At long last, the reason for the blessed Adept race's decline has been discovered: powerful beings known as Malorin'athgul are disrupting the Balance and preventing Alorin's Adepts from awakening to their gifts. Who are they? Where are they? And how can they be stopped when they wield a power meant to unmake the universe itself? In T'khendar, Prince Ean val Lorian has forsaken his companions in blood and battle to join the traitorous Fifth Vestal in T'khendar in the hopes of gaining some insight into the tragedies that plagued his return.

After the events the first three books in Melissa McPhail's award-winning epic fantasy series, A Pattern of Shadow and Light, the realm of Alorin remains unbalanced. The Fifth Vestal, Bjorn van Gelderan, has cast his Players on the field. Now they must hold their positions against Malorin'athgul as well as their immortal allies. In Kandori...Prince Ean val Lorian is bound to Bjorn van Gelderan's game and to his sister Isabel, but Ean would rather be free of both of them. Yet he fears the game won't let him.

In Alorin...300 years after the genocidal Adept Wars, the realm is dying, and the blessed Adept race dies with it. One man holds the secret to reverting this decline: Bjorn van Gelderan, a dangerous and enigmatic man whose shocking betrayal three centuries past earned him a traitor's brand. It is the Adept Vestal Raine D'Lacourte's mission to learn what Bjorn knows in the hope of salvaging his race. But first he'll have to find him....

The First Lord's game has reached a critical apex. For the first time in millennia, the teams are equally matched. The field itself holds a kind of equilibrium. It is the task of Björn's Players to unbalance the field in their own favor in their great game to restore Balance to the Realms of Light. But with Malorin'athgul and now Warlocks returned to the realms, the game - and the stakes involved - has elevated to an entirely new order of magnitude, requiring Björn's Players to do the same.

The dead city of Mahadev. In 3,000 years, none who have entered those ageless walls have returned to bear word of what evil lurks within. And yet it is there that Cinder and Anya must journey. A hard road with mysteries and dangers abounding. And the greatest of those perils is imprisoned within the ruined temple at the very center of the necropolis’ dark heart. There, Cinder and Anya are given insight into the terrifying truth the world faces. It is an evil so vast that even the dark god Shet must bow before its will. 

Jason has discovered that his homeworld is not what he thought. What’s more, the rest of the planet is on the precipice of sharing his revelation. With magic on the rise and forces pulling him in multiple directions, Jason is faced with challenges greater than ever before. Even as his power reaches new and incredible heights, he is faced with the realization that going beyond his best is still not enough.

The Dark Legion have been beaten back, and for the first time, the brothers are allied against the savagery that the UnderVerse has thrown at them, but the storm clouds of war are gathering, and not everyone will see the sun rise again. Jax has one chance to keep his people safe from the storm and the war that's building on the horizon, but it'll take balls of steel, brains of mince—and he's really going to need to be lucky as hell to pull this one off. The Legion rises along with their Scion, buoyed aloft on waves of hope, but not all are as dedicated as they may seem.

Finn Harris should have been the one to die. But he wasn't - his wife took his place. What was worse, he only had himself and his company to blame. They let their passion outpace their prudence, determined to revolutionize the world. While all innovation comes with a price, he never imagined it would cost him Rachael. Nearly a decade later, Finn is content to hole himself up and wait out the rest of his life. That is, until his daughter intervenes, forcing him out of his grief and into a new virtual reality game developed by his old employer. They're calling it Awaken Online.

Retiring peacefully in Genshin Valley was never an option for Danzen Ravja, regardless of his intentions. To prevent any more attacks on the defenseless valley he now calls home, Danzen and his yokai companions head west to address the Diyu Brotherhood head-on, to face down two honorable assassins and even more with no honor at all.

Eliza's parents are relentless - forcing her to constantly take extra courses to prepare for college and medical school. Sometimes, it feels like her entire life has already been planned out. Which is why she leaps at the chance to escape into a new virtual reality game, Awaken Online. What she wasn't expecting was to encounter a capricious god and his loyal "pet". Or to be chosen as this god's "avatar" within the game and forced to tackle a series of asinine quests. Yet she just can't shake the feeling that there is more to the irritating god than first meets the eye.

Dante and Blays have a single hope of victory: the Spear of Stars, the long-lost weapon that may be capable of killing the lich. There's just one problem. Though they've learned the spear is real, they've also learned the nine parts of the weapon are guarded by the gods themselves. And they have no intention of handing over their prize. Alone in a strange realm, with no friends or allies, and a growing list of enemies, Dante and Blays' task looks doomed. Yet, they're the last line standing between the lich and the destruction of their whole world.

Mankind has lorded over the land of Illian for a thousand years, building on the ruins left by the elves, as if it were their birthright. A thousand years is a long time for an immortal race to see the truth of things, a truth that has remained unsaid for a millennium - elves are superior. They are faster, stronger, and connected to the magical realm in a way that man could never grasp. Illian should belong to them. 

The Resistance is fractured. The remaining survivors are buckling under the might of the malicious Tyrant King. Enter Roark von Graf, hedge mage, lesser noble of Traisbin, and one of the last freedom fighters. Desperate and unhinged, Roark crafts one final attempt to overthrow the king. The plan goes awry, and Roark finds himself tumbling headfirst into an interdimensional portal. On the other side, he finds himself stranded in an unexpected place - an ultra-immersive fantasy video game called Hearthworld. 

Jax and his people have raided the City of Fallen Souls, but just because you've grabbed the loot doesn't mean you're home free. They need to escape, they need to make changes, and they need to improve on the incomplete and barely manned ships they stole, and with the city, not to mention the Dark Legion gearing for war, he has only one choice available.

Nimon, The God of Death, has named Jax and all who follow him "Apostate" decreeing their death and has dispatched his Dark Legion, the Imperial Legion's antithesis, to see the job done once and for all. Hundreds march on the Great Tower, the seat of Jax's power and home to his resurgent Empire. Unbeknownst to Nimon, Jax and the vast majority of his people are far out to sea, aboard ships that are only partially operational, and the enemy's forces are drawing closer to his home by the hour.