The Fall of the Kings
core novel 2002 Riverside
Record
| First published | 2002 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.66 (2,358 ratings, collected 2026-09-15) |
| Page count | 510 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780553381849 |
Synopsis
The Fall of the Kings is set a generation after the events of Swordspoint, in the same unnamed city, and follows Basil St Cloud, a university scholar obsessed with the city's suppressed history of ancient wizard-kings who once ruled with the aid of magic before their line was overthrown. Basil's academic pursuit of this forbidden history draws him into a relationship with Theron Campion, a young nobleman and descendant of Alec from the earlier novel, whose family carries an uneasy connection to the old royal bloodline. As Basil's research uncovers evidence that the old magic and the deposed kings' legacy may not be as thoroughly buried as the city's institutions insist, his growing bond with Theron becomes entangled with political and academic factions wary of what his scholarship might unearth, and with the lingering question of whether the city's magic could ever return.
Where it sits
- Universe: Riverside
- Series: Riverside core; position 2 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Ellen Kushner
- Author: Delia Sherman
Notes
- Riverside #3 by internal chronology (set ~40 years after Swordspoint); co-written with Delia Sherman.
- From the series record (Riverside): Publication order (1987, 2002, 2006) differs from internal chronology (Swordspoint, then Privilege of the Sword ~18 years later, then Fall of the Kings ~40 years later); both orders are well documented and not in dispute, so no unresolved-chronology case applies here.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Riverside: position 2 of 3: previous Swordspoint (1987) · next The Privilege of the Sword (2006)
Sources
← Riverside dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.