title: The Fate of the Dwarves
author:  Markus Heitz 
description: Praise for the Orcs series:<br /><br />"With grand scale world building, labyrinthine plotlines, extensive backstory and pedal-to-the-metal action, Nicholls captures adventure fantasy at its very best."<b><i><em>Publishers Weekly</em></i></b><br /><br />"Incorporating wall to wall action with undercurrents of dark humor, <em>Bodyguard of Lightning</em> is a gritty, fast-paced novel with a neat twist. The heroes are orcs - though you wouldn't want to meet any of them on a dark night!"<b>David Gemmell</b><br /><br />"Weirdly charming, fast-moving and freaky, <em>Bodyguard of Lightning</em> is the most fun you're ever likely to have with a warband of orcs. Remember, buy now or beg for mercy later ... "<b>Tad Williams</b><br /><br />"... A neat idea and Stan Nicholls pulls it off with great panache ... enough weird sex to keep the tabloids outraged for weeks. You'll never feel the same about Lord of the Rings."<b>Jon Courtenay Grimwood</b>
zlib_text: > **Dwarven nations**.  
  >  
  >
  
  > The gates of Thorbardin are closed, sealed after a revolution toppled the
  > rightful thane of the dwarves ten years ago and cemented the rule of the mad
  > idealist Jungor Stonespringer.  
  >  
  >
  
  > The gates of Pax Tharkas are open, left that way after the survivors of the
  > revolution settled there. It’s not as though there’s danger. The trap that
  > saved the dwarves during the War has been reset, and the building itself is
  > strong. And the gates of Thorbardin have been sealed from the inside. The
  > dwarves of Thorbardin will not leave their home, free of the contamination
  > of humanity, sunlight, other dwarves, to attack Pax Tharkas.  
  >  
  >
  
  > But now there is a new war. A new battle in the Dwarfgate Wars that started
  > after the Cataclysm and never really stopped. This battle is between the
  > hill dwarves of Hillhome and the refugees of Pax Tharkas, with a little help
  > from the wizards in Kayolin, and the secret of Pax Tharkas waits to be
  > found.