Vengewar

Vengewar is the second book in Kevin J. Anderson's series, following Spine of the Dragon. For a thousand years, two continents, the Three Kingdoms and Ishara, have been locked in conflict, and an old grudge between them threatens to bring down the human realms from within. Then a far older people, long dormant, begins to stir with plans to reshape the entire world. Faced with that danger, the two rival nations would have to put centuries of animosity aside and unite against an enemy far more lethal than either of them.

The first book brought the great dragon back to life and set the kingdoms against one another.

In the second volume, also titled Vengewar, the Three Kingdoms are coming apart under the strain of a young, untested monarch. A regent with his own ambitions pushes the king to ignore the Wreths and instead pursue a Vengewar against Ishara. Only the king's brother and uncle recognize the Older Race as the real menace.

Meanwhile, in Ishara, the queen lies in a coma while a priest seizes control. He has neither the schooling nor the gift to govern a kingdom, or even a single city, and Ishara faces grave danger even though the Wreths have yet to appear on their continent.