Tor Books has acquired the World English rights for Sung-il Kim’s fantasy trilogy, beginning with Blood of the Old Kings, from the Greenbook Literary Agency. Blood of the Old Kings will be translated by Anton Hur and published in Fall 2024.
Powered by corpses of sorcerers, the Empire has conquered the world. It claims to have brought peace and stability to its conquered lands, but some see that peace for what it is—a lie—and will give everything to fight it.
Loran was desperate for revenge after the Empire killed her family, so much so that she climbed the volcano where the legends say an ancient dragon slumbers, and she leapt in. When it turns out the legends are true, Loran accepts an even greater mission: bring down the Empire, and become King.
Cain arrived in the Imperial capital lost and orphaned, and it’s only thanks to the kindness of a stranger-turned-mentor that he survived on the city’s streets. When his friend is found murdered, he will leave no stone unturned to find those responsible, even if it means starting a war.
Arienne’s future has never been in question—born a sorcerer, she’ll be a Power Generator for the Empire upon her death. But when she starts to hear the voice of a powerful necromancer in her head, she realizes the only thing more terrifying than dying for the Empire is never getting to truly live in the first place.
When peace is a lie, there is power in truth—and as Loran, Cain, and Arienne hunt for answers in their own lives, each of their rebellions could bring the empire down.
From Lindsey Hall, acquiring editor:
“A dragon with seven eyes; an Empire running on magic generated from the corpses of sorcerers; and an investigation into the murder of a dear friend that uncovers a deadly plot with far-reaching consequences… and this is only the beginning of Sung-il Kim’s incredible fantasy trilogy! Kim introduces us to a world like I’ve never seen and to characters I would follow anywhere (including but not limited to: diving head-first into a volcano in hopes of meeting a dragon; breaking out of magic school and living as a fugitive; and breaking into the Imperial senate on the hunt for a murderer). The adventure that Kim has created and that Anton Hur has brought into English so beautifully in translation is one-of-a-kind and I can’t wait for you all to read it.”
From author Sung-il Kim:
“Blood of the Old Kings owes much to my cultural memory of colonization. What do you do when you are under an oppression that is so powerful and ubiquitous that it feels like an inevitability? History has many people who rose against such forces, heedless of the insurmountable odds. Those are the heroes that I sought to recreate, except with an epic fantasy fighting chance—as well as mummified sorcerers and gigantic war machines. Blood of the Old Kings is my first book to be translated into English, and I am beyond excited to work with Tor and editors Lindsey Hall and Aislyn Fredsall, who have been most kind and encouraging. It is also my great honor to be translated by Anton Hur of the 2022 International Booker Prize shortlist.”
From translator Anton Hur:
“What I love about this book the most are its three main characters—the swordsmaster widow Loran, the streetsmart Cain, and the sorcerer-refugee Arienne—who are faced with dilemmas so daunting that I was astonished by the end of the book by how brilliantly and satisfyingly they were resolved. I feel like the moniker “master storyteller” gets thrown around a lot but Sung-il Kim is truly a master storyteller, which isn’t surprising considering his extensive background as a TTRPG game master. But what really struck me about his writing were the subtle characterizations and worldbuilding, how a character’s entire motivation is conveyed with the raising of an eyebrow, or the devastation of an ancient war is encapsulated in a single line description of a ruin. This is a novel so rich and lifelike that I found myself thinking, I would absolutely follow Loran into battle. And I hope the readers feel the same way.”
Sung-il Kim was born in Seoul, in 1974. Despite his lifelong dream of writing fiction, he only got around to it in his forties. He writes science fiction, fantasy, horror, or some blend of those. In South Korea, he is known for Blood of the Old Kings, I Will Go to Earth to See You, and “The Knight of La Mancha”, the last of which earned him an Excellence Award in SF Awards 2018. He spends most of his time in his downtown Seoul apartment with his wife and two cats.
