Scepters — L.E. Modesitt Jr.

With each new volume of the Corean Chronicles we learn more about the magical underpinnings of the fascinating world of Corus, as we follow the continuing adventures of the reluctant hero, Alucius. In Legacies he became the first Iron Valley militiaman to escape sorcerous enslavement in Madrien. In Darknesses, he found a way to defeat a would-be conqueror who revived the fearsome creatures and potent weaponry of the legendary past. Now he returns to face the greatest challenges yet to both his courage and his magical talent.

Newly promoted to higher rank, and given command of a combined force of the Northern and Southern Guards, Alucius must first quell a strange religiously-inspired rebellion and then find a way to destroy the powerful weapons of ancient design again being used by the forces of Madrien. Alucius can see that a third, covert threat must be behind the other two. He will have to confront an alien evil that seeks to enslave the whole world of Corus in the guise of bringing back a lost golden age. Scepters is a stirring climax to the first Corean trilogy.