Thus the main protagonists of Legend are long since dead and play little part in The King Beyond the Gate, other than passing mentions.

The Drenai are now under the rule of Ceska, an usurper of the throne who over time has become a mad power-hungry emperor.

Ceska rules with an iron fist, with the Joinings, and the Dark Templars as his tools of terror.

Thus it falls to men of courage and those that choose the path of light to overthrow a tyrant--- Tenaka Khan and his companions must forge alliances and unlikely friendships to overcome a time of horror and turmoil.

Following on from other Gemmell works where the main characters are powerful men past their prime, the three characters of Tenaka, Ananaïs and Decado are all three less able to rely on physical endurance and dumb luck, and instead use experience and bluff to survive.