Pretenders to the Throne of God

The Tyrant Philosophers #4

by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller returns to a world steeped in magic – and the Tyrant Philosophers' campaign to bring reason, logic and 'perfection' to it.

Eres Ffenegh - “the City on the Back of a Crab” - is the next state slated for conquest by the Palleseen, but its citizens won't give up sovereignty easily, and the siege has now dragged into the harsh Eresi winter. The defenders – both locals and Pal renegades – hold an uneasy alliance against the enemy at the gates, while the Pal army is constantly looking over its shoulder for the next self-destructive dictate of their government back home.

Within the city, Devil Jack is the apprentice to the notorious conjurer and bawd known as the Widow, a good man driven to bargaining with hell to get back what he's lost. Meanwhile Kiffel ea Leachan is the city's champion, a child of privilege who's just lost everything to the invaders. We follow the ups and downs of both as they try to survive the siege and make their own destinies in a world that's cut them loose.

Outside the city, the Pals have been desperately waiting for reinforcements so they can finally take the city, but when new soldiers finally march in with the winter it's the worst kind of help, enough to damn the entire army.

THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS
1. City of Last Chances: portrait of Ilmar, a city under Palleseen occupation
2. House of Open Wounds: portrait of the Palleseen war machine at work.
3. Days of Shattered Faith: portrait of a kingdom consumed, piece-by-piece, by Palleseen diplomatic subterfuge.
3.1 Lives of Bitter Rain: a prequel novella to Days of Shattered Faith, portrait of a life in the Palleseen diplomatic corps.
4. Pretenders to the Throne of God: portrait of a city under siege.
5. The Grave of Perfection: will take us back to Ilmar, the 'City of Last Chances' where our story began.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Epic, Ebooks, Magic

512 pages, Hardcover

First published February 12, 2026

About the author

ADRIAN TCHAIKOVSKY was born in Lincolnshire and studied zoology and psychology at Reading, before practising law in Leeds. He is a keen live role-player and occasional amateur actor and is trained in stage-fighting. His literary influences include Gene Wolfe, Mervyn Peake, China Miéville, Mary Gently, Steven Erikson, Naomi Novak, Scott Lynch and Alan Campbell.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tchaikovsky notes in the brief afterward that he really enjoys writing this series; that makes me happy because I love reading them and hope for many more! The one common thread in the series character wise is Yasnic, AKA Maric Jack, AKA Happy Jack, and here, AKA Devil Jack. Many other characters from previous volumes also periodically appear in the series, however, and Tchaikovsky brings back one of my favorites here--Banders, now AKA Anders.

Pretenders to the Throne of God takes place in a new part of the world, Eres Ffenegh, a city build upon the top of a dead crab god, but also a city under threat from the Palleseen Sway. Eres Ffenegh, once a pronounced city of learning and magic, has become something of a backwater for the last few centuries, and roughly 60 years prior to the story here, became a colony of the Lor Sway, primarily due to it providing a good, strategic port. Well, the Pals 'liberated' Eres Ffenegh after the war (the big Lor/Palleseen one), but the town rebelled and kicked the Pals out. When the story starts, the Pals have been besieging Eres Ffenegh for many months, but the city still holds; all the Pals have to siege with are the remains of the garrison they had occupying the city before the revolt. So, like the last volume of the series (Days of Shattered Faith), a different city, different culture, and also one under threat by the Pals.

Perhaps the thing I enjoy most about the series (besides the wit and charm) concerns the world building and the Palleseen Sway. The Pals were once a 'tribe' if you will of sea raiders/traders until roughly 300 years ago they united in their drive for perfection. The Pals ditched their own god, the Fisher King, and sought to rationalize their society. Religion must be stamped out and order established, not just in their own lands, but everywhere. Thus, for the last 300 years, Palleseen, lead by their 'temporary commission of ways and means' (temporary until perfection is achieved) have subjugated other peoples and lands brutally. Fighting the Lor Sway, however, started (or accelerated) some changes in the Pal empire, however. The Lor proved to be a formidable foe indeed, and many new 'specializations' emerged in the Pal war machine to subjugate them, things like necromancers, demonologists and other arcane things supposedly rationalized of their superstitions. Another change occurred due to the 'revival' of their old Fisher King god and the healing God of which Yasnic was the only priest and follower when the entire saga began.

Well, the Palleseen soldiers, being rational after all, eventually worked a deal with the healing God; in the case they ever receive mortal wounds in battle, their 'oath' kicks in and they not only are healed, but become extreme passivists. By extreme, I mean that if they intentionally harm another person, their old, mortal wounds will return with interest. Well, as you might imagine, quite a few soldiers of the Pals took such an oath and when the Lor war concluded, many of these soldiers found their way home, presenting the ruling Philosophers with a problem-- what to do with them, along with the new followers of the Fisher King? Well, they rounded them up in camps, exterminated them and then wove them out of their history. Then, doubling down, the ruling Philosophers/professors decided that many of the special, arcane new sciences developed during the war were also imperfect and needed to be culled.

Whew, long set up, but key for the story here. The 'rebels' in Eres Ffenegh contain not only the city's inhabitants, but Pal 'traitors' of both the passivist and Fisher King sort, who know they will be killed sooner or later by their own country. The Palleseen Sway is definitely showing some cracks at the seams! It seems many of the old sea cults/gods have been uniting to defy the Pals, which is why requested reinforcements to the siege at Eres Ffenegh have not arrived. Further, the former garrison Pal force has several 'specialists' who know their days are numbered and shortly after the story starts, they are joined by the Lich Queen, a Pal officer who marched 1500 dead soldiers from the hinterlands (the Old Empire) and just wants to go back home.

