Paul Kearney sells epic fantasy to Solaris

Paul Kearney sold The Ten Thousand to Solaris, which intends to publish it in the UK and the US next summer. 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 purchase, "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."

Kearney's web site is www.paulkearneyonline.com. His previous books include the five-volume Monarchies of God series, the two books of The Sea Beggers, and three stand-alone novels, the first of which, The Way to Babylon, was published in 1992.