Book One: The War with the Mein: Presiding over Acacia, an empire named after the idyllic island from which he rules, Leodan Akaran has inherited a peace and prosperity won long ago by his ancestors. He's an intelligent man, a widower who dotes on his four children, and it is this devotion that obliges him to hide a terrible secret from them - that Acacia's wealth is founded on the trafficking of drugs and human lives. A man of integrity, he determines to end this vile trade. But powerful forces stand in his way. Then an assassin, sent by the Mein - a race exiled long ago to an ice-locked stronghold in the frozen north - strikes, and the Mein unleash surprise attacks against their old oppressor. Mortally wounded, Leodan puts into play a plan to enable his children to escape, to survive and to fulfil their destinies. And so begins an epic quest - to avenge a father's death and restore an empire, this time on the basis of universal freedom.In Acacia, the bestselling author of Hannibal: Pride of Carthage recounts a thrilling, engrossing and wonderfully imagined story of treachery and revenge, heroism and betrayal, of wrongs righted and redemption found.