So, the story centers on Eres Ffenegh but remains well nested in the overall saga. Devil Jack came to Eres Ffenegh to somehow bring his lover back from Hell (she is/was a demon) and now works in a brothel as an apprentice to the Madam there, and elderly Allorian. Banders/Anders is also on Eres Ffenegh where she serves as the 'mouth of the seas', or the direct underling for the Pope of the Fisher King. I loved the drama, the humor, the no-so subtle jabs at imperialism, the humanness-- Tchaikovsky really hit his stride with this series. 4.5 glowing stars, rounding up!!

[Patrycja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack at his finest 👌🏻

"Pretenders to the Throne of Gods" is a story of a siege. Eres Ffenegh is about to be occupied by the Palleseen army. In the city walls locals and Palleseen renegades are trying to do what they can to achieve some compromise and save their homes.

It's not a story only about politics and tactics. Tchaikovsky once again shows a complete picture of a town through the eyes of its inhabitants. Each of them gets its own narrative that connects and intertwine with the others. I'm still greatly impressed how the author creates such stories, and from small pieces shows a full panorama of Eres Ffeneghm, as if it was its own character.

My favourite part was the story of Jack, who every time just happens to be in the worst place possible. His decisions, even though arising from his own wishes and needs, are impacting everyone immensely. After the ending, I really wonder where the story will take us in the next volume..

Overall, "Pretenders to the Throne of God" is another great work written by Tchaikovsky in which you can feel the ongoing pressure. This time it's the siege that impacts the city's resources and makes people act defensively, emotionally and brutally. There's the constant sense of time running out and and for sure there's no time to carefully think through every single decision...

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Autumn Kotsiuba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can I give this ten stars?

Adrian Tchaikovsky is one of my favourite authors. The Tyrant Philosophers is my favourite of his series. Yasnic is my favourite of his characters. So give me a book that centres around him, and what can I do but love it?

I'm always amazed at how this world can balance so many stories but still feel cohesive. I'm amazed at how I care about every character, not just including but especially the most flawed. I thought the previous books in the series were faultless, but this might be my new favourite.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sharing, but mostly thanks to AT for creating such a masterpiece. (I swear I'd read a book of Yasnic and God watching paint dry.) More, please!

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

THERES ANOTHER ONE????????????

🎉 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

YES AND IT’S FANTASTIC

YOU GUYS

THIS BOOK IS TOO GOOD

(Look I’m not sure why I got access to this book at the library before Goodreads says that it came out, but whatever it is I read it was fantastic and I’m pretty sure it’s the normal published version so I’m doing a review for that)

I rented and raved about house of open wounds, and this, the fourth book in the series, is around equally as amazing, with extreme fun and awesome world building and great characters and an interesting setting and love to hate bad guys and really satisfying epic resolution to multiple complex plot threads!

I feel like this one was much more dramatic and in your face than the third one or the first, but the payoff was excellent and the entire time I was just kicking my feet with joy at how amazing of a read this was. I queued up phenomenal soundtracks from my favorite movies just so I could be more fully immersed in the extremely goodness.

I want to email Tchaikovsky and tell him what a great three weeks this has been. I want to scream at everybody about how cool Demons are. I want to quote some wry British humor about the subtle genius of the Pals as the villains. I want to whale about seeing characters as I thought we left behind pop-up again, more interesting than ever. If I don’t calm down this review will be 10 pages long. Heck, I apparently highlighted 8% = over 40 pages of the book, so I guess I really do have an inordinate amount to say about how much I liked it.

I wasn’t even expecting a fourth book in the series, and it ended up being so much of a treat that I am over the moon, look there’s me 🚀 🌕. Current mood:

Extremely excited for the fifth book and ready to yodel over rooftops and mountains and into the depths of hell about how excellent the series is. Misery and wickedness!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing, as if there was any doubt. If you've loved the first 3 books in this series you will definitely love this one.
As with the previous books, expect to find some returning characters. One of those characters was expected but there were several familiar faces that I hadn’t expected to see again and that was a pleasant surprise. As for the tone of this story, I'd say it feels a bit like books one and two combined, with the plethora of many point of view characters like in City amongst a chaotic battlefront like in House.
Despite all of the returning characters, my favorite stand out in Pretenders is definitely The Widow. If there is ever a live action adaptation, please let her be played by Gwendolin Christy.
While my favorite of the series is still House of Open Wounds, I can't give any of these books less than 5 stars. They are just too much fun and do such s great job at poking fun of European imperialism. Tchaikovsky may not excel at making any one character particularly in depth, but all of these characters in the Tyrant Philosophers series are incredibly colorful and so full of delightful quotes and memorable motivations that I can't help but love all of them.
I cannot wait to see what he will do with the 5th and final (maybe) installment.
5/5

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free review copy of this book from the publisher.

