Tyrant Philosophers – serie

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**SHORTLISTED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES*City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring ‘Perfection’ and ‘Correctness’ to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach – the rain before the storm. Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy — converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she’ll learn that the price of her nation’s success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds — and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe — the Tyrant Philosophers — determined to bring reason, logic and ‘perfection’ to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…Also in the TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS series:CITY OF LAST CHANCESHOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDSLIVES OF BITTER RAINDAYS OF SHATTERED FAITHPRETENDERS TO THE THONE OF GOD

2024 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST, BEST FANTASY NOVELWINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL'Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner' Patrick NessArthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky's triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution.There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?Despite the city's refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.City of Bad Decisions.City of Last Chances.'Ilmar is vividly alive with ideas, conflicts, and a sense of its own history – a truly breathtaking fantasy city, down every street a compelling story.' David Towsey'A master at the height of his powers. This is epic symphonic fantasy, weaving a breakneck plot through a sumptuously dangerous world.' Ian Green'A wonderful twisty stew of a book with a cast of fascinating characters, set against the brilliantly realized city of Ilmar.' Django Wexler'A triumph of a book: wildly imaginative, immediately immersive and hypnotically compelling.' Sharon Emmerichs

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 PHILOSOPHERS1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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.

Behind the front lines of a crusade to scour the world of magic, the crew of a field hospital confront the horrors of war. A companion novel to Adrian Tchaikovsky’s award-winning fantasy novel City of Last ChancesCity-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the front line.Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit.Led by ‘the Butcher’, an ogre of a man who’s a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit’s motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Theirs is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers. Entrusted – for now – with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital’s crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yasnic’s thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse.Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle…Reviews for City of Last Chances:‘Paints a vivid detailed backdrop’ SFX‘Brilliant chaos ensues’ Daily Mail‘Some of Tchaikovsky’s best prose’ SF Crowsnest‘An intriguing tangle… ingenious’ Locus‘Endlessly creative’ Patrick Ness‘Rich, inventive worldbuilding’ Publishers Weekly‘Ilmar is vividly alive’ David Towsey‘A master at the height of his powers’ Ian Green‘An ambitious epic fantasy read’ Grimdark Magazine

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**SHORTLISTED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES*City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring ‘Perfection’ and ‘Correctness’ to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach – the rain before the storm. Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy — converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she’ll learn that the price of her nation’s success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds — and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe — the Tyrant Philosophers — determined to bring reason, logic and ‘perfection’ to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

Behind the front lines of a crusade to scour the world of magic, the crew of a field hospital confront the horrors of war. A companion novel to Adrian Tchaikovsky''s award-winning fantasy novel City of Last ChancesCity-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. As their legions scour the world of superstition with the bright flame of reason, so they deliver a mountain of ragged, holed and scorched flesh to the field hospital tents just behind the front line.Which is where Yasnic, one-time priest, healer and rebel, finds himself. Reprieved from the gallows and sent to war clutching a box of orphan Gods, he has been sequestered to a particularity unorthodox medical unit. Led by ''the Butcher'', an ogre of a man who''s a dab hand with a bone-saw and an alchemical tincture, the unit''s motley crew of conscripts, healers and orderlies are no strangers to the horrors of war. Theirs is an unspeakable trade: elbow-deep in gore they have a first-hand view of the suffering caused by flesh-rending monsters, arcane magical weaponry and embittered enemy soldiers. Entrusted – for now – with saving lives deemed otherwise un-saveable, the field hospital''s crew face a precarious existence. Their work with unapproved magic, necromancy, demonology and Yasnic''s thoroughly illicit Gods could lead to the unit being disbanded, arrested or worse.Beset by enemies within and without, the last thing anyone needs is a miracle… Reviews for City of Last Chances:''Paints a vivid detailed backdrop'' SFX''Brilliant chaos ensues'' Daily Mail''Some of Tchaikovsky''s best prose'' SF Crowsnest''An intriguing tangle… ingenious'' Locus''Endlessly creative'' Patrick Ness''Rich, inventive worldbuilding'' Publishers Weekly''Ilmar is vividly alive'' David Towsey''A master at the height of his powers'' Ian Green''An ambitious epic fantasy read'' Grimdark Magazine

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…Also in the TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS series:CITY OF LAST CHANCESHOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDSLIVES OF BITTER RAINDAYS OF SHATTERED FAITHPRETENDERS TO THE THONE OF GOD

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow''s frontline in the Palleseen''s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she''s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…Also in the TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS series:CITY OF LAST CHANCESHOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDSLIVES OF BITTER RAINDAYS OF SHATTERED FAITHPRETENDERS TO THE THONE OF GOD

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…Also in the TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS series:CITY OF LAST CHANCESHOUSE OF OPEN WOUNDSLIVES OF BITTER RAINDAYS OF SHATTERED FAITHPRETENDERS TO THE THONE OF GOD

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**SHORTLISTED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES*City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring 'Perfection' and 'Correctness' to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach the rain before the storm. Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy - converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she'll learn that the price of her nation's success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds - and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe - the Tyrant Philosophers - determined to bring reason, logic and 'perfection' to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

*2026 LOCUS FINALIST FOR BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL**SHORTLISTED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES*City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring 'Perfection' and 'Correctness' to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach the rain before the storm. Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy - converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, she'll learn that the price of her nation's success is paid in compromise and lost chances, and that the falling rain will always be bitter.THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds - and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe - the Tyrant Philosophers - determined to bring reason, logic and 'perfection' to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

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 PHILOSOPHERS1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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.

