"Diomedes Melas is one of but a hundred survivors of a shattered mountain regiment. He's also the master of Porphyron, a cyclopean castle that stands as the sentinel of Parnathia, a border province of the Empire of Heracleia. Aratheor Bladefallen is the Lord of Thorns, master of Porphyron's twin, the cyclopean castle that guards the Kingdom of Valiri, on the other side of the mighty Stonewall mountain range. Ixiak, the Bloody Hand is a darkmage of depthless hatred and the singular ambition of bringing ruin upon the lands of dorians. On the path of war, he refuses to admit defeat. These three leaders and those who follow them inevitably collide and the mountain peaks reverberate with the sound of war's thunder. The steel and bronze of the dorian warriors clashes with the bone and iron of the numberless darkspawn, orphic mysticism is pitted against vile magganea and the cyclopean stones bleed. Even that which was built to stand forever, cannot endure for long the crushing grip of the Bloody Hand."This is an epic fantasy novel close to ninety thousand words long, set in the Age of Thunder. It immerses the reader into the lives and the trials of the dorian peoples as the first millennium of the age comes to a close. This book is the first part of the Castle Porphyron story arc which is comprised of three books and it also launches the Cyclopean Castles series. Those willing to embark on an epic journey have but to open the book and turn the page.