CHARACTERS
🔲 mary-sue party
🔲 mostly 2D
🔲 great main cast, forgettable side characters
🔲 well-written
🔲 complex and fascinating
✅ hard to believe they are fictional

PLOT
🔲 you've already heard this exact story a thousand times
🔲 nothing memorable
🔲 gripping
✅ exceptional
🔲 mind=blown

WORLDBUILDING
🔲 takes place in our world
🔲 incoherent
🔲 OK
🔲 nicely detailed
🔲 meticulous
✅ even the last tree in the forest has its own story

ATMOSPHERE
🔲 nonexistent
🔲 fine
🔲 immersive
✅ you forget you are reading a book

PACING
🔲 dragging
✅ inconsistent
🔲 picks up with time
🔲 page-turner
🔲 impossible to put down

The pacing in this series is so slow every time but the ending of this one was just too good to not give it five stars.

[Aidan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's yet another story about totalitarian Pals at the gates of a doomed, defiant city (sorta-Dublin?), but Mr T gets super-metal about it this time. I mean, even if you somehow ignore the title, Pretenders boasts The Lich Queen, God, The Kings Below, a Lycanthropist, and Devil Jack, and that's just the Dramatis Personae. Not everything hits that promised intensity, but Pretenders takes some big swings and mostly lands them, horns held high. 4.5 rounded up for attitude.

———————

Perhaps unsurprisingly for the fourth book in a series, Pretenders doesn't have particular pretensions to breaking new ground, and while that sounds like a biting criticism, it's really not. There's the exotic-but-familiar-cityscape setting from Last Chances and Bitter Rain, the Palleseen outcasts-and-misfits from Open Wounds (and Bitter Rain again), the ubiquitous light touch of (doomed) romance, plus cameos from every other entry so far. So to rights it should feel like a retread, the literary equivalent of the clip shows that would pad out old 23-episode TV seasons. Instead, Tchaikovsky somehow manages to make it all feel natural, an organic summation of almost all the themes and characters he's been picking at for two thousand-plus pages. War turns its heroes into monsters, forgiveness and revenge twist around each other until they cannot be torn apart, and the wretched of the earth finally throwing off their shackles is appropriately both utterly liberating and absolutely terrifying. There are some memorable new additions, especially the luckless champion Kiff, and circumstances have twisted some returnees like the Pope of Tides into such unexpected shapes they might as well be wholly new, but much of the book's pleasure lies in seeing how the author fits all the existing puzzle pieces together just...so. It's surprisingly clever, and occasionally absolutely seamless — my only real complaint is that you have to wonder whether Tchaikovsky has left himself enough ideas in the cupboard to pull off one last book, especially one set back where it all began in Ilmar.

All these callbacks and valedictory returns make Pretenders sound almost cozy, but it really is remarkably metal when it wants to be. There are several sequences of urban warfare that are as unsparing as the most harrowing passages of Open Wounds, each of them taut enough to make me momentarily forget that this can't possibly be the end because there's still 300 pages to go. Some of the action is admittedly a bit abstract in character, particularly various goings-on in the Kingdoms Below, but keeping this conflict off the page is probably the right call — I'd love to see Tchaikovsky try to write literal battles in Hell, but he's right to trust the reader's imagination here. That said, the start-stop nature of the various battles does leave Pretenders with occasional pacing problems, with some bagginess setting in at the two-thirds mark, I guess needing to shed fifty pages is its own homage to earlier books, especially City of Last Chances, but I hope the focus can tighten up just a little for the last book.

Still, there's so much to love here: the ineffable poetry-and-brine Irishness of Eres Ffenegh; ballistics in curved space; the justice (?) of finally giving in to revenge; the very idea of a city built on the bones of a dead god; everything to do with poor poor old Varney, Pretender's own Chekhov's gun. And above all, no kings. I'm ready to see the end.

[Quill (thecriticalreader) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Adrian Tchaikvosky gifts us with another delightful installment of The Tyrant Philosophers series.

I have such trust in Tchaikovsky. I don’t know what sort of demonic contract he has made to be able to write such spectacular fantasy books in such a short span of time, but everything he touches turns to gold.

The dramatically titled Pretenders to the Throne of God takes place in the winter of a city called Eres Ffenegh, which is built on the back of a giant, dead, crab god. The colonial Pal forces see the city as yet another minor addition in their quest to “Perfect” the world. The city should be a relatively straightforward conquest, but a confluence of influences—alternately magical, mundane, noble, spurious, evil, and chaotic—change the course of events. It’s everything you would expect from this series, but it never feels stale. The characters (new and old) are exquisitely written, the worldbuilding is exciting and coherent, the plot is masterfully woven, and the themes are poignant.

I noted in my review of Days of Shattered Faith that the only way in which the series has suffered as it continues is the writing. Tchaikovsky proved himself a wordsmith in the first two books. His prose is straightforward and efficient when it needs to be, but he balances the economy with sly wordplay and profound beauty. He appears to be in a rush to get the story out onto the page in the past few books (understandable—I and many others are hungry to consume it), but this has come at the expense of his prose. It’s still effective but lacks the special quality of earlier books and suffers from permissive editing that refuses to reign in his constant use of superfluous adverbs such as “honestly” and “truly” and “probably.” The word “honestly” appears eighty-five times, and eighty of those times it serves no purpose whatsoever in the except to distract. It drove me up-the-wall. I was able to overlook it only because everything else about this book is in a league of its own. And there are still glimmers of the wit and beauty in his prose, so I know that if he slowed down a bit and hired a better editor the writing improve markedly.

Don’t let my pedantic griping keep you from enjoying this book. I complain out of love, because I know he is capable of producing superb prose. I loved every minute of it and I cannot wait for the final installment.

