Lives of Bitter Rain: A Tyrant Philosophers Novella
(Hardback)
Publishing Details
Lives of Bitter Rain: A Tyrant Philosophers Novella
By (Author) Adrian Tchaikovsky
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Head of Zeus -- an AdAstra Book
3rd February 2026
United Kingdom
Classifications
General
Fiction
Dark fantasy
Physical Properties
Hardback
144
Width 148mm, Height 229mm
Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES 2025
City-by-city, kingdom-by-kingdom, the Palleseen have sworn to bring Perfection and Correctness to an imperfect world. But before these ruthless Tyrant Philosophers send in their legions, they despatch Outreach the rain before the storm.
Outreach is that part of the Pal machine responsible for diplomacy converting enemies into friends, achieving through words what an army of five thousand could not, for urging the oppressed to overthrow the bloody-handed priests, evil necromancers and greedy despots that subjugate them.
Angilly, twelve-years-old, a child of Pal soldiers stationed in occupied Jarokir, does not know it yet, but a sequence of accidents and questionable life choices will lead her to Outreach. As she travels from Jarrokir to Bracinta, Cazarkand, Lemas, The Holy Regalate of Stouk and finally, Usmai, shell learn that the price of her nations success is paid in compromise and lost chances, that the falling rain will always be bitter.
LIVES OF BITTER RAIN is a novella in Adrian Tchaikovsky's award-winning Tyrant Philosopher series. It is a prequel to the third novel in the sequence, DAYS OF SHATTERED FAITH.
Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE TYRANT PHILOSOPHERS SERIES:
'Exceptional.... Not to be missed' - Publishers Weekly, Starred review
'Brilliant' A Daily Mail Book of the Year
'An intriguing tangle, dense, dark, ingenious, ironic, complex, often funny, and always smart'
Author Bio
Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British science-fiction and fantasy writer known for a wide-variety of work including the Children of Time, Final Architecture, Dogs of War, Tyrant Philosophers and Shadows of the Apt series, as well as standalone books such as Elder Race, Doors of Eden, Spiderlight and many others. Children of Time and its series has won the Arthur C Clarke and BSFA awards, and his other works have won the British Fantasy, British Science Fiction and Sidewise Awards.
