The Iron Wars
core novel 1999 The Monarchies of God
Record
| First published | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.02 (1,081 ratings, collected 2026-08-26) |
| Page count | 320 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780441009176 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
Set in a Renaissance-inflected world where magic is fading even as gunpowder weapons are on the rise, and where the rival Ramusian and Merduk faiths remain locked in an existential struggle, The Iron Wars finds multiple catastrophes converging at once. Merduk forces continue their invasion from the east, a newly reunited empire marches beyond its own borders for the first time in centuries, and the Ramusian Church itself splinters into civil war and renewed religious persecution of magic-users. At the center of the widening conflict stands Corfe Cear-Inaf, the sole survivor of Aekir's fall, who now commands his own forces and must navigate brutal battlefield warfare alongside treacherous court politics, as the series' large, morally complicated cast is tested by treason, patriotism, and the question of what true faith actually demands of them.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Monarchies of God
- Series: The Monarchies of God core; position 3 of 5 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Paul Kearney
Notes
- From the series record (The Monarchies of God): A five-novel epic fantasy sequence set in a continent modelled loosely on Renaissance-era Europe, following a sea captain, kings, and a religious purge across a sustained secondary-world war.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Monarchies of God: position 3 of 5: previous The Heretic Kings (1996) · next The Second Empire (2000)
Sources
- The Monarchies of God series bibliography (specialised genre-fiction site)
- http://www.sfsite.com/02a/iron50.htm
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