Thank you, THANK YOU to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Nenope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grateful to NetGalley and the author for the ARC of this book.

I have always preferred to wait for published books so the masses could pass the judgement, based on which I can pre-decide if a book was good or not and I just recently started discovering the wonders of ARCs - I realised that it is way better to read ARCs because I am not pre-biased about a book.

This book caught me off guard and I now want to be friends with the author. This kind of sardonic sense of humour is exactly my world. "Nobody ever got stabbed in the Lower City without someone calling them Friend right beforehand". *chef's kiss 🤌🏻*
I had some trouble with the unusual names at first, but the writing is so well-explained that I was still able to easily follow the story line.
I also really enjoyed the cuts between the seemingly unrelated or just losely-related scenes so far, waiting for everything to come together nicely. The writing style is somwehere between Joe Abercrombie and Terry Pratchett - what more one can wish for?

I also just realised when writing my GR review that this book is the 4th in a series, so I am now debating if I should abandon it half-way through and get the whole series to start over, or finish this book and then read the first 3 - because I am absolutely certain that I want to read everything from this author now.

[Lel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC from Netgalley

This instalment of The Tyrant Philosophers centres a new area of the world and another conflict between the invading Pals and the residents of the area that they are trying to take over. There is a return of some character's and some new. I liked this book for its discussions on religion and are 'any means' really okay in the grand scheme of things. The part of this story that really stood out for me was Devil Jack and his arc in the story and all that he does in the name of love.
The more books I read in this series the more I appreciate it as a whole and all the aspects that it shows of conflict from being under siege, attacking and the clearing up after. The characters are great and all have their own things going on and I feel all these threads come together really well.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am come undone

[Mar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Full review in progress; I will update here when finished with it.

Pre-order this nooooow.

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be it sci-fi or fantasy, Adrian Tchaikovsky can do both flawlessly, as I enjoyed Pretenders to the Throne of God immensely.
With his distinctive flavour of cynicism and irony interwoven into his writing style, I just love picking up his books.
Slow-paced in the best way possible, the whole series has incredible worldbuilding, and, combined with multiple POVs in that book, it creates a great spacious vibe.
We have a lot of familiar faces returning to the stage, and I absolutely loved that, but there are also new characters and perspectives that make the story all the more compelling.
In my opinion, the absolute gem in this book is that the slow pacing made room for character development to shine to its fullest. No character remained untouched by change and growth, and it was such an interesting thing to witness. For me, Jack was the most interesting and went the longest distance as a character, and I was invested in Yasnic too.
I have no idea how he does that magic, combining so many stories into such a wonderful, flawlessly cohesive story.

[Pol González · Rating 5 out of 5]

Llorando me hallo

[Stijn · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For virtue is consumed in desire, while vice just glows merrily with the heat."

Love this author, love this series. Still an incredibly fascinating world that Tchaikovsky uses very effectively to explore faith, humanity, belonging and many other such themes. Love the ever-changing cast of characters with some -favourite- recurring faces, and can't wait for the next (last?) part.

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to start by saying that I have been eagerly awaiting this read since finishing The Days of Shatted Faith and The Lives of Bitter Rains (preceding entry and accompanying novella). I might go as far as to say this was the most excited I have been for a book release as an adult. I think part of this excitement comes from the fact that The Tyrant Philosopher series is shaping up to be my favourite fantasy series of all time. Big claims, I know.

That said, my expectations were perhaps set a bit too high and I was let down a little when actually reading this book (entirely my fault). Book 2 and 3 were absolute standouts, the perfect blend of world building and character driven stories. So following on from these books how could Adrian Tchaikovsky realistically outdo himself?

To frame everything I have just said I think it's important to recognise that while Tchaikovsky has said each book can be read standalone there is an overarching story and timeline tieing all of the books together.

I think for me this book does the best job of advancing the greater story and series of world events.
What I think is lacking is the standalone narrative of this book. The city under siege and split of factions, whilst beautifully written didn't bring me as much interest as previous plot lines. That said the new (and returning) cast of characters are the highlight of the book. Their interlinking stories are done so well. I will say in particular there were two key twisty character reveal moments where I was absolutely blown away with how they called back to the first and second book. All whilst feeling meaningful to this book's story. Tchaikovsky does such a great job of using this series to highlight how each character is inhabiting this world of conflicting values, ideologies and systems. This book is no exception, within the constraint of 550 pages, he explores so many different charactr subplots, it sounds like a lot of pages but there are so many different nuanced moments you can't help but want to know more about.

I think I could talk about this book and this series for hours, but that sums up the majority of my thoughts.

Overall, a great entry into the series but definitely not the best by far. Cannot wait to see how the events of this book, and the preceding entries all pay off in the series finale.

Important note: David Thorpe (who narrates the audiobooks) does an absolutely amazing job of capturing Tchaikovsky's characterisation and prose, well worth the listen if you love audiobooks.

