<p/><br></br><p><b> About the Book </b></p></br></br>"In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise-and then, in a moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere, people who have never known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive. But scattered across the face of the Earth are communities that have returned to the natural life of soil and small farm. In the village of Raven's Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former lover and his only daughter struggle through the fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around a wounded lion. But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not all he once was. . . "--<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><b><b>WHEN FANTASY BECOMES REAL--AND DEADLY--ON A FAR-FUTURE EARTH! </b>NATIONAL BESTSELLER. THE FIRST ENTRY IN JOHN RINGO'S COUNCIL WARS SERIES</b> <p/>In the future there is no want, no war, no disease nor ill-timed death. The world is a paradise--and then, in a moment, it ends. The council that controls the Net falls out and goes to war. Everywhere, people who have never known a moment of want or pain are left wondering how to survive. <p/> But scattered across the face of the Earth are communities that have returned to the natural life of soil and small farm. In the village of Raven's Mill, Edmund Talbot, master smith and unassuming historian, finds that all the problems of the world are falling in his lap. Refugees are flooding in, bandits are roaming the woods, and his former lover and his only daughter struggle through the fallen landscape. Enemies, new and old, gather like jackals around a wounded lion. <p/> But what the jackals do not know is that while old he may be, this lion is far from death. And hidden in the past is a mystery that has waited until this time to be revealed. You cross Edmund Talbot at your peril, for a smith is not <i>all </i>he once was. . . . <p/> <b>About John Ringo: </b> <p/> ". . . the thinking reader's zombie novel . . . Ringo fleshes out his theme with convincing details . . . the proceedings become oddly plausible."--<i>Publishers Weekly </i>on <i>Under a Graveyard Sky</i> <p/> "[Ringo's work is] peopled with three-dimensional characters and spiced with personal drama as well as tactical finesse."--<i>Library Journal</i> <p/> "Explosive . . . fans . . . will appreciate Ringo's lively narrative and flavorful characters."--<i>Publishers Weekly</i> <p/> ". . . practically impossible not to read in one sitting . . . exceedingly impressive . . . executed with skill, verve, and wit."--<i>Booklist</i> <p/> "Crackerjack storytelling."--<i>Starlog</i><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>John Ringo</b> brings fighting to life. He is the creator of the Posleen Wars series, which has become a <i>New York Times </i>best-selling series with more than one million copies in print. The series contains <i>A Hymn Before Battle, </i> <i>Gust Front</i>, <i>When the Devil Dances</i>, <i>Hell's Faire, </i> and <i>Eye of the Storm</i>. In addition, Ringo has penned the Council War series. Adding another dimension to his skills, Ringo created nationally best-selling techno-thriller novels about Mike Harmon (<i>Ghost</i>, <i>Kildar</i>, <i>Choosers of the Slain</i>, <i>Unto the Breach</i>, and <i>A Deeper Blue</i>). His techno-thriller <i>The Last Centurion </i>was also a national bestseller. A more playful twist on the future is found in novels of the Looking-Glass series: <i>Into the Looking Glass</i>, <i>Vorpal Blade</i>, <i>Manxome Foe, </i> and <i>Claws That Catch</i>, the last three in collaboration with Travis S. Taylor. His audience was further enhanced with four collaborations with fellow <i>New York Times</i> best-selling author David Weber: <i>March Upcountry</i>, <i> March to the Sea</i>, <i>March to the Stars, </i>and <i>We Few</i>. There are an additional seven collaborations from the Posleen series: <i>The Hero</i>, written with Michael Z. Williamson, <i>Watch on the Rhine</i>, <i>Yellow Eyes, </i> and <i>The Tuloriad</i>, all written with Tom Kratman, and the <i>New York Times</i> bestseller <i>Cally's War</i> and its sequels <i>Sister Time</i> and <i>Honor of the Clan</i>, all with Julie Cochrane. His science-based zombie apocalypse Black Tide Rising series includes <i>Under a Graveyard Sky, To Sail a Darkling Sea, Islands of Rage and Hope, </i> and <i>Strands of Sorrow. </i>A veteran of the 82nd Airborne, Ringo brings firsthand knowledge of military operations to his fiction.