Death's Law is the third in the Tales of the Bard trilogy, following Magician's Law and Demon's Law. Kutor has been installed on the throne, Churon is the new God of the Dead, and Paedur is about to be sent off on another quest. Refugees from the cataclysm are flooding the Capital, Karfondel, and Geillard is plotting to come and take back his throne.
Paedur arrives in the middle of a pitched battle at Castle Nevin, one of the Bastions of the Frontier. The Chopts have attacked the castle and Paedur shows up just in time to despatch them. He learns that they have become more audacious recently, and that Nevin himself believes that they may have taken the town of Thusal.
When Paedur leaves he discovers that Katani has followed him to the North and they journey to the monastery of Ectoriage. The monks and students have been decimated and the libraries burned. They find a sole survivor (of course), a boy named Gire who witnessed the Chopt attack and descirbes seeing the figure of Mannam, gloating that the slaughter would draw the Bard.
They realise that it is a trap, and there are probably enemies outside. Indeed, several of the Torc Alta are waiting to ambush them. After a brief battle the three continue on to the town of Thusal, where Paedur meets the Marked Man, the only one to have the trust of the Chopts.
He tells Katani to safeguard Gire and continues on with Bastion, the Marked Man. While they travel further north, he learns the story of how Bastion refused to give up his bride for his Gods and they cursed him, burning him with lightning and marking him with wounds that never heal. Although he thinly disguises the story, Paedur knows that the Gods were the Pantheon and wonders what would happen if he were to refuse their demands.
They make it to the nearest Chopt village and hear the tale of how the Chopts became beast-like from the Clan Elder. He instructs a young Chopt, Ironwinter, to take them to the capital, but Paedur knows that the Chopt will kill them if he can. While resting at a campsite Paedur impresses Ironwinter by explaining that the standing stones the are resting at are actually a portal, and then activating it. They are transferred to the Chopt capital, but are trapped inside a field of energy. Mannam and his allies are on the other side, but they cannot deactivate the shield either.
Katani has been confronted with the fact that Ectoriage, the God of Learning, is periodically using the boy as an avatar, and that she must take him to the Bard. They head straight for the capital and arrive to see a meeting of the allies.
We learn that Geillard has allied with Stonehand the leader of the Chopt, Mannam, once Death God of the Pantheon, Praetens the magician, and Fenar, leader of the Torc Alta. The Chopt leader has been bewitched by Praetens, but the Torc Alta want an island for their own. The newest allies are three of the Gods of the New Religion incarnate, Sheesarak the Destroyer, Lady Asherat the taker of souls, and Ghede Lord of Beasts.
While Katani and Ectoriage are watching the allies make their plans Paedur is defusing the energy that keeps them imprisoned, but by using his energy until he collapses. Ironwinter and Bastion take him and run, but Praetens discovers them after leaving the meeting, and decides to take the Bard's body in place of his current one. Paedur is saved by Katani killing Praetens just in time.
Reunited, they all flee the city, but are chased by a fierce storm conjured by the New Religion. They seek shelter in a secret place known to the Chopts, the cave of the armourer. A mythical figure who is chained to this plane until a religion is destroyed, she wakes for battle and forges weapons indiscriminately.
They continue on to Baddalaur, the town of Bards, where the final confrontation will take place. The New Religion believe that destroying all books, and all bards, will remove so much power from the Old Faith that they will win, and Baddalaur is the greatest library in the world.
In Karfondel there has been an attempt to kill Kutor. Owen traces the plot to an armorer, the Warlord. He pretends that he is doubtful of Kutor and attempts to infiltrate the conspirators, but they only give him the name of a useless noble.
Tien has more luck when he follows the Warlord that night and sees a ceremony in the abandoned temple. The Lady Esse is sacrificing young women, hoping that one will become a vessel for the Gods. Instead a vampire takes control of one of them. The vampire is taken to the armorer's vault and locked in while they bring further victims to transform.
Owen and Tien go to destroy the nest of vampires but find only four of the six that should be there. One of them imitates Owen's dead sister, enthralling him until Tien drags him away and burns them.
The Lady Esse has sent one of them to kill Kutor and one to accompany her Gallowglas bodyguard to Baddalaur to kill Paedur. After surviving the attack, Kutor rallies his army to march to Baddalaur and meet the invading Chopts.
Owen, Tien and Fodla race ahead of Kutor's troops and arrive as the Gallowglas is running amok in the main courtyard of the citadel, but Katani has been badly injured defending Paedur againt the last vampire. Paedur is in a trance, fighting the Gods, the overwhelming forces outside are about to attack and there is only one way to stop them.
Of course, it succeeds and almost everyone survives. An interesting footnote mentions that Tien becomes a monk, Owen and Fodla get married, and both Katani and the Bard disappear, although there are rumours about them in the North for a long time.
It is only then I realised there was no romance in these novels. It wasn't something that was conspicuously missing, but it's a rare fantasy novel that doesn't have some love story in it somewhere. The way that Paedur and Katani is dealt with was very clever, of course one would like to see them end up together, but at the same time living happily ever after wouldn't work stylistically. Yet mentioning that there were rumours, without saying whether they were true or not, was simply perfect, you can believe what you like.