Certain works of fantasy are immediately recognizable as major monuments, towering above the rest of the category. Authors of those works, such as Stephen R. Donaldson and J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind, come immediately to mind. Now add to that list David Farland, whose epic fantasy series began with The Runelords

Farland's is a wondrous new world, where lords and ladies achieve greatness through the use of forcibles, which allow them to take attributes from their subjects--attributes such as strength, wit, grace, and stamina. But such magic lends itself to abuse.

In The Runelords, Raj Ahtan, ruler of Indhopal used enough forcibles to transform himself into the ultimate warrior: The Sum of All Men. Ahtan sought to bring all of humanity under his rule--destroying anything and anyone that stood in his path, including many friends and allies of young Prince Gaborn Val Orden...including Gaborn's father. But Gaborn fulfilled a 2000-year-old prophecy, becoming the Earth King, a mythic figure who can unleash the forces of the Earth itself.

And now the struggle continues in Brotherhood of the Wolf. Gaborn has managed to drive off Raj Ahtan, but Ahtan is far from defeated. Striking at far-flung cities and fortresses and killing dedicates, Ahtan seeks to draw out the Earth King from his seat of power, in order to crush him. But as they weaken each other's forces in battle, the armies of an ancient and implacable enemy issue forth from the very bowels of the earth.