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BLOOD OF THE OLD KINGS
By: Sung-il Kim
Bleeding Empire #1
Tor
September 2025
On Sale: September 16, 2025
384 pages
ISBN: 1250895359
EAN: 9781250895356
Trade Paperback
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Fantasy Epic | Action | Fiction Adventure
Named a Best Fantasy Book of the Year by NPR, Amazon, Paste, and Book Riot!
From award-winning Korean author Sung-il Kim & translated by the world-renowned Anton Hur, Blood of the Old Kings begins an epic journey unlike any other.
There is no escaping the Empire.
Even in death, you will serve.
In an Empire run on necromancy, dead sorcerers are the lifeblood. Their corpses are wrapped in chains and drained of magic to feed the unquenchable hunger for imperial conquest.
Born with magic, Arienne has become resigned to her dark fate. But when the voice of a long-dead sorcerer begins to speak inside her head, she listens. There may be another future for her, if she’s willing to fight for it.
Miles away, beneath a volcano, a seven-eyed dragon also wears the Empire’s chains. Before the imperial fist closed around their lands, it was the people’s sacred guardian.
Loran, a widowed swordswoman, is the first to kneel before the dragon in decades. She comes with a desperate plea, and will leave with a sword of dragon-fang in hand and a great purpose before her.
In the heart of the Imperial capital, Cain is known as a man who gets things done. When his best friend and mentor is found murdered, he will leave no stone unturned to find those responsible, even if it means starting a war.
Step into a world of necromancy, murder, and twisted magic. A world in need of a hero. Translated by Anton Hur
Bleeding Empire BLOOD OF THE OLD KINGS
#1.0
β’ September 2025
 BLOOD FOR THE UNDYING THRONE
#2.0
β’ October 2025
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