THE TEN THOUSAND is a brand new novel set on the world of Kuf, a brash jewel swarming with all manners of races and peoples. Mountain ranges, impenetrable deserts and steaming jungles line the maps of barbaric tribes and civilized nation-states. The Assurian Empire is dominant, prestigious and thought to be invincible. However, this ancient colossus is about to be shaken to its very foundations. Ten thousand elite mercenaries of a legendary race known as the Macht are hired by an Empire exile to take the throne by force. But when their employer is killed, and they are surrounded by Empire armies, the Ten Thousand find themselves abandoned. This is the story of their fight for freedom.

Solaris Assistant Editor Mark Newton said of the deal: “This is an absolute coup for Solaris. Paul Kearney is one of the great writers of gritty, realistic epic fantasy. He belongs in the highest ranks, and we’ll do our best to get him there.”

THE TEN THOUSAND will be published by Solaris in both the UK and the US in Summer 2008.

Paul Kearney studied at Lincoln College, Oxford, where he read Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse, and Middle English and was a keen member of the Mountaineering Society and the Officer Training Corps. He has published several titles including the Sea Beggars series to critical acclaim, being nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Kearney lived in Copenhagen, New Jersey, and Cambridgeshire, but at present he makes his home a stone's throw from the sea in County Down, with his wife, two dogs, a beat-up old boat, and far too many books. Visit him online at www.paulkearneyonline.com.

Praise for Paul Kearney:

“One of the very best writers of fantasy around. And recognition of that is long overdue.”
— Steven Erikson

“One of the best fantasy works for ages… Tough, muscular realism… Kearney paints the gore, the sex, and the lust for power in vivid colour.”
—SFX on Hawkwood’s Voyage, Book One of The Monarchies of God

For more information please contact BL Publishing on: solaris@blpublishing.com 
or call George Mann on ++44 (0)115 - 900 4172