Showing results by author "Gilbert M Stack" in All Categories

After winning a costly clash with Diamonte’s Thegn Clovis and High Mago Deverel, Marcus must find a way to press the attack even though more than half of his Black Hat legionnaires are unable to take the field. Thegn Clovis cannot afford another costly battle so he must turn to High Mago Deverel to conjure victory from defeat. But a lot of magos have been playing with the weather in the past year and succeed or fail, the consequences of Deverel’s efforts could prove devastating for the Jeweled Hills.

Legionnaire is a gritty high fantasy series set on the borders of the far-flung Republic of Aquila. While political in-fighting and scheming are the order of the day in the heart of the Republic, the borderlands are awash with dangers, only kept in check by the might of the legions. Fell magics, savage peoples, and scheming empires all threaten the country Patrician Marcus Venandus has sworn to defend using his wits, military strategy, and his small command of highly disciplined legionnaires.

The Duchy of Winterhaven lies at the edge of human civilization. There, Great Lords scheme to expand their borders and take control of the dukedom. Meanwhile the young knight Dhrugal of Edgefield investigates a most unusual murder, little suspecting how this gruesome crime links to a much greater threat. A decade of relative peace is about to collapse, and only Dhrugal and his brothers and sister stand between Winterhaven and dark-spun chaos.

The war seems to be going well for Marcus, but he has forgotten the most important rule of the Jeweled Cities—alliances are made to be broken. In a world where even the ethnic peoples of the north—Gota, Gente and Qing—cannot remain united against the other peoples, how can Marcus convince them to remain true to their commitments to an outsider like him? And yet his honor is not so malleable as that of many of his new neighbors. He will stay the course and defend his dead brother’s home—even if the only things he can depend on are the swords and spears of his legionnaires.

ABBA, Air Supply, Charlie’s Angels, Ronald Reagan—it’s 1981 and real estate attorney, Lynne Winters’, is struggling to manage a constantly complaining mother and a law practice tanking in the worst real estate market in a decade. Then her life really goes insane when a long brown envelope lands on her desk. The heir to the Mackland furniture empire has been kidnapped and the kidnapper has forced Lynne smack in the middle of the ransom negotiations. It’s the most important case of her career, but in a time when professional women too often aren’t taken seriously, it will take all...

Halloween is approaching and the situation in Hadrian’s Well is getting downright spooky. Someone is raiding the town’s three cemeteries and digging up the recently deceased. Are the preternatural involved? Or is this a more mundane form of criminal activity? Whatever the cause, Undersheriff Joanna Donovan better figure it out fast. The dead have already walked once in Hadrian’s Well. Could someone be priming something even worse to happen on All Hallow’s Eve?

Despite their impressive victories in the north, Prefect Marcus and the Black hat Legion stand alone against the full might of Diamonte and Aquamarina. With their home city under siege and the cowardly Lord Totila refusing to lead his host out from behind the walls of Centinela, it falls once again to Marcus to protect his adopted homeland by himself. His only hope is to thread the needle, maneuvering his legion across enemy-occupied Amatista to the one location that might enable him to recapture the initiative in this war. It’s a risky gamble. With multiple armies afield and none of them...

Undersheriff Joanna Donovan has defended Hadrian’s Well from waves of uninvited guests before—including a zombie apocalypse—but now she just may have met her match. Brownies are small, quiet, cute, and want nothing more than to help people tidy up their homes—as long as you respect them. Her other visitors are loud, untidy, high-handed, and don’t respect anyone—hardly the perfect houseguests. Together, they may prove too much for the undersheriff and her overworked department to handle.

Long before Prefect Marcus Venandus directed the defense of the Jeweled Hills, Green Vigil Marcus led his first command into the treacherous jungles of Ekángá. As if the jungle itself wasn’t deadly enough, native warriors and shamans strike from its shadows with magic, spears, and darts, while the forcibly transplanted Graeci population seethes with unrest in the supposedly civilized regions of the province.

The long-feared war has erupted and Prefect Marcus Venandus and his newly raised legion are on the front lines of the fighting. After the successful conquest of a fortified border town, Marcus leads his men deep into Morganitan territory, part of a daring plan to secure Amatista’s rear by eliminating its major northern opponent before its other foes can join in the fighting.

