The Macht

After the fall of Isca, Rictus, a young soldier left homeless and without purpose, dons the red cloak of a mercenary to forge a new path. On the world of Kuf, a monumental conflict threatens the vast Empire of Asuria, united under its Great King. The King’s ambitious brother seeks to seize the throne by force, and has formed a dangerous alliance with the Macht – a mysterious, fierce people from the remote Harukush Mountains whose unparalleled battle prowess is legendary. Now, Rictus and ten thousand other mercenary warriors are drawn into this epic struggle. They will march into the heart of the Empire, becoming entangled in a war that will determine the fate of Kuf and forge their own legends.

Twenty-three years since the legendary Ten Thousand fought their way home, Rictus, their hard-bitten leader, is now a middle-aged mercenary captain. Tired of war, he longs to lay down his spear and become a farmer. But fate intervenes as a brilliant young war-leader, Corvus, rises in the Macht heartlands. Conquering city after city, Corvus seeks to become the absolute ruler of all Macht. Rumored to be not entirely human, Corvus has heard of Rictus’s formidable reputation and now wants the weary veteran’s help to achieve his grand ambitions.

Kings of Morning is the third book in Paul Kearney's The Macht series. The brilliant and unconventional boy-general Corvus has achieved the seemingly impossible: for the first time in recorded history, the fierce city-states of the Macht bow to a single ruler before he has even reached thirty. His father's legend—one of the ten thousand who marched into the heart of the Asurian Empire and fought their way back—casts a long shadow, and Corvus means to exceed it. His most trusted general is Rictus, once the leader of that legendary march.

Years of meticulous preparation culminate in Corvus's ultimate ambition: a full-scale invasion to overthrow the Asurian Empire itself. No campaign of this scale has ever been attempted, and the world of Kuf has never seen its like. Grand strategy, brutal warfare, and the weight of empire converge as the Macht prepare to transform from a collection of fractious city-states into a conquering civilization—with consequences that will reshape their world forever.