The Beklan Empire
#7743.70 adjusted 3.73 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 1974–1984 Reading commitment Medium Richard Adams Last reviewed 2026-10-07
Overview
Richard Adams's two novels of the Beklan Empire, an invented Bronze Age world of twelve provinces around the capital Bekla, with its own language, gods and slave markets. Shardik (1974), his second novel after Watership Down, is the tragedy of a giant bear worshipped as the incarnate god of the Ortelgan people and of Kelderek, the hunter who becomes its priest-king and leads a conquest in its name; Maia (1984), a loose prequel set a dozen years earlier, follows a peasant girl sold into slavery in Bekla through the city's politics, rebellion and war. The two share the setting and several minor characters, not a plot. Low in magic and high in world-building, and borrowed by Stephen King, whose Dark Tower names its bear after Shardik. A separate world from Watership Down.
Epic fantasy, Historical fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
Shardik (1974) core · 3.52 (4,688 ratings); Allen Lane in association with Rex Collings, 1974; Adams's second novel. ISBN recorded is the first British edition's. The bear-god Shardik is borrowed by Stephen King's Dark Tower.
Maia (1984) core · 4.02 (2,528 ratings); Viking, 1984; a loose prequel set in the Beklan Empire about a dozen years before Shardik, sharing several minor characters but no plot. Contains explicit erotic content; adult.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Beklan Empire? The Beklan Empire's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for The Beklan Empire? Publication order, starting with Shardik. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Beklan Empire finished? Complete (1974–1984).
- How much reading does The Beklan Empire take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books · ~1,582 pages).
- How is The Beklan Empire ranked? #774 in this site's official ranking, based on 7,216 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #774?
Ranked #774 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.70 across 2 core books.
- A smaller readership (7,216 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Uneven reception: its books range from 3.52 to 4.02.
- 0.03 behind #773, The Magicians.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 2 books · Complete · 7k ratings · Ranks #774 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length epic fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- Shardik (1974)
- Maia (1984)
Awards (verified)
- No award could be confirmed for either novel.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.70 across 7,216 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon extension: The Beklan Empire (Richard Adams) accepted 2026-10-07
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
Last reviewed: 2026-10-07
Rule: Core Canon = Shardik (1974) and Maia (1984), two standalone novels in one invented world.