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Anthony Ryan

Anthony Ryan’s Followers (9,790)

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Anthony Ryan

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United Kingdom
Website

Twitter

Genre

Member Since
December 2011


Anthony Ryan was born in Scotland in 1970 but spent much of his adult life living and working in London. After a long career in the British Civil Service he took up writing full time after the success of his first novel Blood Song, Book One of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. He has a degree in history, and his interests include art, science and the unending quest for the perfect pint of real ale.

For news and general wittering about stuff he likes, check out Anthony's blog at: http://anthonystuff.wordpress.com
...more

Born of an Iron Storm – Now Available!

Book cover of 'Born of an Iron Storm' by Anthony Ryan featuring a dramatic landscape with crashing waves and a large stylized hammer.

Born of an Iron Storm – Book Two of The Age of Wrath trilogy- is published today in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Book description:

Born of An Iron Storm  continues the epic tale begun in  A Tide of Black Steel; a compelling fantasy saga of bloody retribution, deadly intrigue, and desperate courage

The Sister Queens have falle

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Published on August 26, 2025 04:00
Average rating: 4.2 · 274,500 ratings · 16,639 reviews · 80 distinct worksSimilar authors
Blood Song (Raven's Shadow,...

4.41 avg rating — 90,910 ratings — published 2011 — 81 editions
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Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow,...

4.16 avg rating — 51,131 ratings — published 2014 — 3 editions
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Queen of Fire (Raven's Shad...

3.72 avg rating — 30,552 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions
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The Pariah (Covenant of Ste...

4.17 avg rating — 16,644 ratings — published 2021 — 34 editions
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The Waking Fire (The Dracon...

4.05 avg rating — 14,997 ratings — published 2016 — 38 editions
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The Martyr (Covenant of Ste...

4.38 avg rating — 9,751 ratings — published 2022 — 26 editions
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The Wolf's Call (Raven's Bl...

4.28 avg rating — 9,404 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions
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The Legion of Flame (The Dr...

4.15 avg rating — 8,528 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions
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The Traitor (Covenant of St...

4.43 avg rating — 7,249 ratings — published 2023 — 23 editions
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The Black Song (Raven's Bla...

4.22 avg rating — 7,031 ratings — published 2020 — 3 editions
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More books by Anthony Ryan…
Blood Song Tower Lord Queen of Fire
(3 books)
by
4.21 avg rating — 177,386 ratings

The Pariah The Martyr The Traitor
(3 books)
by
4.29 avg rating — 33,625 ratings

The Waking Fire The Legion of Flame The Empire of Ashes
(3 books)
by
4.10 avg rating — 30,604 ratings

The Wolf's Call The Black Song
(2 books)
by
4.25 avg rating — 16,428 ratings

A Pilgrimage of Swords The Kraken's Tooth City of Songs To Blackfyre Keep Across the Sorrow Sea The Road of Storms The Infernus Gate
(7 books)
by
4.15 avg rating — 8,355 ratings

More series by Anthony Ryan…

Anthony’s Recent Updates

Anthony Ryan wrote a new blog post

Born of an Iron Storm – Now Available!



Born of an Iron Storm – Book Two of The Age of Wrath trilogy- is published today in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Af Read more of this blog post »
Anthony Ryan rated a book it was amazing
Notorious by Otto English
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Otto English brings his peerless eye for a good story, and customary wit, to this highly entertaining delve into humanity’s greatest baddies. However, there’s a lot more going on here than just a run down of history’s worst scumbags. English employs ...more
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The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
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Mixing the central conceit of Suicide Squad with Hammer Horror vibes, as viewed via the lens of alternate history, Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils is a gore splattered roller coaster ride from start to finish. Probably the most fun you can have reading ...more
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A Song of Legends Lost by M.H. Ayinde
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A SONG OF LEGENDS LOST builds an epic tale of conflict, betrayal, and intrigue around the premise that advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. M.H. Ayinde weaves a rich and engrossing story through a unique and fascinating world.
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Wolf in Shadow by David Gemmell
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Wolf in Shadow is David Gemmell's most effective exploration of the persistent influence of westerns found in much of his work. This is the story of post-apocalyptic gunslinger Jon Shannow, dubbed the Jerusalem Man due to his obsessive quest for the ...more
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The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless
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Highlander meets The Last Kingdom as feuding clans of magical undying vie for control of 10th Century Ireland in this assured and captivating debut. Themes of motherhood and conflicted obligation lie at the heart of Shauna Lawless’s historical fantas ...more
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Blackwing by Ed McDonald
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Upon starting Blackwing it quickly gained the rare distinction of being one of those books that felt as if it had been written especially for me. Grizzled veteran and reluctant servant of the Nameless Ryhalt Galharrow spends his days hunting traitoro ...more
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Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
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Hard sci-fi at its best as Kim Stanley Robinson charts the future history of the red planet from the first settlement to its terraformed rebirth as a verdant new Earth. Robinson avoids any utopian temptations to present the future of Mars as just as ...more
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Red Dragon by Thomas  Harris
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Ground zero for the modern serial killer thriller and the birthplace of everyone's favourite genius IQ cannibal. The horrors wrought by Harris's monsters in human form are given an added chill by his economic prose and paired down dialogue. Forensic ...more
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The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark  Lawrence
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Mark Lawrence's THE BOOK THAT WOULDN'T BURN combines extraordinary imagination with the expert craftsmanship of a writer at the top of his game. The power inherent in the written word provides the magical spine to an epic tale exploring the joys and ...more
More of Anthony's books…
Quotes by Anthony Ryan  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“War is always an adventure to those who've never seen it.”
Anthony Ryan, Blood Song

