The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney

[Larry]

Having had closer dealings with Gollancz than any other publishing company, I must admit I'm not sure about the hype thing either. Heinemann's blaze of publicity for Nick Harkaway's Gone-Away World seems to eclipse anything Gollancz has ever done, including the handing-out-flyers thing for Lies of Locke Lamora. Does Spanton talk up his books a lot? Yeah, but that's his job!

I think Pat's issue was that he was letting a lot of the buzz around the novel distract him from the book itself, which is the most important thing. Hype is transitory, and his review of The Steel Remains will be meaningless to someone checking his blog archives in three years to see if they want to pick up a copy of the book.

Exactly. It is that meaninglessness for those reading the review months or years later that helps make that "review" of his much weaker than what it should have been. Perhaps in hindsight (or perhaps not, as Pat can be quite stubborn at times ), splitting it off into a second post would have strengthened the review (by focusing on the perceived strengths and weaknesses) while allowing for a more concentrated commentary post about said things in general. What interested me were all the "dittoheads" replying there.

And as for the publicity, I've seen something about the Harkaway recently, but I can't recall much. Again, it might be that I live in the US and I only receive certain publishers' ARCs. I know if it's going to be say a Pyr release in the US, I'll never receive one, nor ask for it, since I was snubbed a year ago. I might buy one of their books later and review it fairly, but I have no desire to seek out review copies from them. I love being petty like that :P

[JamesL]

Just to let you all know: I've got an advance copy of The Ten Thousand to give away on Speculative Horizons. If you want to be in with a chance of reading this excellent novel three months before it's released, then check out the blog.

[FuzzBunneh]

*bounces big time*

[Werthead]

And The Ten Thousand is now available. Or rather, it's shipping right now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Looking at the epic fantasy releases for 2008, I can confidently say it's the best in the subgenre released this year (although it's been a lean year for epic fantasy), edging Last Argument of Kings and towering comfortably over Toll the Hounds and Return of the Crimson Guard. Among the unread books this year, the only things that may challenge it are Keyes (but The Born Queen has not had a great reception) and maybe Empire of Black and Gold, which I haven't read yet but the opening chapters did not really grab me.

[suciul]

And The Ten Thousand is now available. Or rather, it's shipping right now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Looking at the epic fantasy releases for 2008, I can confidently say it's the best in the subgenre released this year

I found it a superb novel - my full review for Robert at FBC was up this weekend

Regarding best in epic fantasy, I think it depends on what you mean by epic fantasy since Ten Thousand is a book that would appeal a lot to fans of Steven Pressfield, MC Ford or novels about Roman legions (The Soldier of Rome series by James Mace is one of the best current such despite being self-published)

If you liked the battles and the heavy infantry soldier life descriptions in Ten Thousand you may like one of the above, despite not being even nominally fantasy the way Kearney is

[Michigan]

I know The Ten Thousand has been referred to as a stand alone novel in this thread but I almost picked it up today but didn't because Borders had it listed as first in a new series. Anyone know the truth to this?

Picked up Legend instead.

[Werthead]

I know The Ten Thousand has been referred to as a stand alone novel in this thread but I almost picked it up today but didn't because Borders had it listed as first in a new series. Anyone know the truth to this?

Picked up Legend instead.

It's a stand-alone. Kearney has said if he ever goes back to the world, it will be for a prequel set centuries or millennia earlier.

[suciul]

I know The Ten Thousand has been referred to as a stand alone novel in this thread but I almost picked it up today but didn't because Borders had it listed as first in a new series. Anyone know the truth to this?

Picked up Legend instead.

It's definitely a standalone; anyway if you see it again, just open it and read 10 pages and it's very likely you will get stuck there wanting to finish it

I remember when I got it in the mail, I started it late in the evening and I read until my eyes closed - next day I planned to continue in the evening, but as it happened I took a break from work to rest for an hour or so and I made the mistake of opening Ten Thousand and I could not put it down again - luckily I managed to read it in the time alloted for rest...

[JamesL]

I've asked Paul about the possibility of a sequel, but he was adamant that it would be a one-off.

Shame, but he does have plenty of other projects on the go.

[Michigan]

Well, i'm about 200 pages in and it would be a shame if Kearney doesn't expand on this world. I don't know if their is room for a sequel or not since I don't know the ending but I do find the world to be very interesting and his writing to be top notch. I seem to have hit a bit of a lull in the story right now but with the way the book began I have faith that it will quickly pick up.

The Ten Thousand was the only Kearney my local bookstore had, has he published anything else recently and does anybody know what else he has planned?

[JamesL]

Well, i'm about 200 pages in and it would be a shame if Kearney doesn't expand on this world. I don't know if their is room for a sequel or not since I don't know the ending but I do find the world to be very interesting and his writing to be top notch. I seem to have hit a bit of a lull in the story right now but with the way the book began I have faith that it will quickly pick up.

The Ten Thousand was the only Kearney my local bookstore had, has he published anything else recently and does anybody know what else he has planned?

As far as I understand, Solaris are going to be releasing a Kearney omnibus - I think of his Sea Beggars series - anyone like to confirm that?

[Werthead]

As far as I understand, Solaris are going to be releasing a Kearney omnibus - I think of his Sea Beggars series - anyone like to confirm that?

Solaris will be publishing a two-volume omnibus of his Monarchies of God series early next year. They haven't been able to nail down a date, as it took them much longer than expected to extricate the US rights from Ace Books. The two books will be called Hawkwing and the Kings and Century of the Soldier.

Kearney also has a novel based on the TV series Primeval out next month, and is planning a new epic fantasy/alternate-history series set Renaissance Europe, although he is considering writing a new Macht novel first.

He has to wait a year or two for the Sea-Beggars rights to revert to him from Bantam before he can finish off the trilogy for Solaris.

[Alex]

Just finished the book and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Having read Kearneys Sea beggar trilogy which was barely above avarage I thought I'd give his Ten Thousand a try. The book is nothing short of brilliant and really is a good example of how some authors get better and better with each book they write.

Minor spoilers ahead:


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I read the whole book in one sitting and the only gripe I have with it is the somewhat cheesy ending =)

[JamesL]

Well, that's interesting. Because personally I thought:

That the ending was excellent, and Jason's death was deeply moving

[...]

Well, that's interesting. Because personally I thought:

That the ending was excellent, and Jason's death was deeply moving

I thought the ending was rather predictable; however, it was a fitting ending to the story. The finally scene seemed a little rushed to me, almost as if Kearney was trying to end the book too quickly.

Edit: spoiler tags