The war has come. From the soul of the Well, it sweeps across the plains and washes into the cities in a tide of green madmen and red blood. While the Kingdom of Verlaen fights for its life against the deadly Lotus, Last Sword of the King Aethal Paaling seeks out Admiral Malcoor, the one man who may have faced the ancient foe and survived. His quest will confront him with Well-spawned weapons long-hidden from men, suspicion and betrayal among his own kin, and a conspiracy that reaches the very roots of the throne he is sworn to guard. As the King despairs of holding his struggling realm together, Aethal and his allies discover a hellish cult taking root among the people of the Grain Sea. A cult that can transform the docile Leafeaters into berserker warriors. But even this may prove to be the least of Aethal's worries, for even the Lotus cannot compete with the allure of the oldest addiction of man: Power. In the midst of a war for humanity itself, Aethal comes face-to-face with the question of whether he will have to destroy his kingdom if he is to save anyone. "The first new novel I've read in years that I haven't wanted to put down." David Weber