Night of Knives

[The Malazan Empire - vast, omnipotent and unforgiving ... ] The small island of Malaz and its city may have given this great empire its name, but it is now little more than a sleepy backwater. Until tonight. Tonight the city is on edge – streets humming with desperate, urgent activity as its citizens hurry to lock up shops, bar doors and shutter windows. For tonight, there is to be a convergence. The once-in-a-generation appearance of a Shadow Moon – an event that threatens the good people of Malaz with demon hounds and all manner of other, darker things. And tonight, it is prophesied that the Emperor Kellanved will return – and there are those who would prevent that happening at any cost. As various factions align themselves, a far more ancient presence prepares an all-out assault upon the island. Witnesses to these cataclysmic events will include Kiska, a young thief who yearns to flee the city, and the war-weary veteran Temper, who simply wants to escape his past. Although they do not know it, they each have a part to play in a confrontation that will not only determine the fate of Malaz City but also of the world beyond . . .