The Ten Thousand

Paul Kearny is one of the most underrated fantasy authors out there. He’s written a host of awesome military fantasy books and has been mostly ignored by the wider public for it. A shame, as he writes some of the most entertaining military fantasy out there. The Ten Thousand is loosely based on an ancient historical work by the Greek author Xenophon. The book describes how Cyrus the Younger hired a mercenary force of ten thousand as part of a scheme to overthrow his older brother; when Cyrus dies, his now defunct mercenary army is forced to fight its way out of a hostile empire to return home. It’s a compelling re-imagining of the ancient tale, brought to vivid life by one of the best epic fantasy writers out there. The author does a great job at creating some compelling characters - you really feel for them as they are tossed into a pretty much hopeless survival situation. Kearney has a real talent for paining a living, breathing battlefield, right up there with (and arguably surpassing) some of the other greats in the genre, such as Erickson and Martin. Brutal battles that challenge the key characters, forcing them to grow in both wisdom and perception. With the changing battle scenarios, the characters themselves also evolve as well. Absolutely recommended if you enjoy the gritty and brutal military fantasy worlds of Bakker, Martin, Cook, and Erikson. Kearney has also written another compelling military fantasy saga, The Voyage of Hawkwood, which is more of an epic sword-and-sorcery military fantasy than The Ten Thousand (which is mostly historical fiction with a bit of fantasy mixed in).

Books in The Macht Series (2)

Booklists having this book

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Best Military Fantasy Books

If you like fantasy with plenty of epic battles where the battle scenes and strategies are well-defined (you are immersed in the happenings on the battlefield), then this list of... Read more

Other books by Kearney, Paul

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Hawkwood's Voyage

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The Iron Wars

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The Second Empire

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Ships From The West

Fantasy-roman. Read more

Hawkwood's Voyage

As the once great Fimbrian nations of the West begin to fall to heathen Murduk hordes, bloody religious fanaticism threatens to consume the land from within, and rogue mariner Richard... Read more

Ships From The West

THE TIME OF THE WOLF IS AT HAND... Sixteen years have passed since the battle of Armagedir. The Torunnans and Merduks have become close allies in a world that is... Read more

Monarchies Of God

A lot of people call Kearney's Monarchies of God 'A Game of Thrones Lite.' And for the most part, this is true. There are a five books (each only a... Read more

The Ten Thousand

Paul Kearny is one of the most underrated fantasy authors out there. He’s written a host of awesome military fantasy books and has been mostly ignored by the wider public... Read more

Corvus

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Kings Of Morning

Astalus has returned. He has found an Eldric spell book and, in particular, a spell to summon dragons. The allies march north to confront the Trosgarth’s growing might. Warrior priests... Read more

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A stunning blend of visionary storytelling and majestic prose, The Mark of Ran is a new masterpiece of imaginative fiction. In this epic adventure, Paul Kearney records the voyages of... Read more

This Forsaken Earth

He’s spoken of only in whispers. His origins are a mystery. Some say that he’s descended from the last of the angels. Others say much worse. By all appearances, Rol... Read more

The Macht

The second book in an epic fantasy series by a critically acclaimed and highly praised author. It is twenty-three years since a Macht army fought its way home from the... Read more

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