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Slow Fall To Dawn

Author: Stephen Leigh
Pub: 1981 by Bantam Books Inc.
Pages: 165
Ranking:

Out of Print:

First of three book series...
Other Books in the Series:

Slow Fall to Dawn

Dance of the Hag

A Quiet of Stone

A Guild of Assassins! What could be of more interest to martial artists? Set in the far future where mankind has spread to many worlds, the world of Neweden seems to be a society set in the 14th century. Everyone who is anyone is a member of a guild, and only those who aren't members of any guild are called "kinless", lassari outcasts. Only they can be insulted freely.

The guild of assassins will guarantee an attempt to take someone's life for the right price. The guild ritually warns the victim, and in the evening, the hunt begins... if they can survive until the dawn, they live. And the guild's greatest thrill is the "hunt of knives"... They restrict themselves to the weapons that the victim is using.

This series of three books is spellbinding, and are very well written with many interesting charactors. Although the series is out of print, you should be able to locate them in used book stores, or over the Internet.

Back Cover:

The Hoorka, a guild of skilled assassins, maintain their existence in the turbulent society of Neweden through strict obedience to a stern code of neutrality. Kill only when hired. Reveal your client only if successful. If the victim survives until dawn, he goes free. Through years of harsh training and iron discipline, the Thane of Hoorka Guild has molded a group of men and women without kinship, lassari outcasts, into a lethal force separate from the blood feuds and intricate alliances of other clans. The Alliance of Worlds has been watching the Hoorka closely with an eye to allowing them to operate offworld.

But now an important target has eluded the Hoorka's weapons - the leader of the opposition party. And the Ruler of Neweden, maker of the contract, suspects them of treachery. Beset with suspicion and fear, and challenged by a young usurper, within the Guild, the aging Thane faces a day of reckoning: He can abide by the code he created, or break it in the name of expediency. His fateful decision could mean a new future for the Hoorka - or its end for all time.

Introduction:

DAYBREAK ON NEWEDEN

Night-quiet, the two assassins advanced - like shadows unseen in the overlying murk and as deadly as the wind-spiders of the western tundra. Just ahead Gunnar, the contracted victim, ran, ignoring the pain that constricted his chest and stabbed in his lungs. He ducked instinctively as the Khaelian-made dagger creased him in a burning line from shoulder to - mid-back, then slipped and fell in the rank mud at his feet.

The Hoorka assassins stood over him. Gunnar lay face down in the mud, waiting for the cold rape of steel to pierce his body. But relays warned them that morning had touched the Dawnrock with delicate fingers. It would be so easy to kill Gunnar despite the Hoorka code. No one was there to see...

Strong hands helped Gunnar to his feet, grunting with the man's limp weight.

"Our admiration, Gunnar. Your life is your own once more," the Hoorka said in a voice that masked his bitterness. "You may go with the light."