Pretenders to the Throne of God
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.
Eres Ffenegh — "the City on the Back of a Crab" — is the next state slated for conquest by the Palleseen, but its citizens won't give up sovereignty easily, and the siege has now dragged into the harsh Eresi winter. The defenders – both locals and Pal renegades – hold an uneasy alliance against the enemy at the gates, while the Pal army is constantly looking over its shoulder for the next self-destructive dictate of their government back home.
Within the city, Devil Jack is the apprentice to the notorious conjurer and bawd known as the Widow, a good man 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. We follow the ups and downs of both as they try to survive the siege and make their own destinies in a world that's cut them loose.
Outside the city, the Pals have been desperately waiting for reinforcements so they can finally take the city, but when new soldiers finally march in with the winter it's the worst kind of help, enough to damn the entire army.
THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS
City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation
House of Open Wounds: portrait of the Palleseen war machine at work.
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.
Pretenders to the Throne of God: portrait of a city under siege.
The Grave of Perfection: will take us back to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.
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Adrian Tchaikovsky
In the realm of speculative fiction, where the boundaries between science and imagination blur, Adrian Tchaikovsky writes with the precision of a biologist and the curiosity of a philosopher. Known for weaving evolutionary theory into alien worlds and giving sentience to the most unexpected of creatures, he crafts stories that challenge not just what it means to be human—but what it means to be alive.
Tchaikovsky’s breakout novel, Children of Time, didn’t just introduce readers to a distant planet populated by hyper-intelligent spiders—it redefined what readers expect from space opera. Bold, cerebral, and emotionally resonant, the book went on to win the Arthur C. Clarke Award, with its sequel Children of Ruin deepening the saga’s exploration of consciousness, cooperation, and survival. In 2023, the Children of Time series earned the Hugo Award for Best Series, a fitting recognition for stories that dare to look evolution in the eye and ask: what if?
The Tyrant Philosophers
The Tyrant Philosophers consists of four primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of one more book. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