[Nemo Lockeheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

First can we spend a moment to acknowledge how achingly beautiful is the title? I mean. Come on. Good, now that we have paid respect to the title, time to pay respect to the story itself.
While the first two books can be read as standalone, and to a certain degree book three as well (though you will miss a few minor details which enrich the experiece), Pretender to the Throne of God benefits greatly from having read the previous books for this follows a few reoccurring characters, most notably Jack or Yasnic. And speaking of Jack, let's dive into this tale first.
He is the only person who has appeared throughout all four instalment and takes the longest to develop. Many point out he is their least favourite, and while I understand the sentiment (for other characters require a lot less screen time to finish their arcs), I appreciate Tchaikovsky took his time to craft this unique priest. Without going into spoilers, all my preconceived notion of who Jack was was shattered in this book. I truly see him for who he is and why he was the way he was in the last three books. What a beautiful journey, full of hope and humanity and love. And that ending? Gosh. My heart aches profoundly.
The unexpected reoccurring characters was a nice welcome. And even though I haven't seen them in a while, their fingerprints on this world never left; for Tchaikovsky is a master at writing remarkable and memorable people.
As for the new ones, they provide yet another aspect of the world we have never seen before. A new culture, with its flaws and beautiful, ready to be reined into the Sway of Perfection. Even the minor characters, appearing only sparingly on the pages, left a mark on my heart and in my soul as much as the big players.
Tchaikovsky doesn't hit you in the head with his themes and lessons. He put them on display and let the characters guide the reader through their minds in order to see the big picture he wants to paint. Everyone here is utterly and awfully human, "good" guy and "bad" guy alike. Their motivations understood, their yearns and longing empathised. Proclamation isn't set in stone. Ideas are malleable. And at the end of the day, sometimes all it takes to change someone's heart is to gently shine the light at a different angle so they could see the flaws in their system.
I look forward to continuing reading this series in the future. For now, know that this series has earned its place as my favourite epic fantasy series of all time.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In contrary to the previous three main books in the series, which are quite standalone on their own except for a few Easter eggs, this book depends more on past settings despite taking place in yet another realm. The way Tchaikovsky weaves them into a new intriguing and now fast-paced story is pure genius and fun.
When Devil Jack's love is at stake, the Hell breaks loose. LITERALLY.

[Dan Trefethen]

Tchaikovsky is very prolific and very good at what he does. This is the fourth book in the Tyrant Philosophers series, and he seems to be upping the ante. A city under siege, divided loyalties, a reluctant hero, and the participation of demons. A well crafted fantasy.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very solid read. I took my time to read it, but it was worth it, enjoying every chapter.

[Titus Fortner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a little trouble getting into this book, but really enjoyed the second half, and especially the ending. I definitely need to reread the whole series before the next book, though.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic entry in this series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, treating us to another new setting populated by memorable characters - some newly introduced, and some familiar.
Perfection? No, Misery and Wickedness. In the best way.

[Laura Clipson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Another brilliant book following the Palleseen trying to perfect the world. Love the world building and the characters are brilliant. Not all likeable but definitely brilliantly written.

[keegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

** a copy of this book was provided by the publisher **

this is maybe my favorite in the series since House of Open Wounds but it feels hard for me to even think of these as separate books almost. the storylines weave together in such a interesting way, ideas interweaving between books, but each volume still manages to feel cohesive (evidenced by people in other reviews who started the series here and still had a great time). I think the books themselves put it the best way, the series is a mosaic.
I'm very excited for whatever comes next, and I'll be there day one for the audiobook of this one because I love the way the narrator reads them.
Misery and Wickedness!

[Saif Shaikh | Distorted Visions · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advanced Review Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to BloomsburyUSA and NetGalley.

Score: 4.25/5

Since this is an ARC, the review aims to be as Spoiler-free as possible.

The long road to Perfection is one step closer to the end. Adrian Tchaikovsky’s literary grimdark series, Tyrant Philosophers, calls upon the Pretenders to the Throne of God. A city under siege, a way of life at stake; to what lengths will the “hegemony of perfection” go, what depths will they plunge to crush another culture under the heel of “correct conduct”?

I have bemoaned the inhuman pace at which Adrian Tchaikovsky writes and releases fantastic works of Fantasy and Science Fiction. His prolific catalog hit something truly special with his foray into grimdark fantasy, with the Tyrant Philosophers series. An episodic series, each entry describes a unique tale, using a new location with a (mostly) new cast of characters, exploring a new facet of this world, pushing the series-scale plot closer to its inevitable conclusion.

The fourth book in the Tyrant Philosophers series, this story follows the Days of Shattered Faith, and the companion novella, Lives of Bitter Rain. In Pretenders to the Throne of God, the Palleseen hegemony, spreading their tyranny of Perfection, hits a wall when they attempt to bring the Eres Ffenegh, the City on the Back of a Crab (yes, literally) into the Sway. What was believed to be a straightforward path of a superior conquering force quashing the “inferior religious carcers”, turns into a protracted siege, with constantly shifting allegiances, dark magic, and oh-so-imperfect dealings, that would potentially shake the very foundation of their Doctrine of Perfection.

“We shall make such a monster out of you.”

In regular Tyrant Philosophers fashion, this novel also presents a brand-new cast of characters, each with their own nuanced personalities, competing motivations, inherent flaws, and outward yearnings for their own salvation. Pretenders puts characters on both sides of the siege, with the invading Palleeseen led by the wily commanding officer, the dreaded “Stoat”, as she is forced to deploy the “very imperfect” Specialists, the Heretics in a desperate play to break the siege. The Heretics are a rag-tag group of renegade magic users, a mathematics-as-magic artillerist, a demonist, a lycanthrope soothsayer, and an occult assassin. On the side of the besieged city, we have a girl trying to live up to her tragically heroic legacy, a society of sorcerers, an immortal-but-disgruntled wizard, a sea-god cult, contracted demons, and a familiar face.

