Introduction: In the vast dominion of Seven Cities, in the Holy Desert Raraku, the seer Sha鈥檌k and her followers prepare for the long-prophesied uprising known as the Whirlwind. Unprecedented in size and savagery, this maelstrom of fanaticism and bloodlust will embroil the Malazan Empire in one of the bloodiest conflicts it has ever known, shaping destinies and giving birth to legends....