After a thousand years of tyranny, the holy city of Phyreios is free. Its freedom comes at the cost of many lives, among them the healer Khalim, beloved by many but none more than Eske of the Bear Clan, the warrior from the North. Now Eske is alone, and a new king, a god in Khalim's guise, presides over the city's survivors. Of Khalim himself, nothing remains but a memory and a riddle: in order to follow him, one must travel beyond the edge of the world, breach the gate of bone on a day without a sun, and cross the river of memory, deeper than the sea.

Armed with his strength, his wits, and a good tale or two, Eske sets off across the known world, encountering priests of forgotten gods, great beasts of ancient times, and sorcerers of uncanny power. He will perform any task, make any sacrifice, for the chance to see his beloved again.

Inspired by Robert E. Howard's CONAN THE BARBARIAN and Ursula LeGuin's EARTHSEA novels, JOURNEY TO THE WATER concludes the epic story begun in BEYOND THE FROST-COLD SEA.