“None more dangerous in the world than someone who thinks he can do bad things for a bad cause, but remain a good man.”

Keen eyes of the Tyrant Philosophers series will recognize the return of Jack, as he wrestles with the loss of his love during the events of Days of Shattered Faith. His inclusion is the only constant across every entry in this series, and forms the emotional anchor even across seemingly disparate events. Once Maric Jack, then Happy Jack (at least for a little while), now Devil Jack, is prepared to go to the depths of Hell itself to resurrect his lost love, even though it breaks the world. He is aided by the Widow, a “neutral” party, matriarch of the Pandemonium, a halfway house between the Pals, the carcers, and other facets of reality itself.

“And then you take a step back, and see the whole siege, the whole city, the whole world is just made of these broken pieces, jammed together, broken ends jabbing at one another in jackstraw profusion. That’s how it’s made.”

Tchaikovsky uses each entry in this series to focus on a few philosophical aspects of colonialism, imperial expansion, cultural destruction, etc. This time around, his focus is on the “means to an end”, first touched upon in Days of Shattered Faith. The cracks have begun to deepen in the Perfect Palleseen people, and we as readers finally see the beginnings of utter failure of the regime, but they won’t go down without a fight.

While Jack is always a delight to read (his nonchalance in the face of abject suffering is a therapist’s dream), other characters also shone in this book. The demonist Pal specialist Quellery, with his wry wit, the antagonistic “Stoat” Dantell, the heroic-but-not-the-way-you-think Kiff, and of course, the Widow Abellaime, are standout characters in Pretenders to the Throne of God.

This entry was much more action-focused than previous episodes, and it does not take very long for Tchaikovsky to set up the board, place the pieces, and fire the starting gun. In this regard, I miss the greater emphasis placed on the philosophical questions laid through the character’s internal turmoil in previous entries. While each of the characters in Pretenders face their own inner conflict, much of these concepts have been touched upon at various times in the series so far. The lengthy cast of characters also divides focus, which without a central lynchpin like Gil (from Shattered Faith and Bitter Rain) or Jack (from Last Chances and Open Wounds) only gives us a birds-eye view of events rather than a linear narrative. Speaking of, Tchaikovsky’s use of “mosaic” chapters to describe pivotal moments in his stories jumping between sections showing events from different character perspectives, continues to be a masterclass in fantasy writing craft.

I enjoyed Pretenders to the Throne of God. While not the best in the series, not because of its weak components, but more so a feeling of retread paths, this story feels more like a setup for the next, and final book, the grand conclusion to this magnum opus. While I still believe Days of Shattered Faith is the strongest entry in the series so far, I am still a staunch supporter of the Tyrant Philosophers series and recommend it in as many circles as I can.

Onwards to The End of Perfection.

Read this review and more on my Medium page: Distorted Visions

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[Alex Sarll]

Eres Fgenegh, the City on the Back of a Crab – which is not a figurative or poetic description. The crab was already dead when the city was founded, but everything still tastes vaguely of fish, even the honey. Until recently, part of the Loruthi empire, before the locals enlisted Palleseen assistance to drive them out – and then shortly afterwards, having realised the 'liberators' didn't plan on leaving, defenestrated their leader. Now besieged by the remnant Pal forces, but winter is coming, so the stalemate is about ready to settle into ceasefire until spring, before a new factor that isn't really ideal for anyone enters the equation. Setting the scene for something that could be summarised as the Battle of Stalingrad if it had taken place on the Isle of Man, and also featured wizards, demons and zombies. Which would be epic enough in and of itself, but this is the fifth entry in Tchaikovsky's Tyrant Philosopher series, and draws on all that has already been established, a global canvas of the weird and wonderful – and the militant atheist Pals determined to render it all down to fuel for their machines. At times I was reminded of the way Terry Pratchett would often build a book around a given real-world phenomenon – trains, rock'n'roll, cinema – coming to a fantasy world. But where, at least until his darker later books, it would generally result in a lark, Tchaikovsky instead gives us a fantasy world discovering things like street-by-street modern urban warfare, ideological purges, concentration camps.

But of course, atrocities don't feel appropriately atrocious unless they're happening to people, and here, as throughout the series, Tchaikovsky gives us a wide-ranging cast, on both sides and of other, more complicated allegiances, ranging up and down the social scale and the military hierarchy, some much more likeable than others, but – at least until the endgame, and we'll come to that – none of them a convenient cardboard cut-out. Yes, some of their stories proceed along more expected lines than others; one of the first we meet is the descendant of the city's founding hero, whose spirit has ever since inhabited a magical sword and empowered his lineage in defence of the city – at least until now, when the Pals have caught her, decanted him, and left a very confused girl with an empty, impractical weapon and no idea who she's supposed to be anymore. That she will have some kind of educational and redemptive arc is blazingly obvious, even if some of the details still surprise. Others, though, find their lives twisted in directions I could never have predicted, despite the fact that the reasons have often been hiding in plain sight, sometimes for more than one book. And this goes double for the one person who's been there since the beginning, albeit in a new guise every time – poor bloody Jack. Whom we find here in a bit of a bind, given his lover is literally in Hell. Though, remarkably, that's not even the book's most awkward backdrop to a romance.

