Surrender to the Will of the Night by Glen Cook

These excerpts from Glen Cook's novel, Surrender to the Will of the Night, present a sprawling fantasy narrative centered on two major conflicts: a religious war in the Holy Lands involving the Sha-lug general Nassim Alizarin against Crusader forces like the Brotherhood of War; and a complex political and supernatural struggle involving Captain-General Piper Hecht, the Church, and the Imperial throne. Hecht navigates the schemes of the Empress Katrin and the new Patriarch Serenity (Bronte Doneto) while leading the Commander of the Righteous military force in Firaldia and dealing with resurgent entities of the Night. Intertwined with these conflicts is a parallel plot where the ancient sorcerer Cloven Februaren and the sorceress Heris seek to free imprisoned ancient gods from the Realm of the Gods to combat the rising power of the winter god, Kharoulke the Windwalker, with the aid of the enigmatic dwarf-like Aelen Kofer and the ascendant Ferris Renfrow.