Paul Kearney at Tangled Web UK

Page Updated: 13/07/2007

Paul Kearney

The Sea Beggars: This Forsaken Earth

pbk 04 Jul 07

Ships From the West

The Second Empire: The Monarchies of God

The Iron Wars: The Monarchies of God

About the Author

Bibliography

Paperback - Bantam (2007)

The Sea Beggars: This Forsaken Earth
No-one can outrun their past, as Rol Cortishane discovers when his old acquaintance in murder - Canker, King of Thieves - turns up unannounced to make Rol an offer that cannot be refused.
To safeguard the hidden pirate city that has become his home and refuge, Cortishane, together with three trusted crew members, must now leave behind his beloved ship, Revenant, and take to the mountains of Bionar. For there his estranged half-sister Rowen is locked in a life-and-death struggle to keep possession of the mightiest kingdom in all the world - and she has need of him. Facing siege, pitched battle and the most brutal of betrayals, Cortishane will discover that his world is not the place he thought it was. In order to survive, he must relearn the skills of the assassin. To win, he must allow free rein to the darker blood that burns within his veins…
'One of the very best writers of fantasy around' Steven Erikson
‘A terrific writer, one of the best currently working in epic fantasy ... his peers are Martin, Erikson and Bakker’ Paul Witcover, SciFi.com
‘His prose roars along like a riptide and he delivers plot broadsides with panache’ Jon Courtney Grimwood, Guardian
‘One of the very best British writers of hard-edged visceral, gritty fantasy’ alienonline

First British Edition Gollancz (2002)

Ships From the West

In the legends of the pagan Cimbric tribes it is said that a wolf will one day swallow all the world, and regurgitate it in a different corner of the stars. In the darkness there a new race of men will start again with flint and fire, and commence that long, slow journey into the light.
In all legends, even the most primitive, there is always a grain of truth.

Sixteen years have passed since the battle of Armagedir. The Torunnans and Merduks have become close allies in a world that is growing increasingly strange and fearsome.
The Himerian Church rules two-thirds of the continent and is become a swollen, corrupt theocracy which strangles independent thought. Only in Torunna, in Ostrabar and in Hebrion do Kings still rule free of the black-clad Inceptines.
But now off the coast of Hebrion something astonishing has appeared. A vast fleet of ships comes sailing out of the empty west, and on board them is an entirely new race of men. The immortal arch-mage Aruan has returned to the Old World at last, and he intends to claim it as his own.
Praise for The Monarchies of God series:
`Forever exciting . . . Destruction, religion, a great hero, war, excitement . . . what more can you people want?’ Black Tears
‘Paul Kearney – his Monarchies of God is simply the best fantasy series I’ve read in years and years’ Steven Erikson, author of Gardens of the Moon
'A bold, strong new voice in fantasy' Robert Silverberg
'One of the best fantasy works for ages… tough, muscular realism ... Kearney paints the gore, the sex and the lust for power in vivid colour' SFX
'More of the same. More intricately crafted and exciting story. More scenes of martial heroics. More moments of rug-pulled-out-from-under-your-feet treachery. More triumphs. More setbacks. More tragic moments, senseless deaths, fear, brutality, relief, love, joy of life' The SFSite

First British Edition Gollancz (2000)

Paperback - Gollancz Millenium (2001)

The Second Empire: The Monarchies of God
Book Four

And the Beast shall come upon the earth in the days of the Second Empire of the world. And he shall rise up out of the west, the light in his eyes terrible to behold. With him shall come the Age of the Wolf when brother will slay brother. And all men shall fall down and worship him.

Winter lies cold and dark upon the world; it seems that spring will never come. Once dismissed as the ravings of a crazed hermit, the prophecies of Honorius seem at last to be coming true. The Ramusian Church is steadily extending its power over the continent of Normannia, its might beginning to rival that of the long-vanished Fimbrian Empire. But even in the ranks of the Church hierarchy, some are beginning to doubt the morality of their cause. And there are whisperings in the monastery-city of Charibon, of something terrible that stalks the cloisters at night.
In the east, the last Torunnan army stands at bay before the walls of its capital. In the west, King Abelyn strives to maintain control of an unruly and ravaged kingdom. And in the harbour of old Abrusio, the Gabrian Osprey lies docked at last, home from her long voyaging. Only a handful of shocked survivors remain of the proud expedition which set sail almost a year before, but they are not alone: something has come home with them from the uttermost west.

Paperback - Gollancz Millenium (2000)

First British Edition Gollancz (1999)

The Iron Wars: The Monarchies of God
Book Three
It seemed that the whole world had been picked up and reconfigured... some dreadful engine has begun to turn in the hot darkness of its vitals and could not now be stopped, any more than the sun could be halted in its path.
Heresy and war stalk the continent of Normannia. In the east the great fortress of Onnann Dyke is about to be overthrown by the heathen Merduks, while in the west Hebrion's king lies in a coma, his capital in smouldering ruins... and two scheming women bicker over the throne. A new age is dawning. The Church has become a great temporal empire dedicated to the destruction of the heretic kings of Normannia. For the first time in four centuries the tercios of Fimbria, the old imperial power, are on the march. In the midst of this political and military maelstrom a battered carrack makes landfall in Hebrion. The explorer Richard Hawkwood has finally returned to the Monarchies of God, bearing tidings of a new continent in the uttermost west - and there is something terrible lurking in his ship's hold.
Praise for The Monarchies of God series: "Kearney paints the gore, the sex and the lust for power in vivid colour. " SFX
"Marvellously vivid." Locus
"A bold, strong new voice in fantasy. " Robert Silverberg
"Impressive for its human insights, its unusual take on the use of magic, and its find blending of historical elements with sheer invention. " Locus
"Forever exciting, this marvellous second volume makes even better reading than the first… destruction, religion, a great hero, war, excitement... What more can you people want?' Black Tears
Paul Kearney was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. He lived for some years in Copenhagen before moving on to the United States with his wife. As well as the first two books in the acclaimed Monarchies of God saga - Hawkwood's Voyage and The Heretic Kings, he has written The Way to Babylon, A Different Kingdom and Riding the Unicorn, all published by Gollancz.
'One of the best fantasy works for ages' SFX
'Destruction, religion, a great hero, war, excitement… what more can you people want?' Black Tears
'Impressive for its human insights, its unusual take on the use of magic, and its fine blending of historical elements with sheer invention' Locus

About The Author
Paul Kearney was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. He lived for some years in Copenhagen, then spent two years in America before returning to Britain in 1998. He and his wife and a Jack Russell terrier now live in a village near Cambridge.
As well as the first three books in The Monarchies of God saga, Hawkwood's Voyage, The Heretic Kings and The Iron Wars, Paul Kearney is the author of The Way to Babylon, Different Kingdom, and Riding the Unicorn, all published by Victor Gollancz.

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Bibliography
N.B. dates and publishers in dark red indicate British First Editions. Dates and publishers in black indicate recent reprints.

The Sea Beggars: This Forsaken Earth (Bantam, 2006) Bantam Pbk Jul 07

Ships From the West (Gollancz, 2002)

The Second Empire: The Monarchies of God (Gollancz, 2000) Gollancz Millenium Pbk May 01

The Iron Wars: The Monarchies of God (Gollancz, 1999) Gollancz Millenium Pbk Mar 00

Riding the Unicorn

A Different Kingdom

The Way to Babylon

The Heretic Kings

Hawkwood's Voyage