 The characters in Farmers & Mercenaries are well-developed. Their stories are told in alternating chapters, and readers easily become invested in the fate of each. The pace of the book is quick and the story lines solid. Readers will turn pages late into the night just to find out what will happen next. With Farmers & Mercenaries, fans of the fantasy genre have another group of characters to get to know and love. I can't wait for the next in the series. -Lindsey Losnedahl - Las Vegas Review Journal ...by the end I was mesmerized so that I could not put it down till I had finished it. Drake does a good job of developing the characters and melding their paths throughout the book. The ending was a good set up for book two so I can hardly wait to see how the story continues. -Antya Gilson - Paper Dragon Ink The deeper you read, the more drawn into the story and characters you will become. I am looking forward to more books by Maxwell Alexander Drake and Imagined Interprises, Inc. -Amber Campbell - Fantasy Book Reviewer, Examiner.com In a sleepy farming stead, a young man, Alant Cor, is found to be one of the few Humans who can manipulate the Essence. And, not simply manipulate it. Alant has more power over this magical force than any Human in known history. Does his younger brother, Arderi Cor, possess the same ability, or something more sinister? Clytus Rillion, the commander of a mercenary troop, embarks on a quest to cure his dying son, Sindian. Though he doubts he will survive the journey, he will pay any price to save his son's life. The beast, known only as Klain, born a slave and now used to entertain the masses in a bloodthirsty sport known as the Games, finds out his true value to those who own him lies with his death. All are resigned to walk the paths fate has put them upon. Yet, is this of their own accord? Or, is an ancient and powerful race, the Elmorr'Antiens, manipulating the other inhabitants of Talic'Nauth? Change is falling upon the Plane. Some Elmorr'Antiens are making preparations to weather the storms ahead - others intend to use the coming chaos to seize power over all the races. Follow these seemingly unrelated lives as their paths are set on a course that none can hope to survive. Readers of the Genesis of Oblivion Saga will immerse themselves in the depth of a unique world culture, the grandeur of its civilizations, and the sheer awe of more than ninety-six thousand years of history!

Thrust into an Essence Node by what he thought were his benevolent teachers, Alant Cor has transcended the bonds of reality to become the first Mah'Sukai to walk the Plane of Talic'Nauth in thousands of years. Now, he must not only learn to deal with his new powers before they overwhelm and destroy him, he must also escape the wrath of those who hunt him. Alant's brother, Arderi Cor, has joined the ranks of the mysterious Tat'Sujen Order. He is elated with the newfound powers this secret order has awakened within him. Apprehension grips him, however, by the task they set before him - kill a newly discovered Mah'Sukai before this person gains mastery of their powers. These two brothers find themselves on the opposite side of a forgotten war whose beginning is lost in time. One brother is bent on survival, while the other follows Tat'Sujen orders, thinking he must, to save all he holds dear. Both are set on a collision course with fate. Unbeknownst to the brothers, a strange, gray-skinned girl named Elith also travels this fateful course. Raised from birth for one purpose - to capture a Mah'Sukai should one return to the Plane of Talic'Nauth. Elith's master, known only as the Revered Father, desires this new Mah'Sukai to further his own gains. Yet, turmoil boils within her. Is this her true purpose? Is she really the only member of her race in this world of Humans? If so, why does she doubt everything she has been taught by the priests? Klain, the beast, seeks his place as a free being in the world of Humans. It is a life he has never known. Yet, is he truly free? Or, is he just another pawn in a larger, more sinister game? As the magical race of the Elmorr'Antiens reaches out to manipulate the other inhabitants of Talic'Nauth, an even greater power pulls their strings from the shadows. A force, forgotten and unknown to the inhabitants of the Plane, exerts its power to control all the players. How will this power shape the events that unfold as these hapless adventurers spiral toward an inevitable meeting?

Twenty years before Clytus Rillion took his mercenary troop into the Nektine Mountains to find a cure for his dying son, his career as a Tat'Sujen had just begun. This is the tale of how he met his best friend and Leftenant, Ragnor De'haln.