Whom the gods would recruit, they first tick off...Our Hero: The unlikely Paladin, Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer Hradani. He's no knight in shining armor. He's a hradani, a race known for their uncontrollable rages, bloodthirsty tendencies, and inability to maintain civilized conduct. None of the other Five Races of man like the hradani. Besides his ethnic burden, Bahzell has problems of his own to deal with: a violated hostage bond, a vengeful prince, a price on his head. He doesn't want to mess with anybody else's problems, let alone a god's. Let alone the War God's! So how does he end up a thousand leagues from home, neck-deep in political intrigue, assassins, demons, psionicists, evil sorcery, white sorcery, dark gods, good gods, bad poets, greedy landlords, and most of Bortalik Bay? Well, it's all the War God's fault....

Bahzell Bahnakson of the Horse Stealer hradani never wanted to be a champion of the War God. Unfortunately, Tomanāk had insisted. Even more unfortunately, Bahzell's own sense of responsibility hadn't let him say, "No."Which was how he found himself in the Empire of the Axe, where even people who didn't actively hate hradani regarded them with suspicion and fear. Of course, that was only the start of his problems. Next, there was the Order of Tomanāk, many of whom were horrified by the notion that their deity had chosen a hradani as a champion . . . and intended to do something about it. And assuming he survived that, he had to go home-across three hundred leagues of bitter winter snow-to face a Dark God who threatened to destroy all hradani. Throw in the odd demon and brigand ambush, and add a powerful neighboring kingdom with no intention of letting Bahzell (or anyone else) save his people, and you have the makings of a really bad day.But one thing Bahzell has learned: a champion of Tomanāk does what needs doing. And the people in his way had better move.

In The War God’s Own, Bahzell had managed to stop a war by convincing Baron Tellian, leader of the Sothōii, to “surrender” to him, the War God’s champion. Now, he has journeyed to the Sothōii Wind Plain to oversee the parole he granted to Tellian and his men, to represent the Order of Tomanâk, the War God, and to be an ambassador for the hradani. What’s more, the flying coursers of the Sothōii have accepted Bahzell as a windrider-the first hradani windrider in history. And since the windriders are the elite of the elite among the Sothōii, Bahzell’s ascension is as likely to stir resentment as respect. That combination of duties would have been enough to keep anyone busy-even a warrior prince like Bahzell-but additional complications are bubbling under the surface. The goddess Shīgū, the Queen of Hell, is sowing dissension among the war maids of the Sothōii. The supporters of the deposed Sothōii noble who started the war are plotting to murder their new leige lord and frame Bahzell for the deed. Of course, those problems are all in a day’s work for a champion of the War God. But what is Bahzell going to do about the fact that Baron Tellian’s daughter, the heir to the realm, seems to be thinking that he is the only man-or hradani-for her?

A brand new 50,000 word novella, Sword Brother.From the 20007 year edition of "Oath of Swords"