Ambassador Edric Saran is having an uncommonly rough year. Living as an exile in Tressia, the city of his ancestral enemies, he’s surrounded by a bodyguard he doesn’t trust, and expected to do a job that no one – least of all Edric himself – takes very seriously. When Edric becomes the chief suspect in a murder, he and a young noblewoman join forces in order to bring the real killer to account. But Edric soon realises the murder was only one strand in a tangled web of mortal and immortal scheming. Hunted by the law, and pursued by vengeful servants of half-forgotten gods, Edric soon learns that there’s more at stake than clearing his name. Will he discover the truth before the Shadow of the Raven descends upon the world, and the war between the living and the dead begins?

Arrogance is more dangerous than a sword. At long last, there is peace between the Tressian Republic and the Hadari Empire. But it is not welcomed by all. Leaders from both realms watch their counterparts with suspicion, expecting the swift return of the centuries-long war. But mortals are not the only ones readying for strife. Deep below the Contested Lands, cultists labour to rouse ancient evils from slumber. In the skies above, the legendary serathi, handmaidens of the Radiant, have at last returned from their self-imposed exile. But why now? Once again, it falls to Edric Saran and his allies to unravel the mystery before it's too late. The Light of the Radiant has the power to change everything, but at what cost?