Lord of a Shattered Land and The City of Marble and Blood
(Baen, August 1 and October 3, 2023). Covers by Dave Seeley

A few times in my life I’ve had an early look at a book that I knew was going to revolutionize fantasy. When I received an advance proof of A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin in 1996. When Andy Heidel at Avon sent us an early copy of Neil Gaiman’s first novel. When Betsy Wollheim at DAW sent me an advance reading copy of The Name of the Wind in the fall of 2006.

I had that same feeling while reading Howard Andrew Jones’ Lord of a Shattered Land, the opening book in the Chronicles of Hanuvar, on sale in less than two weeks. Howard is the leading Sword & Sorcery author of the 21st Century, and this series is his masterwork.

[Click the images for revolutionary sizes.]

The Ring-Sworn Trilogy by Howard Andrew Jones (St. Martin’s Press, 2018-2021)

Howard’s previous fantasy epics include the tales of Dabir and Asim (published in Black Gate and  other magazines, and including the popular novels The Desert of Souls and The Bones of the Old Ones), and the Ring-Sworn Trilogy (For the Killing of Kings, Upon the Flight of the Queen, and When the Goddess Wakes).

I first read the tales of Hanuvar when Howard first offered them to Black Gate in 2010, and I immediately knew they were something special. Unfortunately, the print version of Black Gate folded before I had the pleasure of bringing them to the world. For the past few years the readers of Tales From the Magician’s Skull have been treated to these delightful fantasy gems, and they have steadily gained attention as one of the most compelling ongoing sagas in modern fantasy.

The Chronicles of Hanuvar is a heroic fantasy retelling of one of the great tales of antiquity, the fall of Carthage and its legendary general Hannibal. Hanuvar is the last and greatest general of the conquered city-state of Volanus. He has survived the fall of his city and the cruel enslavement of his people, and now travels the length of the Dervan Empire incognito. Hidden in plain sight in the land of conquerors, he is driven by a singular purpose — to find what remains of his people, and free them from slavery by any means necessary.

Hanuvar is a vast empire’s greatest foe, and his task is an impossible one. In these fast-moving tales he goes up again ancient magics and long-forgotten gods, and even more ancient hatreds. He slowly gathers a colorful crew of trusted lieutenants and unexpected allies to his side as he cuts a swath of blood across an empire. Step by step, Hanuvar builds his name into a rallying cry for his forsaken people — and proves to the Empire that their victory remains incomplete, as long as one general of Volanus still draws breath.

The Chronicles of Hanuvar is a magnificent achievement, the story of the greatest military mind in the world who find himself standing alone against the might of an entire empire — and the dark and sorcerous secrets buried at its heart. It is destined to become a modern classic.

The saga begins with Lord of a Shattered Land, on sale in hardcover from Baen Books on August 1, and continues in The City of Marble and Blood, coming October 3. Lord of a Shattered Land collects all of the existing tales of Hanuvar and adds several more.

Here’s the complete list.

“The Way of Serpents” (Goodman Games Gen Con 2016 Program Guide)
“The Warrior’s Way” (Weird Tales #366, 2023)
“The Crypt of Stars” (Tales from the Magician’s Skull, No. 1, 2018)
“The Second Death of Hanuvar” (Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Issue 3, 2019)
“Shroud of Feathers” (as “The Feathered Shroud,” in Tales From the Magician’s Skull, Issue 6, 2021)
“The Eyes of the Reaper”
“The Voice of the Forest God”
“An Accident of Blood”
“The Autumn Horse”
“The Missing Man”
“Shadow Play”
“Snare of the Hunter”
“The Light of the Lovely Ones”
“Thread From a Golden Loom”

Here’s the complete details on both volumes.

Lord of a Shattered Land (512 pages, $25 hardcover, $9.99 in digital formats, August 1, 2023) — cover by Dave Seeley
The City of Marble and Blood (400 pages, $25 hardcover, $9.99 in digital formats, October 3, 2023) — cover by Dave Seeley

Read a generous sample from Lord of a Shattered Land at the Baen website, including the complete first story “The Way of Serpents,” here.

Get more details on the 5-volume The Chronicles of Hanuvar series right here at Black Gate in this detailed article by Seth Lindberg, and see all our coverage of Howard’s work here.