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Pretenders to the Throne of God

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Pretenders to the Throne of God

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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Bloomsbury presents Pretenders to the Throne of God, read by David Thorpe and written and introduced by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

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 PHILOSOPHERS
1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation
2. 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.©2026 Adrian Czajkowski (P)2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Fantasy Military Siege War
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Critic reviews

Praise for The Tyrant Philosophers Series:

City of Last Chances is the love child of Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and Hav by Jan Morris while being entirely its own thing with a polyphonic narrative... Don't even read the review. Just go get it.' - The Middle Shelf

'Quite simply superb, diplomatic and political shenanigans edge towards brutal all-out war in this darkly intricate and original novel.' LoveReading, Star Book

'Exceptional.... Not to be missed' - Publishers Weekly, Starred review

'Dense, dark, ingenious, ironic, complex, often funny, and always smart'
'A great instalment in the series’
'Pretenders to the Throne of God is Adrian Tchaikovsky at his most confident. It’s a siege novel that feels vast and intimate at once, built from a mosaic of perspectives that somehow lock together with unnerving precision... Brutal, clever, bleakly funny, and endlessly humane. A masterpiece of character-driven epic fantasy, and the strongest entry in the Tyrant Philosophers saga so far.'
All stars
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Easy to get lost in this world, shame the books come to an end, hope there is more to come. The narration is spot on, the voice clear and engaging… more please

Engrossing to the last

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I have listened to all of the Tyrant Philosophers and would highly recommend them to lovers of SF. Also recommend Shadows of the Apt Series truly astonishing work!
In fact read any of his books, you will not be disappointed.

Outstanding!

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Love them all, but this one is especially good and surely must have been inspired by some pertinent contemporary happenings? Whatever, a pure joy which takes over your listening hours, hardly feels like ten I didn’t want it to end!

Possibly my favourite so far?

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Incredible listen as all of Tchaikovsky’s work is but the return of previous characters, their interactions, the familiarity and humour was genuinely heart warming. Although the author literally says this is and can be a stand alone book; for those that have enjoyed the series and the author’s other work, will love the connections remade in this volume.
This particular chapter is delivered with the same humour and sensitivity of the fermented wine chapter of Seal of the Worm.

The return of God

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if you know how this is going end, you don't know jack. as always the story has the wit of disc world and the complexity of war and peace. the performance from the narrator was as always spot on and entertaining.
If I had on criticism, it makes me sound like Mark wahlberg "Needs More God"

buy this one!

these books keep getting better

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