Days of Shattered Faith

The Tyrant Philosophers, Book 3

By: Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by: David Thorpe

Bloomsbury presents Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky, read by David Thorpe.

Welcome to Alkhalend, Jewel of the Waters, capital of Usmai, greatest of the Successor States, inheritor to the necromantic dominion that was the Moeribandi Empire and tomorrow’s frontline in the Palleseen’s relentless march to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world.

Loret is fresh off the boat, and just in time.

As Cohort-Invigilator of Correct Appreciation, Outreach department, she’s here as aide to the Palleseen Resident, Sage-Invigilator Angilly. And Sage-Invigilator Angilly – Gil to her friends – needs a second in the spectacularly illegal, culturally offensive and diplomatically inadvisable duel she must fight at midnight.

Outreach, that part of the Pal machine that has to work within the imperfection of the rest of the world, has a lot of room for the illegal, the unconventional, the unorthodox. But just how much unorthodoxy can Gil and Loret get away with?

As a succession crisis looms, as a long-forgotten feat of necromantic engineering nears fruition, as pirate kings, lizard armies and demons gather, as old gods wane and new gods wax, sooner or later Gil and Loret will have to settle their ledger.

Just as well they are both very, very good with a blade…

©2024 Adrian Tchaikovsky (P)2024 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Flawed characters, doing good in wartime despite their damaged personae, within a brutally unique magical universe.

I’ve never enjoyed fantasy other than Tolkien, as a hard sci-fi human. Favorite is Iain M Banks’ work. This series hooked me with the friendly first book, set
the hook deeply with the second as characters became 3D amid the guts of war and politics, and this 3rd has me hoping for an endless saga.

The humor and stunning bits of wordplay tossed carelessly into intensely dramatic narrative had me pausing to savor Tchaikovsky’s writing. So satisfying.

Preordered the 4th, a personal first.

I love these characters so much

I think this is Tchaikovsky's best work so far, it flowed so narratively well that the dense text was easily listenable.

Another Great Addition to a Fantastic Series

Tchaikovsky has done it again. With his usual insight and cutting wit, this book grants a glimpse into characters familiar and unfamiliar. As always, they’re all heading into a powder keg of their own making. As beautiful, poignant, violent and heartrending as the previous two novels, this book is not to be missed.

Another Triumph

Adrian does another great job building this universe and immersing us in a different part of it. Narration is crisp and engaging. Can't wait for the next book.

The pinnacle of his prose

I've read the majority of Tchaikovsky's work. While the themes and characters here are familiar to his other writings (a theme of his work, itself), with the Tyrant Philosophers trilogy, he achieves both poetry and tangible realness. Tchaikovsky has given Speculative Fiction a champion, which the Halls of Literature wouldn't dream of challenging to a duel.