The Banned and The Banished Series

Rarely has a young writer won a place among the major talents in fantasy fiction as quickly as James Clemens. In the first four novels of his breathtaking epic, The Banned and the Banished, Clemens has woven an ever-deepening spell of wonderment with his boundless imagination and matchless storytelling gifts. Now he brings his saga to a masterful and breathtaking climax as the wit’ch Elena faces the unmasked evil of the Dark Lord for the final time in a cataclysmic conclusion that will shatter her understanding of all that has gone before. . . .

The three deadly Weirgates are destroyed but the threat of the Dark Lord remains. And so Elena and her companions have gone their separate ways to prepare for what is yet to come. Elena herself has journeyed to the beautiful city of A’loa Glen, there to recover her strength and spirit.

Enter Harlequin Quail.

Some might call him a fool, but the little man in the jester’s suit claims to be a spy. And he comes fresh from the foul fortress of Blackhall itself, where the Dark Lord dwells. There he uncovered things that spell certain doom– for a final Weirgate remains, the most potent one of all. And with it, in just one moon’s time, the Dark Lord will avenge his earlier defeat, destroying the heart of the land and ushering in a reign of evil without end. Only Elena, with the awesome magicks of the Blood Diary, has the power to stop him.

Blackhall is all but impregnable. And according to Quail, the Weirgate is well hidden, in a place known only to the Dark Lord himself.

Thus begins a desperate quest like no other. Hunted by the Dark Lord’s minions and threatened by clandestine betrayals, Elena and her brave companions reunite in the effort to locate the last Weirgate and destroy it. Along the way, many questions will be answered and illusions will be smashed. Brother will turn against brother, and the strongest bonds of magic and love will be tested to the breaking point . . . and beyond.

The dazzling epic of The Banned and the Banished has established James Clemens as an exciting new voice in fantasy fiction. Now his remarkable skills reach their peak with Wit’ch Gate, as one girl remains her realm’s only hope against the forces of darkness . . .

In a spectacular feat of daring and magic, Elena and her army of outlaws and rebels have defeated evil’s minions and released the mystic secrets of the Blood Diary. But the malevolent Dark Lord has unleashed the Weirgates–black wells of ferocious energy that are his greatest source of power. Now Elena’s bravest allies are sent to find and destroy the Gates, as windships carry the fight north to the frigid woodlands, south to the burning desert sands, and east to the blasted regions of dread Gul’gotha.

Along the way, they will face their own personal demons as well. The twin brothers Mogweed and Fardale race against time to break the curse that has stolen their shapechanging birthright, and Elena’s brother Joach must evade the desert sandsharks if he is to master his own elemental power. The trail will lead them even to the fabulous el’vin homeland of Stormhaven. None of the rebels will come back unscathed, some never returning at all . . .

And Elena herself must journey to Gulgotha. Daring the enemy’s own lair, she must emerge victorious if she is to reveal the secret of the Dark Lord’s frightening identity–and the shocking nature of his vast powers.

In her hands, the young wit’ch Elena holds the awesome energies of blood magick, and the destiny of Alasea. For the fate of that fabulous kingdom hinges on her recovery of the Blood Diary. Only by mastering the secrets recorded in its pages can Elena defeat the evil magicks of the Dark Lord. But the Diary lies hidden in A’loa Glen–the fabled city that belongs to Shorkan, chief lieutenant of the Dark Lord, and his fearsome army.

With the help of her allies, including the ocean-dwelling Sy-wen and her great dragon, Elena prepares a desperate invasion of A’loa Glen. At her side stands the one-armed warrior Er’ril, who knows how to unlock the wards that surround the Blood Diary. But unknown to Elena, Er’ril is the brother of the dreaded Shorkan. Will he continue to act as her protector, or will he choose to betray her?

“Clemens has constructed a world of magic that’s never been seen before, with a cast of beings who are so engaging and entrancing that you never want the story to end.”—John Saul

Elena bears the mark of the wit’ch upon her palm, the crimson stain that testifies to an awesome power of unimaginable potency: wild, seductive, difficult to control. Only a mistress of blood magick can stand against the foul minions and all-corrupting evil of the Dark Lord. But Elena is not yet the mistress of her magick. Protected by an ageless warrior and a band of renegades, she quests for a lost city where prophecies speak of a mystic tome that holds the key to the Dark Lord’s defeat. But if the Dark Lord finds her first, Elena will become his most fearsome weapon . . .

“I loved every page of this book. Clemens has constructed a world of magic that’s never been seen before, with a cast of beings who are so engaging and entrancing that you never want the story to end.”—John Saul

On a fateful night five centuries ago, three mages made a desperate last stand, sacrificing everything to preserve the only hope of goodness in the beautiful, doomed land of Alasea. Now, on the anniversary of that ominous night, a girl-child ripens into the heritage of lost power. But before she can even comprehend her terrible new gift, the Dark Lord dispatches his winged monsters to capture her and bring him the embryonic magic she embodies.

Fleeing the minions of darkness, Elena is swept toward certain doom—and into the company of unexpected allies. There she forms a band of the hunted and the cursed, the outcasts and the outlaws, to battle the unstoppable forces of evil and rescue a once-glorious empire . . .

Praise for Wit’ch Fire

“Wit’ch Fire grabs at your heart and tears a little hole, then tears another, and another—a brutal and beautiful ride. I can’t put the book down!”—R. A. Salvatore

“Full of violence, magical pyrotechnics, and black-heared villains.”—Publishers Weekly