Dave Duncan 
Past Imperative 

The Great Game of Gods is afoot. In a world on the brink of madness… In the summer of 1914, a young man of reputation beyond reproach awakens under police guard–grievously injured and accused of heinous, impossible murder. And in a strange, distant place… The youngest member of a penniless acting troupe has been taken prisoner by the loyal minions of a corrupt, vengeful goddess. For an ancient prophecy has divided the realm’s ruling Deities into warring factions–a prophecy that mentions the crippled captive child and a youth recovering from inexplicable wounds in a British hospital bed. The game weaves through worlds and through dimensions as it has since time immemorial–a deadly contest of skill and manipulations that ruthlessly creates wizards, destroys human pawns and transforms ordinary men, women and children into something more.