just finished Monarchies of God by Paul Kearney

[kauldron26]

what a great great series.... unflinchingly brutal... surprisingly the series is pretty short 5 books 300 pages each. No one, i repeat, no one has written battles like Paul Kearney... the guy is insane i swear i felt like i was part of the regiment and his war tactics are so detailed... the guy is great. Many historical fantasies have been taking place in the "middle ages" monarchies of God takes place in a time extremely similar to the crusades. Ramusians (Christians) and the Merduks (muslims) and part of the story is about how these two religions have been warring for years not knowing that the prophet and the saint ARE ONE AND THE SAME PERSON!!! great great series... and seriously i dont think i ever found werewolves interesting before this series... they are so unique and serve such an important role in the crux of this universe its staggering... loved it loved it loved it.

All hail, the Monarchies of God!!

 

[Clansman]

Sounds very interesting and fun, especially to a history buff like me. Is the historical allegory he uses pretty good, or does he just make it up as he goes along?

I hate it when authors take a time from history to use in their narrative, but get all the details wrong. Some very few can pull a historical blend off (like putting cannons into the middle ages), but only if the facts they use are right, and blended properly.

 

[GOLLUM]

Yes it is a good series, Kearney is very underrated.

There's a few links on Kearney floating around here....

 

[Werthead]

As I said elsewhere, Kearney is one of the very best epic fantasy authors around. Better than Williams and Hobb, certainly, and sometimes he's within a hair's breadth of being on the same level as GRRM, Bakker and Kay. He definitely deserves more exposure, which I hope the forthcoming omnibus edition of Monarchies will provide.

His new book, The Ten Thousand, looks excellent based on the 60% of so of it I've read as a preview. Better than The Steel Remains, hovering somewhere around LAoK in the quality stakes, I think.

 

[Culhwch]

This is a series I've heard talked about well here, but I just haven't been able to find copy of the first book. I've come across countless copies of the latter books in the series in throwaway bins, so I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before I come across the first...

 

[DeepThought]

Something I've really looked forward to reading too...have the first four books in fact (still waiting for the said omnibus release though). I'll get cracking as soon as I'm done with Cook's Black Company which is turning out to be very, very good.

Cheers, DeepThought

 

[GOLLUM]

This is a series I've heard talked about well here, but I just haven't been able to find copy of the first book. I've come across countless copies of the latter books in the series in throwaway bins, so I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before I come across the first...

I had trouble collecting the five book series, mainly because some of the items were out of print. I managed to locate the required copies from interstate and locally via the net but it was a challenge.

Deepthought: If you like Cook and Erikson, you'll like Kearney.

 

[Werthead]

This is a series I've heard talked about well here, but I just haven't been able to find copy of the first book. I've come across countless copies of the latter books in the series in throwaway bins, so I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before I come across the first...

All five books are being re-released by Solaris as a two-volume omnibus edition in October or thereabouts. Book 5, which Kearney admitted he rushed badly, has been substantially rewritten. There will also be new material, including a history of Normannia and some new maps (I believe, or possibly just redrawn versions of the existing ones).

 

[Culhwch]

I'll keep an eye out for that, then.

 

[GOLLUM]

Thanks, I'll also need to look for this if Book 5, which did feel rushed, is going to be rewritten.

 

[Aleksei]

Yes, book five was indeed a bit of a let down, the rest of the series was great however. His upcoming book, The Ten Thousand, looks pretty good as well.

 

[Ice fyre]

I rermmber this series fairly well even although it was a fair wee while ago I read it. i did like the central theme which I felt was rather well played. I liked the end the final battle was just wonderful.

Is that edtion going to be released in the UK do you know?

 

[Werthead]

Yes, Solaris (the original-fiction imprint of Games Workshop's Black Library) is publishing both The Ten Thousand and the Monarchies omnibuses in both the UK and USA in the autumn.

 

[Ice fyre]

Oooo, think that will be a present to myself. cant to be too good to yourself you know. Has the author written much more you were mentioning the Ten thousand, any thing else?

 

[Aleksei]

He has an ongoing series called Sea Beggars as well, which I liked immensely.

 

[Connavar]

I wanted to try this author and i saw bookmooch has the first books of his two series
The Sea Beggars and The Monarchies of God.

Which of those two series are a good place to start with this author ?
Im not a fan of epic fantasy usually but i like any good,exciting read in fantasy.

I like the sound of nautical elements of those series too. Not the most important thing but interesting.

 

[GOLLUM]

Well my friend, the current Beggar series had stalled due to issues with finding another publisher but I think things are back on track there. It's certainly more "polished" than his original Monarchies Of God series which is complete but not that easy to find the books (some out of print although I understand they may be doing reissues). However your best bet may be to get his more recent stand-alone novel The Ten Thousand if you want a taste of his writing style.

His books are stong on military fantasy and strategy, so think Steven Erikson, Glen Cook or R. Scott Bakker maybe...

Cheers.

 

[Connavar]

Well my friend, the current Beggar series had stalled due to issues with finding another publisher but I think things are back on track there. It's certainly more "polished" than his original Monarchies Of God series which is complete but not that easy to find the books (some out of print although I understand they may be doing reissues). However your best bet may be to get his more recent stand-alone novel The Ten Thousand if you want a taste of his writing style.

His books are stong on military fantasy and strategy, so think Steven Erikson, Glen Cook or R. Scott Bakker maybe...

Cheers.

The Ten Thousand sound interesting, a fantasy version of a famous event in the history of Ancient Greece but i try always new authors with second books or library.

I choosed first Sea Beggars cause i found it in bookmooch. Which was lucky since no library in sweden has Paul Kearney books.

Monarchies Of God sounded more interesting cause of the synopsis with the hole world on fire thing and buccaneer looking for new land. The bookmooch owner of the only copy of the book was an american who of course dont send it worldwide.

I hope prose wise he is better than Erikson. Erikson only real handicapp for me was mundane prose.

Anyway i hope i like Kearney since i really like Military fantasy.

 

[GOLLUM]

The Ten Thousand sound interesting, a fantasy version of a famous event in the history of Ancient Greece but i try always new authors with second books or library.

I choosed first Sea Beggars cause i found it in bookmooch. Which was lucky since no library in sweden has Paul Kearney books.

Monarchies Of God sounded more interesting cause of the synopsis with the hole world on fire thing and buccaneer looking for new land. The bookmooch owner of the only copy of the book was an american who of course dont send it worldwide.

I hope prose wise he is better than Erikson. Erikson only real handicapp for me was mundane prose.

Anyway I hope i like Kearney since i really like Military fantasy.

Well you will find that his prose is probably best in the Sea Beggar series. I wouldn't say it was particularly better than Erikson just different but I still think he's a very good writer. If you like Tad Williams, Greg Keyes, Kate Elliot which I think you do?...then he's IMO on a similarish level prose-wise and I really like the action scences on the high seas. He really knows his stuff regarding ships and seafaring. There's actually less military from memory in this series than Monarchies or Ten Thousand Conn but it's still got plenty of action and is well written.

Please let me know how you find it.

Cheers...

 

[Connavar]

Im looking for a new fantasy adventure writer so its not really about how good the first of Sea Beggars is but if i think Kearney is good enough to buy his new book. Worth spending money. Ten Thousand sound real interesting.

Ships,seafaring sound good. That will likely start him on the plus side since im a sucker for nautical stories specially in fantasy,historical fiction.

I do like Tad Williams, one of few modern epic writers i really like. Keyes i have not yet read.
Elliot i didnt finish the library book forgot cause of new book hauls.

Thanks for reminding me of Tad Williams. I havent read him in months !