{"product_id":"the-anvil-of-the-world-9780765349071","title":"The Anvil of the World","description":"\u003cp\u003eKage Bakers stories and novels of the mysterious organization that controls time travel  The Company  have made her famous in SF. So has her talent for clever dialogue  and pointed social commentary with a light touch.  The Anvil of the World is her first fantasy novel  a journey across a fantastic landscape filled with bizarre creatures  human and otherwise. It is the tale of Smith  of the large extended family of Smiths  of the Children of the Sun. They are a race given to blood feuds  and Smith was formerly an extremely successful assassin. Now he has wearied of his work and is trying to retire in another country  to live an honest life in obscurity in spite of all those who have sworn to kill him.  His problems begin when he agrees to be the master of a caravan from the inland city of Troon to the seaside city of Salesh. The caravan is dogged with murder  magic  and the brooding image of the Master of the Mountain  a powerful demon  looking down from his mountain kingdom upon the greenlands and the travelers passing below. In Salesh  Smith becomes an innkeeper  but on the journey he befriended the young Lord Ermenwyr  a decadent demonic half-breed. Each time Ermenwyr turns up  he brings new trouble with him.  The outgrowth of stories Baker has been writing since childhood  as engaging as Tolkien and yet nothing like him  Smiths adventure is certainly the only fantasy on record with a white-uniformed nurse  gourmet cuisine  one hundred and forty-four glass butterflies  and a steamboat. This is a book filled with intrigue  romance  sudden violence  and moments of emotional impact  a cast of charming characters  and echoes of the fantasy tradition from Lord Dunsany and Fritz Leiber to Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45650661376053,"sku":"ByrdShop_0765349078","price":67.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780765349071.jpg?v=1781799837","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-anvil-of-the-world-9780765349071","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}