Simon Lindley

Mannethorn's Key Simon Lindley

Bartholomew Waxman's world has crumbled. His high-rolling lifestyle as a derivatives broker is in ruins. Alcohol, clandestine affairs, and a skill he exploits for short-term gain have rewarded him with divorce, bankruptcy, and unemployment.

Delivering himself like a death-row inmate to a fast-food counter for a job interview, he is instead abducted by a spell and recruited as a supernatural delivery boy, tasked with the return of an object to a world beyond. To get there, he must first navigate a testing ground where his only guidance comes from an immortal and mentally unstable knight who will either groom him for survival - or murder him in the process.

The awaiting world is no better off. A Seeping Spell spreads while an evil lord works to destroy that which resists its curse. A covenant that ended Dragon's Rule threatens to unravel, and a magic that has kept nations safe for centuries is on the verge of collapse. Salvation is inextricably bound to the return of a weapon long lost, a bearer to wield it, and the uniting of nations to power it. Worse, everything hinges upon a wizard-apprentice of a dying Order who is infected by the very spell he is meant to combat.

Join exiled dragon-lords, humble giants, impetuous warriors, slimy assassins, ribald dwarfs, powerful men, vengeful women, and mythical creatures as they seek to redeem themselves and their world. With hungover Bart at their center, what can possibly go wrong?