In a fantasy world as rich and real as our own, Richard Rahl and Kahlan Amnell stand against the ancient forces which besiege the New World - forces so terrible that when last they threatened, they could only be withstood by sealing off the Old World from whence they came. Now the barrier has been breached, and the new World is again beset by their evil power. War, monsters, and treachery plague the world, and only Richard and Kahlan can save it from an armageddon of unimaginable savagery and destruction.