SWORDS AND MAGIC For generations, the freedom loving Cossacks battled their enemies; the Ottoman Turks and Crimean Tartars for the supremacy of the rugged Steppes. Frustrated by the constant raids of these reckless, horse-riding warriors, Constantinople prepares a major campaign that will end the Cossacks and their way of life forever. Realizing they are severely outnumbered against such a Turkish reprisal, the Cossack Headsman seeks out the sorcerer Alexsandr with a bold scheme. He wants Alexsandr to enter the realms of magic and enlist the aid of magical creatures of Slavic myth as allies. With the help of his friend, Commander Marko and the battle-hardened Bohun, the wizard must summon all his skills, both martial and arcane, to fulfill his sacred mission and in doing so save his people. In the grand tradition of Robert E. Howard and Harold Lamb, writer Riley Hogan spins a tale of tested comrades about to risk all in a dangerous quest that, if they survive, could lead to the greatest victory in Cossack history.