In a time when the wounds the Great Cataclysm wrought upon the face of the earth were still fresh, a cruel and powerful empire ruled the world with an iron fist. Life was bleak, and death believed to be a release. Athanor, a simple man with a complicated destiny, is forced through personal tragedy to put that belief to the test. In his frantic quest for solace and absolution, he strays into the distorted and gloomy paths of Irkala Kar, the Underworld. Trapped in the bowels of an ever-growing and all-consuming madness, Athanor will find out that the merciful oblivion of the dead comes at a high price. He will have to fight his way through a subterranean kingdom of horrors in a desperate attempt to escape judgment and eternal damnation. Can he really return from death itself? And, even if he does, will it be really him coming back to life, or some thing entirely different, forever twisted by the touch of madness?
About the Author: Marios Koutsoukos was born in August, 1983. He is a bilingual author, writing in both his native Greek and in English. He has a degree of French Language and Literature from the National University of Athens framed on his wall and a mess on his desk. His first 100.000+ word epic fantasy novel was published when he was at the tender and impressionable age of 17. Little did he know then that this achievement would inevitably lead him down the ascetic rabbit hole of professional writing. An amateur historian and antiquarian, he is deeply fascinated by ancient texts and old books, especially those dealing with the rare and curious instances recorded throughout the ages. He has traveled extensively across Europe by train getting into all sorts of adventures. Currently he lives on a farm, in Western Greece, near the ancient birthplace of the Olympic Games and the philosophical school of Skepticism, where he writes about other people's adventures. For twelve months he served in the Greek army as a heavy artillery crewman and a military interpreter of French and English. Since 2001 he's been involved in the international Heavy Metal music scene (with a particular fondness for various sub-genres such as epic, folk, viking, power, and black / death metal), writing lyrics for bands in Greece as well as worldwide. Much like a bass-player, he cannot be considered a proper musician but rather someone who hangs out with artists a lot. He is also a Goodwill ambassador for cooperation, friendship and inter-species relationships between the genera felis silvestris catus, canis lupus familiaris and homo sapiens sapiens. Which is just a fancy way of saying he likes cats and dogs.