Pretenders to the Throne of God

Name: Pretenders to the Throne of God
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ISBN: 9781035914982

Adrian Tchaikovsky

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English

Miscellaneous
02 June 2026

Fantasy; Fantasy

Series: Tyrant Philosophers

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Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller returns to a world steeped in magic – and the Tyrant Philosophers' campaign to bring reason, logic and ‘perfection’ to it.

As the Palleseen’s campaign to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world rages on, Eres Ffenegh – “the City on the Back of a Crab” – is the next state slated for conquest. But its citizens won’t give up sovereignty easily.

The siege has dragged into winter and the defenders – both locals and Pal renegades – hold an uneasy alliance against the enemy at the gates, while the Pal army is looking over its shoulder for the next self-destructive dictate of their government back home.

Within the city, Devil Jack, a good man apprenticed to the notorious conjurer known as the Widow, is driven to bargaining with hell to get back what he’s lost. Meanwhile Kiffel ea Leachan is the city’s champion, a child of privilege who’s just lost everything to the invaders. Both must try to survive the siege and make their own destinies in a world that’s cut them loose.

Outside the city, Pal reinforcements have arrived to take the city, but it’s the sort of help that might just damn them all...

THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS 1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation 2. House of Open Wounds: portrait of the Palleseen war machine at work. 3. Days of Shattered Faith: portrait of a kingdom consumed, piece-by-piece, by Palleseen diplomatic subterfuge. 3.1 Lives of Bitter Rain: a prequel novella to Days of Shattered Faith, portrait of a life in the Palleseen diplomatic corps. 4. Pretenders to the Throne of God: portrait of a city under siege. 5. The Grave of Perfection: will take us back to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Imprint: Miscellaneous
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 228mm, Width: 146mm, Spine: 36mm
Weight: 540g
ISBN: 9781035914982
ISBN 10: 1035914980
Series: Tyrant Philosophers
Pages: 512
Publication Date: 02 June 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British science-fiction and fantasy writer known for a wide-variety of work including the Children of Time, Final Architecture, Dogs of War, Tyrant Philosophers and Shadows of the Apt series, as well as standalone books such as Elder Race, Doors of Eden, Spiderlight and many others. Children of Time and its series has won the Arthur C Clarke and BSFA awards, and his other works have won the British Fantasy, British Science Fiction and Sidewise Awards.

Reviews for Pretenders to the Throne of God

Praise for The Tyrant Philosophers Series: City of Last Chances is the love child of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and Hav by Jan Morris while being entirely its own thing with a polyphonic narrative... Don't even read the review. Just go get it.' - The Middle Shelf 'Quite simply superb, diplomatic and political shenanigans edge towards brutal all-out war in this darkly intricate and original novel.' LoveReading, Star Book 'Exceptional.... Not to be missed' - Publishers Weekly, Starred review 'Dense, dark, ingenious, ironic, complex, often funny, and always smart' * Locus *