I found this series completely by accident thanks to a customer at Turns and Tales. He raved about the series and was extremely happy that we were able to order the books. I thought it looked intriguing so I went down the rabbit hole and ordered the first in the series.
Our story begins with Tungdil, the only Blacksmith left in his little village which lies in one of five enchanted realms. These realms are ruled by Magi. Tungdil’s foster father sends him on an errand to return some artifacts belonging to a former student of Tungdil’s father. To return these articles, Tungdil must travel to the secondling dwarf kingdom. During his journey he meets twins from the secondling kingdom. The secondling twins lead Tungdil to a fortress in their kingdom known as Ogre’s Death.
Along the way, they encounter orcs and various other magical creatures, while avoiding death from an enchanted Magus known as Nudin the Knowledge-Lusty. Nudin has fallen under a spell from the Perished Lands. The Perished lands is not land but an evil spirit that corrupts those around it. Under the spell of evil from the Perished Lands, Nudin eventually corrupts the Magi to steal their protected forcefields in order to use them for his own needs.
We soon discover that the Perished Land infiltrated and successfully destroyed many kingdoms many eons ago and many died during the destruction. Those who died on lands that were corrupted are seen and raised as revenants to serve the spirit from the Perished Land. However, there are some revenants whose spirits are far too strong for even the Perished Lands evil.
Tungdil discovers that he owns a book that is, essentially, an instruction manual on how to defeat Nudin. He must forge an axe. The hilt must come from a certain tree, it must carry a certain name and the metal must be steel and finally, runes must be engraved on this special axe.
During his journey, and subsequent battle for his and many other lives, Tungdil discovers that though he is adopted, he will always be Dwarf and wages battle for all those lost to the Perished Lands.
There are six books in total in this series and I have only just begun.
