Chronicles of DieHerrschast: Book 5 The Architecture Hunger

What happens when an invading army doesn't see you as an enemy, but as cattle? The Red Hand is moving. But not like an army. Shon DieHerrschast's nightly rides with Midnight-Smoke reveal something far worse than soldiers marching toward Viren. The Red Hand brings herds, irrigation frames, seed, soil, Teachers, and children trained for labor. They are not preparing to destroy the land. They are preparing to live on it. To feed from it. And to decide what everyone already living there is worth. Shon knows they cannot wait. With Kael beside him and only a small force able to make the journey, they secure passage aboard the CFS Taren's Grace and sail toward Viren. The voyage becomes a war for survival. Beyond the known routes wait pirates, strange islands, hidden watchers, monsters beneath the sea, and an Ice Wall few sailors have crossed and lived to describe. Food runs short. Water becomes precious. The ship begins to fail. Night after night, Midnight-Smoke carries Shon beyond the horizon, searching for a way forward. But Shon is not the only one changing. The drop of Shon's blood that struck Kael's eye during the Proof of Rite changed him in ways neither man understands. Now smoke answers Kael too, but not as it answers Shon. He struggles, learns, and begins discovering what that single drop left behind. After six months at sea, Viren finally appears. The ports are occupied. The giants are real. And the Red Hand did not come to raid. They came to stay. THE ARCHITECTURE OF HUNGER is a dark epic fantasy of invasion, survival, sea adventure, magic, loyalty, monsters, ancient power, and war, where the most dangerous enemy is the one that has already decided how you will be used.