by Anders, Lou
This soldier, named Acmon the Anvil, uses the horn to enslave the dragon Orma and lead a rebellion against the Gordion Empire in Ambracia.
✥ 386 EE: Acmon and Orma are turned to stone by the Gordion Empire. The great dragon Orm flees to Sardeth, upset at the empire. When he arrives, he burns the city to the ground.
✥ 172 EE: The Gordion Empire is divided into the Northern Empire and the Southern Empire.
✥ 137 EE: After he conquers the north and reunites the Gordion Empire, Emperor Gordas rechristens the city of Ambracia as Nova Gordion (but the name is not popular, and the locals call the city Gordasha instead).
✥ 3 AG: The official end of the Gordion Empire. Many new kingdoms are founded, and many old ones throw off the Gordion yoke. Collectively, they are sometimes called the Ember Kingdoms because they sprang from the ashes of the Gordion Empire. A remnant of the empire survives as the Sacred Gordion Supremacy, which makes its capital at Gordasha.
✥ 832 AG: Yarak Uskir forms the Uskirian Empire. He charges his successors with seizing Gordasha.
✥ 876 AG: Failed Siege of Gordasha by Kagrak the Nearly Great.
✥ 920 AG: The Thican Strait falls fully under the rule of the Sacred Gordion Supremacy, but non-Thicans are expelled from Thica. The Great Chain between Gordasha and the Fortress of Atros is covered by treaty.
✥ 923 AG: Failed Siege of Gordasha by Orzob the Almost Magnificent.
✥ 928 AG: Failed Siege of Gordasha by Shunk the Reasonably Impressive.
✥ 929 AG: Herzeria is conquered by Shunk the Now More Than Reasonably Impressive. Galdachian, Herzerian, Rosnian, and Turman forces, combined with forces from the Sacred Gordion Supremacy and a few troops drawn from Escoraine and Nelenia, undertake a grand crusade. 16,000 Crusaders meet 15,000 Uskirians. Herzeria falls, and the Uskirians slaughter almost 3,000 captured soldiers, while ransoming captured nobles. The scale of the defeat discourages further crusades. Rosnia, Galdachia, and the Sacred Gordion Supremacy are now the major impediment to Uskirian expansion (although the undesirable Rosnia climate forces most expansion attempts to be directed southward, while the Muspilli mountain range, home to fire giants and volcanoes, proves its own effective barrier).
✥ 985 AG: The events of the novel Frostborn.
✥ 986 AG: Under the leadership of Shambok Yargul, known as Shambok Who Borders on Spectacular, the Uskirians lay siege to the city of Gordasha.
Thanks to my beta readers this round: Justin Anders, Judith Anderson, Logan Ertel, Howard Andrew Jones, Janet Lewis, J. F. Lewis, Jay Requard, and Cindi Stehr. Thanks to Jonathan Anders for insightful comments about the rules of Charioteers™ and help with the play-testing. Additional thanks are also due to Jay Requard for his expert opinion on swords and their classifications and merits. Thanks to James Enge for helping me to clarify some elements of Greek mythology. Thanks again to Trond-Atle Farestveit for help with my Norrønian pronunciation.
Thanks to my agent, Barry Goldblatt of Barry Goldblatt Literary. Thanks to my editor at Crown Books for Young Readers, Phoebe Yeh, and to Random House Children’s Books publisher Barbara Marcus. Thanks to Rachel Weinick, editorial assistant; Cassie McGinty, associate publicist; Alison Kolani, director of copyediting; Isabel Warren-Lynch, executive art director; and Ken Crossland, senior designer. Thanks to Julianna N. Wilson, my audiobook producer at Penguin Random House Audio’s Listening Library; to my audiobook director, Christina Rooney; and to my fabulous narrator, Fabio Tassone. Thanks to Dominique Cimina, director, publicity and corporate communication. And to everyone who worked on the incredible ThronesandBones.com site.
Once again, thanks to Justin Gerard for his awe-inspiring artwork, to Robert Lazzaretti for his marvelous maps, and to Andrew Bosley for the wonderful work that appears on the Thrones and Bones website.
Finally, and always, thanks to my wonderful family for their love and support.
Lou Anders drew on his adventures traveling across Europe in his teens and twenties to write Nightborn, combining those experiences with his love of globe-trotting adventure fiction and games (both tabletop and role-playing). However, he has yet to ride a wyvern. With the addition of characters Desstra and Tanthal, Anders hopes that his second book in the Thrones and Bones series will continue to appeal to boys and girls equally. Anders is the recipient of a Hugo Award for editing and a Chesley Award for art direction. He has published over five hundred articles and stories on science fiction and fantasy television and literature. A prolific speaker, Anders regularly attends writing conventions around the country. He and his family reside in Birmingham, Alabama. You can visit Anders online at louanders.com and ThronesandBones.com, on Facebook, on Tumblr, and on Twitter at @ThronesandBones.