What unites them all, though, is unintended consequences: nobody here has ended up anywhere like where they thought they would in life. Indeed, one of my favourite chapters sees two particularly extreme examples sitting down to talk about exactly that. You could even say it goes for the nations as well as the people; just as some of the Pal officers learned hitherto forbidden occult specialties at a time of national emergency, often at great personal cost, only to find themselves ideologically inconvenient come the 'peace' and the post-mortem, so the nation itself realises quite how far it's strayed from its own precepts of perfection. The difference, of course, being that a state has greater power with which to smooth out such inconsistencies, and far less compunction about doing so.

This is where I did start to feel doubts creeping in, towards the end of the book, as the tightening ideological ratchet of the Pals stops being communiqués from home, and gets a human face. Because it's not a human face, not really; after a book in which every character of any significance whatsoever, even the literal demons, has had foibles, nuances and complications, it's just a nightmarish true believer with squads of faceless bullies at his back, and that feels like a disappointment. But, maybe it's the phenomenon which I find disappointing, not Tchaikovsky for depicting it; back through The Wire, at least as far as The Napoleon Of Notting Hill, great art has noticed this, how while the first generations in a bad cause might retain some humanity despite the things they're forced to do, coming up behind them is a more adapted, more monstrous, much less interesting and absolutely terrifying new breed. And looking around our own world, the worst fuckers in this book, one-dimensional as they may be, are certainly no less rounded than Putin, his orcs, and his overseas franchises. All of which said, I did still find the line "We can make you great again" perhaps a little too on the nose, for all that it perfectly captures the recurring motif of characters wanting back what was lost, and how often that only gets them a hollow or outright poisonous simulacrum. A theme which, again, is not short of real world illustrations, but from which, at the last, there's a curious pulling back, or at least twisting around, within the world of the novel. About which I'm not wholly sure yet how I feel, and maybe I'll have to wait for the next volume, which I believe is the conclusion. But assuming Tchaikovsky sticks the landing, I think Tyrant Philosophers might yet edge out Final Architecture as my favourite series of his.

Oh, also – there's one plotline here where I'll be interested to see whether complaints ensue, given it falls somewhere between deus ex machina and Chekhov's wizard. Personally, the resolution to that was my other favourite chapter.

(Netgalley ARC)

[Kiro Selanor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another fantastic book in the series, as thrilling and exquisitely written as the previous entries. This time it’s about the Palleseen assault on Eres Ffenegh, "the City on the Back of a Crab". The story is evenly split between the attackers and the defenders, and both sides have interesting characters.

The main Pal characters are junior officers with special abilities: a demon conjurer, a diviner, etc. They’re useful for the Pal army, but their abilities are falling out of favor as being “imperfect”. I liked their humanity and their repartee. Then a necromancer arrives with an undead army, which is even more useful but even more imperfect. The Palleseen empire is starting to fracture from within.

The army’s second in command, Dantell “the Stoat”, is cunning and ruthless. Although she’s what we would consider a “bad guy”, we get a lot of chapters from her POV and we can sympathize with her. (Side note: the Stoat is a beloved character from the video game “Inscryption”, and I object to using this animal as a symbol of deceitfulness!)

On the Eres Ffenegh side we’ve got Jack, formerly God’s disciple, now a demonist-in-training. He’s trying to get his demon lover back from Hell, and he’s willing to become hard and ruthless to do it. I liked Jack better when he was a God-botherer, but it’s interesting to follow his character arc. Jack’s mentor is the conjurer Abellaime, who owns the local brothel and hates her family (who are all dead now). She wasn’t an interesting character. Then there’s Kiffel, a young woman with a magic sword who doesn’t know what to do with her life, and it was interesting to see her try to do something meaningful.

Eres Ffenegh also features the two Pal cults: the Healers, who can do no harm (even though they really want to), and the Fisher King cult, who like to throw people off the lighthouse as sacrifices to their God. They’re fun. The cult’s second in command is a returning favorite, Banders, the Pal grunt last seen in “House of Open Wounds”.

The battle for the city isn’t straightforward, with successes and setbacks. Because we get the POV of both sides, every successful and failed gambit is both a joy and a disappointment. Eres Ffenegh has a number of magical tricks to throw at the invaders, but the Pal military machine is nearly unstoppable. There’s plenty of action, and good character work in-between.

The prose is an absolute delight!

I have one criticism: the narrator, David Thorpe, is mostly great. But in this book he's adopted a horrible affectation: he reads the chapter introductions in a very low, slow voice, which is hard to hear. I kept having to adjust my listening volume up and down in order to hear those passages, and even then, the slow pace makes them hard to understand. It's so bad that it actually made me angry!

The ending is surprising. For the first time in this series (which now numbers four books), it looks like the state of the world is going to meaningfully shift. I can’t wait to see what happens in the fifth and final book!

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to be overjoyed with this series. The structure and feel of this book are maybe most similar to the first in the series (City of Last Chances), as it is a more sprawling story that is taking place across this whole principality with an expansive perspective. As usual there are multiple POVs we follow, some old, some new, and right away Tchaikovsky continues his insistence that humanity is messy and war is messier, and we come to have fondness for characters on both sides of these siege lines. And a siege it is, there are numerous battle scenes across this book that are filled with action and emotion in equal measures. His writing continues to be witty and insightful, combining philosophical musings about the dangers of overbearing governments and the pretzels folk will twist themselves into to have even a proximity to power with emotional depth, delight and despair the inner landscapes.

