How is power gained, retained and exercised; and what happens to a power structure when a young girl with magical abilities hacks and slashes her way into the very core of its apparatus? In a magical city that travels through multiple dimensions, a young girl named Hemlock has risen from being a lowly cutpurse to discovering that she is a powerful fighter. Under the guidance of an aging freedom fighter named Safreon, Hemlock battles to keep the peace in her run down district, while across the City the upper class Elites enjoy peace, prosperity and freedom. The Wizard Tower looms in the center of the City, casting a long shadow over its affairs. The Wizards rule behind the scenes, dictating and controlling the use of magic. Hemlock instinctively feels that the Wizards are her enemies, but Safreon will not discuss openly opposing them, as he seeks to methodically mentor Hemlock, and advance his own cryptic plans for the City. Hemlock makes a decision to make a bold attack on the Wizard Tower alone, convinced that she can destroy or undo whatever method the Wizards are using to control and ration magic. As the novel opens, we join Hemlock just after she has infiltrated the Wizard Tower, learning what happens through a narrative interspersed with flashbacks to events leading up to the attack. Look for the next volume in the series scheduled for release in spring 2012!

Hemlock realizes that the life of a leader is more complex and tiresome than she anticipated. Feeling burdened by her many responsibilities, she yearns for the freedom of adventure. When Tored arrives from the Witch Crags with information about the likely location of another powerful Wand, she seizes the opportunity to embark on a new quest. Before she leaves, she entrusts a secret book into the possession of Merit, a mechanical gnome who is developing an affinity for history and lore. Merit begins to uncover an ancient narrative in those dusty pages—and he soon realizes it's the tale of the creation of the Wizard Tower itself! Meanwhile Hemlock and Tored begin what they expect will be a simple quest to a mysterious vale nestled deep in the Witch Crags. But the adventure has several surprises in store for them... Will Hemlock understand her ever evolving role amidst rapidly changing circumstances? And can she unite the City in time to resist the menace of the legacy of a dead God?

Hemlock has retreated back into the shadows of the Warrens, content, for a time, to gather her strength. But she knows a new enemy is returning to the City—a titan of the past with an ambition to rule with an iron hand. When rogue wizards move against the eastern mountains, it becomes clear that DuLoc's campaign has begun—even if the man himself has not yet arrived. Gwineval marshals the forces of the City to resist DuLoc's plans, but Hemlock feels she must take a different path. She makes a decision to forgo the initial campaign to pursue what she hopes will be a greater boon. But she doesn't anticipate another dark presence standing between her and her goals. She must face this unanticipated foe in order to advance her plans to save the City.

Hemlock has returned to the City with her former lover, Falignus. But he is not the same man he was when he left. As she begins to piece together the threads of her path toward confronting DuLoc, Hemlock is forced to grapple with the morality of controlling the wizards and the Senate. Can she lead them without coercing them? And will their coalition be strong enough to liberate the City from the threat of DuLoc's ambitions? These questions and more are answered in the epic conclusion to Hemlock's adventures!