Battleaxe
core novel 1995 The Axis Trilogy
Record
| First published | 1995 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.96 (14,544 ratings, collected 2026-08-27) |
| Page count | 629 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780732251192 |
Synopsis
Battleaxe opens the Axis Trilogy in the land of Achar, where the ancient enemies known as the Forbidden, long suppressed by the ruling religious order, have begun mysteriously reappearing after generations of absence. Faraday, a young noblewoman betrothed to the ambitious heir Borneheld, finds herself instead drawn to his illegitimate half-brother Axis, a skilled warrior and commander of an elite guard whose true origins may be far greater than his current standing suggests. While Faraday travels toward Gorkenfort to join Borneheld, encountering ideas and people that unsettle her worldview along the way, Axis is dispatched to the same frontier to defend it against the resurgent Forbidden, forced to serve under his resentful rival. As both threads converge, hints emerge of an ancient prophecy tying Axis to a coming reckoning with Gorgrael, a rising power seeking to conquer Achar, and to the possibility of coexistence between humans and the Forbidden.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Axis Trilogy
- Series: The Axis Trilogy core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Sara Douglass
Notes
- From the series record (The Axis Trilogy): Sara Douglass's own debut trilogy, set in the world of Tencendor.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series The Axis Trilogy: position 1 of 3: next Enchanter (1996)
Sources
← The Axis Trilogy dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.