Tchaikovsky has said he has written these novels so that at least these first four don’t necessarily have to be read in order (even though they are chronological), but I have found great joy in having done so. The connections and allusions and callbacks to previous books in the series really give these stories an epic kind of feel, reminding us that they are much bigger than an individual person, or even one city, one culture, one religion. However, to the end of making this book accessible every once in a while he sneaks in a lot of background info that readers might would have gotten from previous books, but he does it in such a way that it feels intuitive and natural to the characters and the way the narratives spin around them; it never feels like info-dumping or story overload. Even as someone dedicated to the series I appreciated this, it helps the story feel located in something bigger.

I love this world, these characters, and Tchaikovsky’s writing style. More importantly I think he is tackling very real ideas about what it means to live in community, to be responsible for others, and to find meaning in your life. There are issues of discrimination, ethnicity, religion, class, wealth, self-determination and more that are playing out all over the story. He is not content to give some simple morality tale. These are messy stories with characters both devious and delightful trying to live in a world hijacked by those with capital, the power it affords them, and a slavish attachment to that power. Instead of being didactic he lets characters embody and grow into different socio-political ideologies, often at conflict even within themselves, and it is thought-provoking and exciting and simply great explorations of what good story-telling can do, which is far more than entertain, though it does that in spades as well.

(Rounded from 4.5)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've watched enough Murder, She Wrote to know that if Angela Lansbury shows up at a party I'm attending, it's time to get the hell out of there. Similarly, if a weird, skinny guy named Jack who talks to himself moves to my town (inside or outside of the Palleseen sway) I am MOVING. Drama follows this guy everywhere he goes.

First I will say: I absolutely loved this book. The emotions feel SO real, for the new characters and the old ones. My heart just ached for them over and over again. Jack and Kiff have joined the club of fictional characters I desperately want to hug (the president of said club is Maia Drazhar). I love how this series drops lore and magic little by little, it makes the books feel fresh without these big silly moments of "oh by the way, there's this magical doodad that will solve all our problems." Some people objected to how the Kings Below were defeated off the page, but I loved that element. They've always been a background presence and this series is not about that particular conflict.

Partially because I read five of these books back to back, I do have a few complaints about this book and the series in general:

-I found it difficult to care about the Heretics/Palleseen defectors. They were very "I didn't expect the leopards to eat MY face!" and also very "just following orders." Better late than never, I guess. The untenability of being a good person who does bad things (or vice versa) is, of course, a major theme in the novel, I just don't think this particular group quite stuck the landing.
-Lots of talk about "sin" and "wickedness" without a meaningful discussion of what those terms mean in this universe. Why is sex wicked? Why does Yasnic's God talk about "living in sin" like he's my grandma?
-Speaking of, as much as I liked Jack/Yasnic and Caeleen, I never quite understood why they liked each other. Where do Jack's deep deep feelings come from? Is it just because she's beautiful? Maybe I need to re-read book 2. Or maybe I'm just jealous that nobody in my life would go to hell to rescue me. Honestly having a bit of a crisis over that.
-In a similar vein, there is a lot of sex work in these novels, but very little discussion of consent. How do the demon sex workers feel about the circle houses? How do the human sex workers feel? I'm curious to see how this, and other issues of trauma and exploitation, are explored in the next book.

Anyway, I loved it and I love the whole series and I can't wait for the next book! There were some wonderful character returns and I'm hoping certain other characters are still coming back!

[Ihdin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tyrant Philosophers series is easily Tchaikovsky's best work, and the latest book is no exception.

One thing I appreciate about the series is how each installment shakes things up, shifting to (mostly) different characters and a completely different setting. Each one examines the Palleseen nation (the titular "tyrant philosophers," hellbent on colonizing the entire world) from a completely different angle. The first book was about a colonized city, the second about conscripted field medics behind front lines, etc. This time around, we have a city under siege by the Palleseen, with the POVs spread between the invaders and (vaguely Celt-inspired) defenders. The former perspective is especially interesting, exploring these soldiers trying to delicately navigate the double-think of their idealogy, where they need to be unorthodox enough to actually get results yet simultaneously not so unorthodox as to get unpersoned by Correct Speech. The defenders are interesting in their own right as well, though. There's one character in particular who's a fascinating variation of the classic "Chosen One" sort, where she's permanently lost the magic sword that rendered her chosen and now has to deal with being an ineffective, unremarkable nobody again.

I also love how there is *so much* going on in each book of the series. It's like someone took 2-3 books' worth of ideas and set them to riotously collide in one. Pretenders is about a city built on the remains of a dead god-crab, *and* it's about a military unit of oddballs who each have a unique ability acquired via some supernatural circumstance, *and* it's about a demonist's mad quest to rescue his demon lover from Hell, and more...

Tchaikovsky's said that these books are the only ones where he doesn't outline ahead, instead letting the characters drive the story where they will. On one hand, this isn't surprising. These books feel noticeably different from his usual fiction -- more character-driven, less railroading along an urgent plot. We get these wonderful scenes of characters just living their everyday lives, dealing with the background tribulations of their existence, personalities bouncing off one another. The characters feel more complex, more real. But on the other hand, it's very surprising because one of the best parts of these novels is the way the various plots gradually coaelesce and fit into place against one another, like some perfect clockwork plot machine. I would've never suspected it *isn't* all carefully planned out from the start.