A beautiful collector's edition of one of the first HarperVoyager books, celebrating 20 years since publication of one of Australia's most successful fantasy authors of all time. A thousand years ago the Acharites drove the Forbidden from their land. Now strange sightings along Achar's northern border foreshadow their return. the barbaric tribes of the Ravensbund are pouring south with tales of fearsome beings who feed on the terror of their prey. Axis, bastard son of the dead Princess Rivkah, is sent to the battlefront of Gorkenfort with his elite Axe-Wielders. Once there, he must hand over command to his hated half-brother, Borneheld. But travelling north, Axis falls in love with Faraday - Borneheld's bethrothed, and meets two priests who challenge the very essence of his beliefs. the Sentinels walk the land, the treeFriend has been found, and the people of the Plough, the Wing and the Horn must set aside their differences and unite under one leader against the evil rising in the North... "Sara is the godmother of fantasy storytelling in Australia/NZ and she blazed the trail where I followed and then a legion of new writers - especially women - began to march." - Fiona McIntosh "Sara was both pathfinder and inspiration; we owe her a great debt." - Juliet Marillier "Battleaxe is a page-turner par excellence, but it's also a rich and dense allegory of the medieval world and the Catholic Church... Welcome to the worlds of Sara Douglass. May you tread boldly and soar with the stars." - Karen Brooks