Bought this because I liked the first volume of the first trilogy. Some say the second trilogy is not so good, but I decided to risk it. The opening was rather grim, but the ending was superb. The hero, Kunrad, is one of the mastersmiths of Nordenay (geographically Ice Age Northern California, but settled by mythical Europeans with some intermixture of Native Americans) ;he specializes in making weapons and armor. His masterpiece is a near-perfect suit of armor. When it is stolen from him from an ambitious southern lord named Merthian, he (with 2 apprentices) embarks on a long frustrating quest to regain it. Sailing to the south, he is captured by corsairs based in some extremely nasty marshes (nastier than Tolkien's Dead Marshes, being populated by monsters); he escapes with his apprentices and the aid of two captive duergar (nicer beings than those given that name in D&D, mountain dweller with great smiting skills, mor like grey-skinned beardless dwarves) ; the duergar leave him and his men stranded in the swamp, but they finally win through to the south and are saved from the last pursuing corsairs by a party escorting Lady Alais, of the once (and as we know from the first WotW series, future) royal house of Kermorven, who is journeying to marry the Marchwarden, the powerful guardian or the northern border of the southern syndicacy (oligarchic republic). He and Alais begin to be fond of each other,but she still expects to marry the marchwarden. She does not tell Kunrad that the Marchwarden is Merthian, and she apparently thinks their quarrel is a little misunderstanding that will be easily arranged (that I find hard to believe). Naturally, when Kunrad arrives at Merthian's Castle of the WInds, Merthian imprisons him and tries to starve Kunrad into working for him, but Kunrad uses his smithcraft to rust the bars of his prison and escape. Kunrad, Alais and his apprentices flee; Alais is captured and returned to Merthian, but Kunrad reaches her old father, a formerly fierce old lord with an alcohol issue. Merthian issues a reward for Kunrad and his apprentices, dead or alive, and the old lord arranges for his guards to seem to deliver them back to the castle. As it happens (this I also find hard to believe) Merthian and most of his guards are conveniently away, so they easily take the castle and free Alais from the dear old nanny who raised her and Merthian, who turns out to be a monstrous hag who is an agent of the evil Powers of the Ice (who appeared in the first series)--apparently she had trained up Merthian on the dark side. Kunrad obtains a supply of iron ore from the duergar and builds a great wind-powered furnace into a hillside to make steel to arm the local peasants. Merthan shows up with the corsairs (who it seems are his allies) and the ice hag to attack the castle, and there is a terrific battle , one of the best fictional fantasy battles I have read since the battle of Minas Tirith. Kunrad is able to release the hot molten steel against them, which nicely disposes of the ice hag, to say nothing of many corsairs. Also, a picked force of cavalry from the nearest northern town, which old Kermorven and Kunrad had summoned shows up and charges well, and Kunrad proves himself a leader of men in rallying his peasant soldiers. Ultimately Merthian is beaten and flees to the southern capital of Ker Brehaine, where he tries to persuade the syndics to give him an army to suppress the "Northern bandits" who had taken his castle. In the midst of the council, Kunrad, Alias, and her near-dying father (badly wounded in the battle) appear and denounce Merthian. The rather cold legalistic president of the syndics announces that, at all events, someone other than Merthian will lead the force to investigate the events at the castle; knowing he is ruined, Merthian challenges Kunrad to single combat then and there, and after a tremendous fight, Kunrad recognizes the one flaw in the armor he made (which Merthian is wearing) and uses it to slay him. Kunrad marries Alais and replaces Merthian as Marchwarden, and settles down to a long wise rule of the border, beginning the building of the Great Causeway which ran through the marshes in Elof's time in the first series, which is set 1000 years later. Kunrad's apprentices return to the north and become the heroes of the second book of the second series. ( )