New fantasy writer, Todd VanHooser, is emerging with the first book of The Laughing Moon Chronicles. The Barren Twelve opens with the defeat of the twelve most powerful and dangerous magicians of the age. No longer able to use the forbidden magic that once flowed so freely from their fingertips, those who were once the most feared wizards of the land are known collectively now as the Barren Twelve. Kesson Pharun, the obsessive and dangerous leader of the Twelve, has at last devised a plot to return to power.

At the same time a new threat is taking form. A rival magician sends his apprentice, Keth, to seize the same untamed magic sought by the Twelve twenty years before. With the aid of two hired guides, Keth enters a dangerous underworld in pursuit of the enchanted artifacts desired by his master. As these characters begin their journey, only a few are aware that perhaps their actions are only a thread in what is called the "bandu tapestry." Their lives and struggles are all entwined together, bonded by fate as a magical persecution draws near.

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