The Macht
#5953.87 adjusted 3.89 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 3 books Status Complete 2008–2012 Reading commitment Medium Paul Kearney Last reviewed 2026-09-23
Overview
The Macht is a completed military/historical-flavored epic fantasy trilogy by Paul Kearney, published across 2008-2012 by Solaris. Explicitly inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis, it is set on the world of Kuf among the Macht, a fierce, endlessly self-warring mountain people whose battlefield discipline is legendary far beyond their remote homeland.
The Ten Thousand follows Rictus, a young Macht left homeless after his city's fall, who takes up the mercenary's cloak and joins ten thousand fellow warriors hired to march into the heart of the Asurian Empire on behalf of a claimant to its throne, only to be stranded deep in hostile territory and forced to fight their way out. Corvus jumps a generation ahead as the now middle-aged Rictus, seeking a quiet farming life, is drawn back into war by Corvus, a young, rumoured-to-be-not-fully-human war-leader conquering and uniting the Macht city-states by force; Kings of Morning completes the trilogy as the newly crowned Corvus, with Rictus as his trusted general, turns the united Macht outward into an unprecedented invasion of the Asurian Empire itself.
Historical fantasy, Grimdark · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (3 works) counts toward ranking
The Macht Paul Kearney
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Ten Thousand | 2008 | 1 | core | 3.80 (3,751 ratings) |
 | Corvus | 2010 | 2 | core | 3.92 (1,865 ratings) |
 | Kings of Morning | 2012 | 3 | core | 4.02 (1,284 ratings) |
Complete trilogy, published by Solaris (2008-2012).
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Macht? The Macht's Core Canon is 3 books.
- What is the reading order for The Macht? Publication order, starting with The Ten Thousand. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Macht finished? Complete (2008–2012).
- How much reading does The Macht take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 3 Core Canon books · ~1,371 pages).
- How is The Macht ranked? #595 in this site's official ranking, based on 6,900 reader ratings across 3 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #595?
Ranked #595 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.87 across 3 core books.
- A smaller readership (6,900 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.01 behind #594, Magic Kingdom of Landover.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Rated · 3 books · Complete · 7k ratings · Ranks #595 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (3 Core Canon books)
- The Ten Thousand (2008)
- Corvus (2010)
- Kings of Morning (2012)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No award nomination could be confirmed for any of the three novels despite a targeted search, though Kearney received a longlist nomination for the inaugural David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2009 for other work.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.87 across 6,900 ratings on 3 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: The Macht trilogy admitted accepted 2026-09-23
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Paul Kearney Tier 1
- Simon & Schuster (Solaris) publisher page: The Ten Thousand Tier 2
- Simon & Schuster (Solaris) publisher page: Kings of Morning Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-09-23
Rule: Core Canon is all three novels: The Ten Thousand, Corvus, and Kings of Morning.