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 PHILOSOPHERS1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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.

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 PHILOSOPHERS1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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.

In the final instalment of the Tyrant Philosophers quintet, award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky takes us back to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances', a decade after our story began. Has the Palleseen campaign to impose ‘perfection’ on a chaotically magical world reached breaking point?It’s almost ten years since the Gownhall Rising, in which time the Palleseen grip on the city has only strengthened. Landmarks like the Mahanic Temple and even the Gownhall itself have been torn down to be replaced by Palleseen edifices. The Grove, gateway to the infinite wood and all the worlds beyond, is scheduled for destruction. Only the haunted Reproach remains too much for even the Pals to extinguish.Istri is a playwright, writing plays contrary to perfection and keeping ahead of both the censors and her creditors. In a bad spot, she is commissioned by Fidel, the ‘Old Owl’ of the resistance, to write her last and greatest work. Innocent enough, except it is to be a play touching on the most forbidden topic, the Reproach itself.Orlandt, soldier of fortune and Istri’s former lover, has been over a decade away from the city since fleeing into the Grove to escape the Pal occupation. Now he’s back, looking for familiar faces. But his past is always with him, what he did in the war, and what was done to him within the Wood.Yasnic the ex-priest, the conjurer, the beloved of Hell, has come home to find his city under threat not just from the Palleseen, but other sinister sources. Meanwhile the factory demons are working to rule, the old Gownhall site has been occupied by a familiar band of foreign soldiers, and the Palleseen Commission is schisming into mutually-opposed factions whose squabbling has finally reached Ilmar.As Palleseen control of the city fractures and the terrible details of Fidel’s plan become clear, the destinies of all these disparate groups and individuals are set to collide in a war for the future of Ilmar, and of the whole Palleseen Sway.***THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds — and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe — the Tyrant Philosophers — determined to bring reason, logic and ‘perfection’ to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

In the final instalment of the Tyrant Philosophers quintet, award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky takes us back to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances', a decade after our story began. Has the Palleseen campaign to impose ‘perfection’ on a chaotically magical world reached breaking point?It’s almost ten years since the Gownhall Rising, in which time the Palleseen grip on the city has only strengthened. Landmarks like the Mahanic Temple and even the Gownhall itself have been torn down to be replaced by Palleseen edifices. The Grove, gateway to the infinite wood and all the worlds beyond, is scheduled for destruction. Only the haunted Reproach remains too much for even the Pals to extinguish.Istri is a playwright, writing plays contrary to perfection and keeping ahead of both the censors and her creditors. In a bad spot, she is commissioned by Fidel, the ‘Old Owl’ of the resistance, to write her last and greatest work. Innocent enough, except it is to be a play touching on the most forbidden topic, the Reproach itself.Orlandt, soldier of fortune and Istri’s former lover, has been over a decade away from the city since fleeing into the Grove to escape the Pal occupation. Now he’s back, looking for familiar faces. But his past is always with him, what he did in the war, and what was done to him within the Wood.Yasnic the ex-priest, the conjurer, the beloved of Hell, has come home to find his city under threat not just from the Palleseen, but other sinister sources. Meanwhile the factory demons are working to rule, the old Gownhall site has been occupied by a familiar band of foreign soldiers, and the Palleseen Commission is schisming into mutually-opposed factions whose squabbling has finally reached Ilmar.As Palleseen control of the city fractures and the terrible details of Fidel’s plan become clear, the destinies of all these disparate groups and individuals are set to collide in a war for the future of Ilmar, and of the whole Palleseen Sway.***THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERSA world steeped in magic of all flavours: divination, demonology, necromancy, alchemy, gods, monsters, portals to other dimensions and worlds — and what happens when it collides with an implacable foe — the Tyrant Philosophers — determined to bring reason, logic and ‘perfection’ to the exuberant magical chaos.1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation2. 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 and espionage.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: return to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

2024 LOCUS AWARD FINALIST, BEST FANTASY NOVELWINNER OF THE 2022 BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL''Endlessly creative... so much invention peeking around every corner'' Patrick NessArthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller Adrian Tchaikovsky''s triumphant return to fantasy with a darkly inventive portrait of a city under occupation and on the verge of revolution. There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?Despite the city''s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.Ilmar, City of Long Shadows.City of Bad Decisions.City of Last Chances.''Ilmar is vividly alive with ideas, conflicts, and a sense of its own history – a truly breathtaking fantasy city, down every street a compelling story.'' David Towsey''A master at the height of his powers. This is epic symphonic fantasy, weaving a breakneck plot through a sumptuously dangerous world.'' Ian Green''A wonderful twisty stew of a book with a cast of fascinating characters, set against the brilliantly realized city of Ilmar.'' Django Wexler''A triumph of a book: wildly imaginative, immediately immersive and hypnotically compelling.'' Sharon Emmerichs