It all starts with a mischievous boy throwing a ripe tomato at a city guard None of the guildmasters of the powerful city-state of Ness think twice when they are given the opportunity to creatively humiliate Ralan Miller, the younger brother of a fellow guildmaster and an all-around public nuisance. Yet that fateful decision changes everything and launches an epic story that includes sarcastic rogues, heroes with hidden pasts, shady assassins, cruel guildmasters, and a litany of other interesting characters. Behind it all is the fascinating world of Ness, which is slowly seen to be teetering on the edge of invasion and civil war. Full of political intrigue, a secret past, and layers that are revealed bit by tantalizing bit, The Guildmaster Thief is a tour de force of worldbuilding, storytelling, and colorful characters. The first book in an epic fantasy series by Nebula-nominated author Jake Kerr, The Guildmaster Thief is the story of Ralan, a street rat who rises to become the guildmaster of Ness' underworld.

At the end of book one of Jake Kerr's rollicking Guildmaster Thief series, Ralan Miller was looking over a calm city that had withstood a traitorous power struggle by his brother Larsen, the Guildmaster Merchant. In this astonishing second book in the series, Larsen pushes subtlety aside and provokes all-out civil war as he assaults the members of the Harvest Guild. With the city in flames, Ralan must somehow assist the Harvest Guild, rally the defense of their burning neighborhoods, calm the nerves of the Outlanders, and figure out how to stop his brother. And as if that weren't enough, a double agent he can't quite trust reveals that the guildmaster of the Craft guild has his own plans for conquering the city. Meanwhile, Maela, the Thieves Guild Blade, makes an astonishing discovery—there is a city hidden across the mountains—a city run by wizards. As she recovers from her arduous trip through the mountains, Maela realizes that her kind magical hosts may not be so kind, and that she is a prisoner, not a guest. Featuring a rich tapestry of intrigue, politics, secrets, colorful characters, and a complex world where seemingly no one can be trusted, this second book of the Guildmaster Thief series further reveals the compelling secret history of the city state of Ness and its cutthroat guilds.