Description:

1.  Tough, gritty fantasy to compete with George R R Martin, Steven Erikson, and David Gemmell 2.  By a critically acclaimed and highly praised author 3.  The start of a brand new epic series 4.  Retelling of the classic Greek history from Xenophon. 5.  Supported by targeted marketing, including ARCs, advertising in the genre press and online support. On the world of Kuf, the Macht are a mystery, a seldom-seen people of extraordinary ferocity and discipline whose prowess on the battlefield is the stuff of legend. For centuries they have remained within the remote fastnesses of the Harukush Mountains. In the world beyond, the teeming races and peoples of Kuf have been united within the bounds of the Asurian Empire, which rules the known world, and is invincible. The Great King of Asuria can call up whole nations to the battlefield. His word is law. But now the Great King¹s brother means to take the throne by force, and in order to do so he has sought out the legend. He hires ten thousand mercenary warriors of theMacht, and leads them into the heart of the Empire. ** ### From Publishers Weekly Kearney (*This Forsaken Earth*) retells Xenophon's *Anabasis* with great attention to detail but little novelty. The Macht, a race of mercenaries, are hired to sail across the oceans and serve as a conquering army for Arkamenes, who is bent on stealing his brother Ashurnan's throne and taking over the Ashur empire. When Ashurnan slays Arkamenes, the Macht are left stranded in the middle of the empire surrounded by hostile armies. Their quest to return home becomes the stuff of legend as they fight overwhelming odds to win their freedom. The story is simple enough to follow, but the characters themselves are forgettable: hard to identify with as men, easy to cheer for as a group. With no sense that the Macht will be anything other than victorious, the drama resides solely in how many named characters will die in the endless, indistinguishable battles. Kearney's considerable talent fails to come through in this unremarkable bloodfest. *(Sept.)* Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ### Review "However what the typical Fantasy fan is here for are the battles. It is here where Paul really scores, in those heart-thumping, screaming, blood-spraying combat scenes...Solaris Books have clearly seen what is a niche in the genre market; and they should be applauded for returning to publication an author whose efforts should be more widely appreciated. At a time when gritty fantasy seems to be a popular trend, *The Ten Thousand* is perhaps a book whose time has come." -- SFF World "A few months back I noted *The Ten Thousand* as being one of my hot tips for 2008. Reading a lengthy preview that the author sent me a while back reinforced this feeling, and now reading the complete novel has confirmed my initial guess. Probably the most underread author in epic fantasy has delivered his strongest novel to date." -- The Wertzone "I've read some pretty good fantasy recently but it feels like a long time since I've been so engrossed by a book and just torn through it to see how it ends... What a story it is! Fans of military fantasy are going to find a lot to enjoy here with detailed accounts of life on the road and bone crunching conflict between massed ranks of spearmen... I was left feeling like I'd read some great stuff but I'm glad I wasn't there!" -- Graeme's Fantasy Book Review "The first thing that struck me about this novel was Kearney's writing...(his) writing style is very visceral and evocative... Kearney however is not just a very good writer, but a talented storyteller as well. I'd even go as far to say that there are shades of the great David Gemmell about him, in the way he handles human emotions and other themes like loyalty and courage." -- Speculative Horizons