Searching for his long-lost father, Bransen Garibond is tricked into journeying across the Gulf of Corona to the wild lands of Vanguard, where he is pressed into service in a desperate war against the brutal Samhaist, Ancient Badden.
 
On an Alpinadoran lake, just below his magical ice castle, several societies, caught in the web of their own conflicts, are oblivious to Ancient Badden's devastating plans to destroy them.
 
Bransen becomes the link between the wars, and if he fails, all who live on the lake will perish, and all of northern Honce will fall under the shadow of the merciless and vengeful Samhaists.
 
The Ancient is part of the Saga of the First King, a four-book series that chronicles the early days of Corona, the same world as Salvatore’s bestselling DemonWars saga.

Praise

Praise for The Ancient:

"Salvatore, a prolific and increasingly polished creator of fantasy sagas, launches the Saga of the First King with one of his strongest books to date."--Booklist

“Salvatore excels in world-building and creating complex, introspective characters who triumph through wit and determination as well as skill in open combat.”
--Library Journal on R. A. Salvatore
 
"Bob Salvatore always makes the most fantastic seem real. His heroes become friends we care about, and his foes fascinate."
--Ed Greenwood on R. A. Salvatore
 

About the Author(s)

R. A. Salvatore

R. A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959. He is the creator of one of the most beloved characters in fantasy, Drizzt Do'Urden, and the acclaimed author of the DemonWars trilogy: The Demon Awakens, The Demon Spirit, and The Demon Apostle; as well as Mortalis, Bastion of Darkness, Ascendance, and the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three children.

R. A. Salvatore's Website

Saga of the First King Website

Podcast: R. A. Salvatore on writing through the years within the fantasy genre

See R. A. Salvatore talk about The Ancient here

Excerpt

Prelude
He walked across the windblown ice of the glacier known as Cold’rin, its frozen surface not causing him the slightest discomfort, not even in his feet, though he wore open-toed sandals.
He was Badden, Ancient Badden, leader of the Samhaists, who knew the magic of the world more intimately than any others in the world. Badden was the greatest of them; no creature alive was more connected to those magics than this man.

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