A mortal sorcerer sets out to defy the dark magic of an ancient race awakening to wage war on mortals in an epic fantasy of adventure and love by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler. Millennia ago, a magical race called the Aesir found a new home on a distant world. Attracted to the cold during an ice age, they hibernated for hundreds of years at a time. With each awakening, however, they saw their world changed by ever-evolving mortals, encroaching on their territory and way of life. Two civilizations with opposing magic poised to clash, over and over. Now, the Aesir are awakening to wage a new war—this time to exterminate their enemy once and for all. Robinson Hawksley is an elocutionist at the Invisible College who has perfected a way of teaching speech that relies on harnessing the intelligences that create magic to train the sorcerers. The world needs more sorcerers to protect against the looming Aesir threat, and Robinson’s newest charge is McKenna Foster, a barrister’s daughter rendered deaf after a bout with a plague unleashed by the Aesir. As progress develops between them and they grow ever closer, there also comes a strange connection to the Aesir—one that crosses the boundaries of time itself and the unfathomable mysteries of the Unseen Powers. Emerging from their icy fortresses, the Aesir begin their bombardment. Can Robinson and McKenna, brought together by magic, stop an endless war with powers even they have yet to fully understand?

A husband and wife brought together by magic strive to stop a war of the worlds in an epic adventure of hope, sorcery, and secrets by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler. What humankind feared the most has come to the Awakening of the Aesir, an ancient race who rose with an implacable vengeance to wage war on mortals through bombardments and plague. Two people gifted with magic and ingenuity strive to stop them. Professor Robinson Hawksley, an elocutionist in the Invisible College, prepares to exhibit his invention to the world. Using sound to defeat the enemy could change the course of the war. It’s invaluable to the military. Even more so to a conniving rival who’ll do anything to prove its patent as her own. An extraordinary obstacle could stand in the Robinson’s new wife, McKenna, robbed of her hearing by an Aesir scourge, is otherwise blessed with mysterious powers she’s only beginning to comprehend. She’s also harboring a secret that could get her killed. As a very human war escalates inside the Invisible College, a supernatural one with the Aesir rages outside. But are love and sorcery enough for Robinson and McKenna to conquer both?