Dragonwall

General Batu Min Ho commands the defence of the Dragonwall, a vast fortification in the Empire of Yamun, and of the soldiers who hold it. The Tuigan nomads have invaded, and the empire looks to him to stop them.

The war is only part of his trouble. A conspiracy inside the Imperial court, driven by Batu's own advisors, has set the whole conflict in motion. As the fighting grows harsher, his loyalty to the throne is tested against what he comes to learn.

The book is fantasy set in the Forgotten Realms and is the second volume of the Empires trilogy. Its point of view shifts among several characters, including Batu, his wife Wu and figures at the Emperor's court. Large battles sit alongside a more personal story of a commander pulled between duty and truth.

Betrayal runs through the plot, and so do sacrifice and the bonds between soldiers and their families. The question the story turns on is what Batu will give up once he sees who has betrayed him, and whether the wall he guards can survive the answer.