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Steel Gods

Steel Gods

FantasyDark Fantasy
Pages
576
Published
2026
Language
English

Synopsis

Steel Gods is the second book in Richard Swan's The Great Silence trilogy, published by Orbit in 2026. A dark, industrial-era flintlock fantasy, it continues the story begun in the first Great Silence novel with a blend of epic scope, arcane horror and grimdark tension.

As a supernatural mind-plague spreads, the Sovan Empire is forced to seek help from old enemies. The novel follows multiple viewpoints — the diplomat Renata Rainer, the soldier Peter Kleist, and the menacing Count Lamprecht von Oldenburg — as investigations into the Great Silence reach across mortal and spiritual realms toward a grim convergence.

Swan, known for the Empire of the Wolf series, brings the same shrewd worldbuilding and creeping dread here. Fans of grimdark and dark epic fantasy — Joe Abercrombie, Adrian Tchaikovsky, and Swan's own earlier work — will find a bleak, intricate and atmospheric middle volume.

Prose complexity
7/10

Vibe

DarkTenseAtmospheric
Multiple POVsCourt Intrigue

Genres

Fantasy Dark Fantasy Epic Fantasy Grimdark Horror

About the author

R
Richard Swan

Richard Swan is a British fantasy author, born in North Yorkshire, England. Before writing full time he trained as a barrister and worked for a decade as a commercial litigator in London. His debut novel, The Justice of Kings (2022), the first book in the Empire of the Wolf trilogy, became a Sunday Times bestseller and has been translated into multiple languages; the trilogy continued with The Tyranny of Faith and The Trials of Empire. He returned to the same world with The Great Silence trilogy...

Characters

Renata RainerProtagonist

A Sovan ambassador attempting to forge alliances with historical enemies as the mind-plague spreads.

Peter KleistProtagonist

A lieutenant who returns to haunted forests seeking ancient answers about the Great Silence.

Count Lamprecht von OldenburgAntagonist

Returns bearing a vision of madness and revolution, forcing those in his path to join him or die.

All characters in Steel Gods