2009 Moonbeam Fantasy Award Winner for Excellence in Literature Named Dragonroots Magazine's Best New Fantasy Saga of 2009 The characters in Farmers & Mercenaries are well-developed. Their stories are told in alternating chapters, and readers easily become invested in the fate of each. The pace of the book is quick and the story lines solid. Readers will turn pages late into the night just to find out what will happen next. With Farmers & Mercenaries, fans of the fantasy genre have another group of characters to get to know and love. I can't wait for the next in the series. -Lindsey Losnedahl - Las Vegas Review Journal ...by the end I was mesmerized so that I could not put it down till I had finished it. Drake does a good job of developing the characters and melding their paths throughout the book. The ending was a good set up for book two so I can hardly wait to see how the story continues. -Antya Gilson - Paper Dragon Ink The deeper you read, the more drawn into the story and characters you will become. I am looking forward to more books by Maxwell Alexander Drake and Imagined Interprises, Inc. -Amber Campbell - Fantasy Book Reviewer, Examiner.com In a sleepy farming stead, a young man, Alant Cor, is found to be one of the few Humans who can manipulate the Essence. And, not simply manipulate it. Alant has more power over this magical force than any Human in known history. Does his younger brother, Arderi Cor, possess the same ability, or something more sinister? Clytus Rillion, the commander of a mercenary troop, embarks on a quest to cure his dying son, Sindian. Though he doubts he will survive the journey, he will pay any price to save his son's life. The beast, known only as Klain, born a slave and now used to entertain the masses in a bloodthirsty sport known as the Games, finds out his true value to those who own him lies with his death. All are resigned to walk the paths fate has put them upon. Yet, is this of their own accord? Or, is an ancient and powerful race, the Elmorr'Antiens, manipulating the other inhabitants of Talic'Nauth? Change is falling upon the Plane. Some Elmorr'Antiens are making preparations to weather the storms ahead - others intend to use the coming chaos to seize power over all the races. Follow these seemingly unrelated lives as their paths are set on a course that none can hope to survive. Readers of the Genesis of Oblivion Saga will immerse themselves in the depth of a unique world culture, the grandeur of its civilizations, and the sheer awe of more than ninety-six thousand years of history!