Stonewielder (Malazan Empire Book 3)

Stonewielder continues the Malazan Empire series, following multiple storylines across a richly detailed fantasy world. Greymane, a former Fist of the Malazan Empire, has left the mercenary company known as the Crimson Guard and attempted to build a new life. However, his past proves difficult to escape, particularly given that he remains under a sentence of death from the Empire. A new Emperor now rules Malaz and has become preoccupied with the Empire's failed invasion of Korel. Answers to this military disaster may lie in vaults beneath Unta, the Imperial capital, where the name Stonewielder emerges from buried history. Meanwhile, in Korel, Lord Protector Hiam commands the Stormguard and faces potential catastrophe. With dwindling forces and a deteriorating defensive wall, he confronts an ancient threat: the sea-borne Stormriders have returned. The narrative weaves together these conflicts as part of the larger Malazan Empire saga.