Cade begins his narration by asking the reader to imagine a "wizard" and then informs us that if we're seeing an old man with a long beard and pointy hat that we're idiots who've read too many fairy tales. He then drops straight into a battle where he and his fellow mercenary "wonderists" are laying siege to a city. Cade himself is pretending to be a wonderist who's magic is tied to the plane of Fortune, but in reality bargains for spells with the Infernals. His closest friend is a "thunderer" who is known to laugh as his lightning shatters walls and crushes defenders. Wonderists take on physical and mental traits from their plane of attunement, so they're a truly motley crew. This particular battle is taking place because the city refuses to recognize the latest religious leader chosen by the Lords Celestine, or gods of the Celestial plane. Personally, Cade believes that the Lords Celestine have lost their minds and he plans to murder the asshole who employs them. Cade's murder mission is interrupted when his fellow wonderists decide to kill him because the Glorian Justiciars have arrived. His ties to the Infernal plane aren't as secret as he thought, so Cade's fellow wonderists plan to kill him in the hopes that it will distract the Justiciars long enough for the rest of them to escape. Remember, just when things look bad they can always get worse..

James Crowley is a former outlaw who didn't always make the best choices in life, but he has no regrets about the choice that ended it. Crowley was as rough as they come, but he did have his limits. That turned out not to be a good fit with the leader of his gang, who eventually ended him for standing up to prevent the rape of a captured woman. Perhaps it was that final act of redemption that caused the White Throne to interrupt his journey to hell and select him to serve as a Black Badge, but he doesn't really know that. In fact, he doesn't really know much. His handler, Shar, sends him to deal with the darker evils that roam the American West: nephalem, werewolves, shapeshifters, and yetis, just to name a few. That makes him part bounty hunter, and part supernatural sheriff, but he has no earthly authority, so he is constantly trying to figure out how to take care of his quarry without revealing to everyone else that he himself is undead.

Although author Michael Moorcock announced that Elric was retiring after 30 years back in 1992, he decided to honor the 60 year anniversary of his most beloved character with one last adventure. Melniboneans can command dragons and tremendous sorcery because their ancestors, the immortal Phroon, were half dragon themselves. As part of his education Elric was sent on dream quests and in some he met his "Aunt", the sister of the first Emperor of Melnibone, who tutored him in sorcery, became his lover, and invited him to visit someday. After destroying his homeland and the tragic death of his cousin caused by Stormbringer, the sorcerer Elric of Melnibone started wandering through the lands known as the Younger Kingdoms. Along the way he was befriended by the jovial adventurer Moonglum who joins Elric on a perilous journey off the edge of the map and onto the flip side of their world (everyone knows the world is flat) to find the mysterious Phroon and his Aunt. Thanks to Moonglum's current girlfriend they have found a merchant ship brave enough to attempt the plunge off the edge of the world in search of exotic goods they can take back to the Younger Kingdoms. Surviving the plunge is only the first of many dangers Elric and Moonglum face as they journey through a strange continent and Elric gets entangled in his Aunt's schemes.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is my least favorite work by Shakespeare and at this point book shelves are collapsing under the weight of books with Fey or Faerie characters, so this book was a nice surprise. Author Sydney Cobb apparently likes Midsummer enough to ponder the identity of the child that Oberon and Titania were fighting over and realized there had to be a lot more to the story than Shakespeare knew. Of course the first thing Robin Goodfellow tells us is that Shakespeare didn't get the story quite right in the first place. The second thing he tells us is that he was still young and impulsive back then before admitting that not much has changed. It took a few hundred years but Titania has finally figured out why Oberon wanted her handmaid's child and she complained to her older sister Mab, Queen of the Gray Court, as opposed to Oberon's Green Court, who is now threatening war for the sake of her sister's honor. Naturally, Oberon has turned to his favorite and most trusted courtier to keep the half-fey boy hidden. Matching wits with Mab is exactly as difficult as Robin expects but he's determined to save the young man he loves like a brother even if it costs his immortal life in this twisty faerie-tale.

Alustin, called the Last Loyal Son of Helecote, is poised to get revenge on just about everyone when he detonates the Tongue Eater in Haveth City. He just has to get it there and keep everyone distracted while he does it. To that end he has assembled an army of Powers from Helicote's former allies. He has told them that The Last Echo of the Lord of Bells, the death curse promised by the Lich of Helicote as he died, will shatter Haveth City's defenses and that the Chitin Wand, stolen from Skyhold along with the Tongue Eater, will destroy the city if they can use it at the right spot. But Alustin has refused to tell them what the Last Echo is and failed to mention the Tongue Eater at all because these "allies" failed to come to Helicote's aid when the Dominion destroyed them. He too will die, but its worth it to get his revenge. There's just one minor problem. According to Kanderon as she "died", detonating the Tongue Eater won't just destroy Haveth City, it will destroy the entire continent. As the Haveth Dominion rallies their strongest Powers and Kanderon's allies race to stop Alustin everyone ends up in a dramatic three-way battle full of magic and chaos.

