The Opening of the World Series is a trilogy of novels by Harry Turtledove set in a fantasy world. The Raumsdalian Empire is the dominant political entity in the known world, which it shares with a loose collection of barbarian tribes with a common ethnicity known as the Bizogots. The known world has always been bounded on the north by a massive glacier, but at the beginning of the series it is discovered that the Glacier, which has long been receding, has melted through, allowing contact with lands to the north of it to be established. The series details exploration of these northern lands and combat with the people who live there, a very aggressive race of fierce warriors and powerful sorcerers known as the Rulers. A subplot of the series involves a quest to find the mythical Golden Shrine, which in the Raumsdalian religion is an enigmatic structure housing secrets which might give insight into the nature of God.
