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The hard-won peace that Sargon the skull-faced healer has enjoyed with his companions, Grimmric, an exiled Vordagian prince, and Aric a tracker, is shattered forever in this dark fantasy novel, Black Hammer: Despair. When Sargon was young and studying to be a healer, he had battled for his life against a fellow acolyte. He won that contest, but his adversary’s last spell caused Sargon’s flesh to be eaten (hence his cadaverous appearance). Only the timely acquisition of the bloodstone ---- a powerful talisman he wears around his neck --- saved Sargons’s life, but now the rulers of Sanctum have discovered who holds this powerful item, an item that will enable them to bring their nefarious plans to fruition, and they have sent a thief to retrieve it.

Spoiler Warning: Plot details and/or information about the ending follow. If you wish to enjoy the work first, stop reading here and return at another time.

For reasons Sargon has yet to discover, the thief does not take his life but only his protective amulet, which the healer must find again before his dead nemesis’ final curse kills him. Sargon and his companions follow the thief and his prize to Sanctum, an island ruled by worshippers of the undead, and enter the city of Ator. As the spell continues to weaken Sargon, the quest for his survival also becomes a journey to discover his humanity. Due to his tragic past, the healer has felt a great emptiness for some time, and he sees the goodness in his friend, Aric, a kindhearted woodsman, as the man he wishes to be. But Sargon feels more like a fallen disciple, more like his friend Grimmric, a resolute warrior with a propensity for violence and revenge. While searching for the stolen talisman on the isle of Sanctum, Aric saves a young girl, Falyn, and takes her under his protection. He is forced to turn Falyn over to an unscrupulous barkeep while he helps his friends recover the bloodstone. But before he leaves the girl, he promises her that he will return and take her away from the dark isle as soon as circumstances permit. Fulfilling that promise is complicated by the events that follow, however. With the aid of the man that originally stole the bloodstone, an assassin by the name of Cardwell, the three companions find the talisman in the possession of an undead king who lurks in the catacombs beneath the city. The three men defeat the hideous king and flee back to their ship, the Sea Raven, which is waiting for them in the undead kingdom’s harbor. They have no choice but to leave the girl, Falyn, behind. Not long after setting sail, their ship is pursued and grappled by a Sanctum vessel manned by an undead crew. All hands aboard the Sea Raven, with the exception of Sargon, Grimmric, and Aric and the ship’s captain, Kronus Thornpike, are killed or captured by Sanctum’s minions. The four men avoid the crew’s horrible fate when Sargon conjures a gate that allows them to escape from their doomed ship. Although this novel is part of a series, and therefore complete resolution does not occur, all of the storylines converge to one degree or another for a memorable climax in this first book, Black Hammer: Despair.