With the passes to Ópalo forced open again, Prefect Marcus Venandus hoped to gain a respite to build his army for the war he knows is coming in the spring. Unfortunately, his enemies understand all too well the threat he poses to them, and they are taking steps to kill him before he reaches next year’s battlefields. Assassins, both mundane and magical, step out of the shadows to strike at him, while other conspirators take advantage of the intense divisions within the city to spark riots to bring the government down.

Lesser Tribune Marcus Venandus, Legion officer exemplar, was exiled to the disease-ridden hell hole known as the Fire Islands as punishment for the failed political machinations of his father. While the days of the powerful witchdoctor kings throwing skeletal armies against the shields of the legion have faded into history, all is not right at the edge of the world. Unrest is boiling once again as long dead darkness seeps back into the islands.

Surrounded by enemies, Prefect Marcus Venandus launches a bold stroke to eliminate one opponent in the coming war. The key to his plan is the fortified border town of Centinela - the Sentinel of Southern Morganita. Its fortified walls are strong enough to delay conventional forces for weeks, giving the other enemy city-states plenty of time to invade Amatista from the east. Can he take advantage and neutralize Centinela? Or will his risky gambit cost Marcus and his allies the war?

To honor his dead brother’s obligations, Marcus has agreed to help the city of Amatista defend itself in the coming war with mighty Diamonte and its allies, but the arrogant Gota who rule the Jeweled Cities refuse to believe an infantry composed of the despised Qing and Gente peoples can prove to be any kind of threat in the coming war.

Days of rain force sane armies to hunker down to wait for dry weather. Yet, no one in the Jeweled Hills would accuse Prefect Marcus Venandus of being sane. Not only has he united the bickering Qing, Gente and Gota in his Black Hat Legion, he rarely embraces conventional military tactics. With three days of drenching weather turning roads to mud, flooding creeks, and bogging down his enemies’ carts and wagons, Marcus seizes the initiative and leads one thousand of his Black Hats on their most daring campaign yet.

Tribune Marcus Venandus and his two trusted officers have gone through hell in their journey north from the Fire Islands and across the Sea of Grass. Arriving at Amatista in the Jeweled Hills, Marcus is looking forward to a much deserved rest in the home of his half-brother, but fate has other plans for the legionnaire. Soon, he will be wishing he’d never heard of his brother’s city.

Forbidden from returning to Aquila, Marcus Venandus responds to a plea from a half-brother he has never met to aid him in the far away land called the Jeweled Hills. When pirates shut down the sea routes the legion officer and his two trusted companions are forced to join a caravan to make the slower journey north across the treacherous Sea of Grass. Yet this may not prove to be the safer choice. A mysterious shaman has sworn to drench the plains in the blood of foreigners and his mastery over storms gives him the teeth to fulfill his oath.

While Prefect Marcus Venandus struggles with the Curse of Madre Tierra, the Gente of Morganita betray their alliance with the Black Hat Legion and launch a surprise attack on Fort Prime. With all the senior officers in the fort dead, the most junior of officers, Acting Magus Seneca Liberus, finds himself in charge. With thousands of Gente massing to continue the assault, backed by the powerful mago House of Victor, it falls to Seneca to measure up to the proud traditions of Aquila and lead his green legionnaires to victory.

Marcus has defeated the smaller half of the army of Thegn Chilperic by the skin of his teeth, but now he must rally his legion and its allies to stop the Thegn’s main force from rolling back all of his victories. Yet, even as he fights for control of the strategic bridges on the Rio Rocoso, Marcus’ allies remain as fractious as ever. The rebellious Gente of Morganita continue to fight among themselves for leadership of their cause, while the Gota also violently question the leadership of Marcus’ friend, Evorik.

Marshal "Sturm Front" Sturm has finally reached Al-Andalus to claim the earldom of Fortaleza from the usurper who has had control of it for most of a year. Unfortunately, the usurper is not proving to be Sturm’s biggest problem. The high king’s officials in Al-Andalus are so concerned with the possibility of civil war breaking out between the two claimants that they are trying to stop Sturm from doing anything that might actually permit him to take control of his lands. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the southern empire of Ahl-Alnaar is also showing interest in the situation, as the ...