Here is a list of The Path to Ascendancy Books in Order.
Dancer’s Lament (2016)
From the blurb:
It was once a land ravaged by war, minor city states, baronies and principates fighting for supremacy. But when the rival cities of Tali and Quon formed an alliance, Quon Tali came into being.
However that was generations ago, that dynasty has collapsed and the regional powers are now clawing at each others throats once more. But at the heart of Quon Tali lies the powerful city state of Li Heng which has for centuries enjoyed relative stability under the guidance of the powerful sorceress known as the “Protectress”.
She is not someone likely to tolerate the arrival of two particular young men into her domain: one is determined to prove he is the most skilled assassin of his age; the other is his quarry – a Dal Hon mage who is proving annoyingly difficult to kill.
And now, under a new and ambitious king, the forces of Itko Kan are marching on Li Heng from the south. His own assassins, the Nightblades, have been sent ahead into the city, and rumours abound that he has inhuman, nightmarish forces at his command….