dwndrg, Chernenko only has one trilogy out. The first book is the ******* King, the second is the Chernagor pirates, which just came out in mass market and the third is going to be out late feb or early March, it's called the scepters return.
The books are pretty much like this. This had had 6 wives and never produced an hier. He is allowed six wives, because their god had six wives. His younger brother is just waiting for him to die so he can take over. But the king's mistress becomes pregnant and through magic, they discover that it is a boy and he forces a priest to marry them so the boy will be his heir. Well that causes all kinds of problems, because not even the gods have seven wives. Hence the name of the book the ******* King. The kingdom is one of the largest and wealthiest in all the land. To north, lies a powerful kingdom, that they have a treaty with and basically pay off instead of having to constantly go to war with them. To the south is the land of thier most hated enemy. The people of the Banished One. The Banished One is a god that was cast down from the heavens by the other gods. He is not quite a god, yet not a mortal either. He is the most powerful force in on their world.
When the king dies, his brother takes over, throws out the treaty with the north and the war begins. The young ******* king, Lanius, is still too young to rule when his uncle dies and those around him struggle for the power to rule in his stead. As he grows, he tries to obtain more power for himself, but is not that successful.
I don't really want to say much more than that, but the series is very good. There are no dragons or elves or anything like that. Chernenko is not an overly descriptive author, which I like. He doesn't drag out the story and he gets pretty indepth with his characters. You really feel for Lanius.
It is also funny that you should mention Dawn Cook. She is a local author where I work and often comes in and complains we don't carry enough of her books.
