The title of the original trilogy is a reference to a law put forth by the legendary half-Demon Euz from the series, which stated, "It is forbidden to touch the Other Side direct," the Other Side being the realm of Demons, from which magic power derives. We are most glad to have you with us. We have all been greatly concerned since the disappearance of your predecessor, Superior Davoust.’ Some of you, I expect, have been less concerned than others. These mini stories going on throughout the book made the fact that there’s not much of a vast sweeping story or twists and turns not to feel like much of a problem. Strange, isn't it. Big men, small men, thin men, fat men, clever men, stupid men, they all respond the same to a fist in the guts. One minute you think you're the most powerful man in the world. The next you can't even breathe by yourself.” Glokta

Grobar, Matt (30 May 2023). "Rebecca Ferguson In Talks For Skydance Revenge Pic 'Best Served Cold'; 'Deadpool's Tim Miller Directing". Deadline . Retrieved 9 June 2023.Grimwood, Jon Courney (10 June 2006). "Murderous Impulses". The Guardian . Retrieved 8 August 2012. And Bayaz, the First of the Magi, is leading a party of bold adventurers on a perilous mission through the ruins of the past. The most hated woman in the South, the most feared man in the North, and the most selfish boy in the Union make a strange alliance, but a deadly one. They might even stand a chance of saving mankind from the Eaters — if they didn’t hate each other quite so much.

Vitari had a faint smile around her eyes, as though she had rather enjoyed the scene. ‘What about this mess?’ Introduced as initially a side character in 'Before They are Hanged', Caul Shivers was a young Named Northman that originally sided with Bethod. Having heard that Dogman and his crew had Rudd Threetrees as their Chief, he and his two score of Carls join with them and the Union to fight against Bethod. He and many of the men under him seemed disillusioned by Bethod's campaign to regain Angland from the Union as well as his dealings with the Shanka and far flung Cinna troops. In the incurring battle, he helped fight against the Feared and subsequently was one of the supportive voices to make Dogman Chief of their band. Lord Chamberlain Hoff, a loud and impatient man who conducts the duties of the otherwise incapable king.

The Gurkish Empire is a sprawling empire to the south of the Union, similar to the large Middle-Eastern empires of antiquity. Styria is a large island continent to the east of the Union containing multiple warring city states and factions. Christianity - and that is its greatest merit - has somewhat mitigated that brutal Germanic love of war, but it could not destroy it. Should that subduing talisman, the cross, be shattered, the frenzied madness of the ancient warriors, that insane Berserk rage of which Nordic bards have spoken and sung so often, will once more burst into flame. This talisman is fragile, and the day will come when it will collapse miserably. Then the ancient stony gods will rise from the forgotten debris and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes, and finally Thor with his giant hammer will jump up and smash the Gothic cathedrals. ... Do not smile at the visionary who anticipates the same revolution in the realm of the visible as has taken place in the spiritual. Thought precedes action as lightning precedes thunder. German thunder is of true Germanic character; it is not very nimble, but rumbles along ponderously. Yet, it will come and when you hear a crashing such as never before has been heard in the world's history, then you know that the German thunderbolt has fallen at last. At that uproar the eagles of the air will drop dead, and lions in the remotest deserts of Africa will hide in their royal dens. A play will be performed in Germany which will make the French Revolution look like an innocent idyll. (1834)” Well … not exactly. Superior Davoust was never that interested in confessions from the browns, we just, you know …’