I really liked Blood Song and was hoping for something similar in its sequel, Tower Lord. The first book was basically Vaelin's life story in his own words. Tower Lord attempts to follow its many plots from all sides which makes it a less coherent novel. The story picks up from the end of Blood Song with Vaelin's return home. As a returning hero, or notorious warrior depending on your point of view, the new King appoints Vaelin as Tower Lord of the Northern Reaches. Vaelin would prefer to search for the missing Brother Frentis, the only dangling plotline from the previous book. Instead he finds himself dealing with aggressive tribes, petty feuds, and a woman out for revenge. One guess which is the most dangerous. Then there is Frentis who finds himself in thrall to a foreign sorceress and Princess Lyra who is determined to find him even if most people think he's dead. The Scribe Venier, who recorded Vaelin's tale in Blood Song, is now serving an Imperial General and relating events as they return the favor and invade Vaelin's country. All of this is the fallout of the traitor and Vaelin's actions in Blood Song but it leaves little room for the character development that was so engrossing in that first book.

Hugh's world has been completely shattered. His teacher Alustin betrayed him and turned Hugh's pact with Kanderon into her downfall. He also stole the cruelest weapon their world has ever produced, the Tongue-Eater, which is capable of stealing a language and rendering its speakers mute for one or more generations. Sabae always suspected that they were a means to an end for Alustin, but not even she predicted his quest for revenge against the Empire would lead to such blatant treachery. With Kanderon presumed dead, and only one injured council member left, Skyhold is broken and leaderless. Hugh is convinced that Kanderon isn't dead and he is willing to do whatever it takes to help her, while his friends concoct a desperate plan to stop Alustin before he unleashes the Tongue-Eater. It's a plan that will literally expose them to multiple new worlds in the process.

Hugh and his friends survived the City of Ithos but Hugh was badly injured in the process. Kanderon's enemies are coming for her, the Splinter, and the Tongue-Eater, which she's had since she originally used the Splinter. She keeps it in the Skyhold Vault with the other things that should never be used. That is, after all, the true purpose of the Librarians Errant of Skyhold, to collect dangerous items and remove them from the world. Back at Skyhold they are preparing the defenses but with most of the Council killed by Bakori there is one wounded councilor, one admitted traitor, and Kanderon who has been gone dealing with Ithos. They may be weaker than usual but Kanderon built Skyhold with strong defenses and she has strengthened her alliance with the other Powers of the Erg desert even if many of them cannot leave their territories.

Sabae thought that Kanderon and Alustin used her and her friends as bait for the demon Bakori, but it turns out that Bakori was not really considered a serious threat. Kanderon and Alustin admit they were wrong about that but they were actually busy preparing for a far worse threat. Given that hundreds of students and most of Skyhold's powerful council died to Bakori, that's saying something. No one knows why the ancient Ithos Empire that once conquered the entire continent suddenly fell apart hundreds of years ago. It fell because they killed the mate and children of a young sphinx named Kanderon who then used her crystal and planar affinities to create what she calls the Splinter, which exiled the capitol of Ithos to a far distant world. She knew it wouldn't last forever but hoped the population would die before the Splinter ran out of power and the city returned. There's no way of knowing when it will reappear, but more than one faction wants to be there when it does. An Empire that opposes the Great Powers like Kanderon wants both the Splinter as well as the Ithos weapon known as the Tongue-Eater. Unfortunately Ithos poses a far greater danger than those powerful items. Kanderon later learned of a race known as the Cold Minds, that devour whole worlds in an effort to escape death. When Ithos returns there is a good chance it will bring the Cold Minds with it, and they devour whole worlds.

Queen Tsiora is a young and unproven leader, so her willingness to ignore the caste system of the Omehi people is making her a lot of enemies. She prefers to name the most capable people to key roles and that includes Tau, who has been named Queen's champion even though he is a lesser. Decisions like that have sparked a rebellion as the Noble caste resists her changes and offers up her sister as the "true queen." This would be problem enough for any ruler, but it is happening at a time when the Omehi people are about to be attacked by a stronger enemy, so fighting amongst themselves is only going to result in their ultimate doom. This dire scenario is bad for the Omehi people, but it is an opportunity for Tau. This infighting provides him a path to the revenge he seeks against Abasi Odili, the Noble who killed his father. Abasi is leading the rebellion in order to maintain the status quo that gives him a permanent advantage over lessers like Tau, and therefore Queen Tsiora has ordered Tau to kill him. That will be no easy task but Tau is ready to sacrifice everything, and everyone, to make it happen.