“Knowledge is what shapes us, little brothers,” he told them, for once his smile was absent, his tone entirely serious. “It makes us who we are. What we know informs everything we do and every decision we make.”
Anthony Ryan, Blood Song

“Speaking it aloud would reveal the absurdity of it, and he preferred the dream.”
Anthony Ryan, Blood Song

Polls

4th Quarter 2021 - Fantasy Tiebreaker #1

 
  6 votes, 46.2%

 
  5 votes, 38.5%

 
  2 votes, 15.4%

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Fantasy Aficionados: July Group read--nominations here 23 97 Jun 09, 2012 08:03AM  
Fantasy Book Club: This topic has been closed to new comments. September Nominations 55 456 Jul 17, 2012 10:30PM  
Fantasy Aficionados: Indie Fantasy 24 101 Aug 09, 2012 08:42AM  
Fantasy Aficionados: Help finding fantasy novels with a military theme 33 114 Aug 16, 2013 08:32AM  
The Challenge Fac...: R4: Team ~ My Kinda Book ~ Chicago 145 63 Sep 17, 2013 11:39AM  
The Challenge Fac...: R4: Words W/ GR Friends Points Please! 94 64 Sep 20, 2013 02:46AM  
SciFi and Fantasy...: This topic has been closed to new comments. The January Fantasy Theme: Emerging Authors 21 130 Nov 16, 2013 07:22PM  
157418 Grimdark Fantasy — 1944 members — last activity 16 hours, 4 min ago
This is for fans of what has been coined Grimdark Fantasy. This includes books by authors such as Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, George RR Martin, Sc ...more
220 Goodreads Librarians Group — 292501 members — last activity 0 minutes ago
Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra ...more
16548 Beyond Reality — 2013 members — last activity 11 hours, 4 min ago
Welcome to the Beyond Reality SF&F discussion group on GoodReads. In Beyond Reality, each of our members may nominate one SF and one fantasy book per ...more
112907 Anything & Everything!!!! :D — 104 members — last activity Mar 18, 2015 05:46PM
here you can talk about anything and everything! go crazy do rp share your problems talk about school, love, relationship, friends, problems...ANYTHI ...more
54239 Ancient & Medieval Historical Fiction — 6094 members — last activity Sep 04, 2025 05:03PM
The focus of this group is historical fiction set in Ancient and Medieval eras(with some post Medieval), in any geographical location. Preference is g ...more
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Comments (showing 1-19)    post a comment »
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message 19: by Levi

Levi Mercury Thanks for accepting the friend request, sir. Mr. Ryan, Blood Song was incredible, and I cannot wait to read more of Vaelin and then explore your later works that came after.

Thanks for all you do, it means a lot to us fans!


Yumiko_Youku An Anthony Ryan Fanserver!

Please, fans, consider joining.

Discord Code: B4HJJnaF5a


message 17: by Matteo

Matteo Mazzoli Thank you so much for accepting my friend request, and thank you for your Raven's Shadow series, absolutely awesome. Always keep Vaelin in my heart, man, thank you!


message 16: by Anthony

Anthony Ryan Immortal wrote: "Thank you for accepting my friend request, Mr Ryan. It means a lot to me."

My Pleasure. Thanks for reading.


Immortal Thank you for accepting my friend request, Mr Ryan. It means a lot to me.


message 14: by Shashi

Shashi Hi Anthony!
Thank you very much for sending me Queen of Fire as a part of the giveaway. I received it yesterday so I thought I should thank you in person. So thank you!:D (As you can see, I'm really very thrilled) I just started reading it and promise to write a review as soon as I'm done. Cheers! :)


message 13: by Mike (last edited Mar 25, 2014 07:14AM)

Mike Anthony wrote: "Zoe wrote: "Hi Anthony !
Glad to see "Raven's shadow" among the best on this list..here is the link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comme......"


It would be much higher than it is if it were a bit better known. I advertise your book every chance I get.


message 12: by Zoe

Zoe Anthony wrote: "Zoe wrote: "Hi Anthony !
Glad to see "Raven's shadow" among the best on this list..here is the link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comme......"


Is place well deserved Sir !


message 11: by Anthony

Anthony Ryan Zoe wrote: "Hi Anthony !
Glad to see "Raven's shadow" among the best on this list..here is the link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comme...

You sh..."

Thanks Zoe, can't believe I'm placed higher than The Liveship Traders.


message 10: by Zoe

Zoe Hi Anthony !
Glad to see "Raven's shadow" among the best on this list..here is the link
http://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comme...

You should be proud.


Anthony Ryan Zoe wrote: "Thanks for the friend acceptance.i am glad I found and read your work.looking forward to read more of your projects."
Thanks Zoe, much appreciated.


message 8: by Zoe

Zoe Thanks for the friend acceptance.i am glad I found and read your work.looking forward to read more of your projects.


Anthony Ryan Tracey wrote: "Thanks for accepting. Really Loving Blood Song!"

Glad you like it. Check back in July for bk 2


Tracey the Lizard Queen Thanks for accepting. Really Loving Blood Song!


Anthony Ryan Shashi wrote: "Thank you for becoming my friend. I just finished your book and I can't breath :D I am going to be so book hungover for the next few days it is not even funny. I have not felt this way since I firs..."
Thanks Shashi. Book hangovers are the worst kind of hangover, only to be cured with more books.


Shashi Thank you for becoming my friend. I just finished your book and I can't breath :D I am going to be so book hungover for the next few days it is not even funny. I have not felt this way since I first read Patrick Rothfuss. You sir, are amazing. And I can't wait to read your next book!


message 3: by Rollie (last edited Aug 28, 2013 09:23AM)

Rollie This is so Fantastic! Currently reading your book and it's really a WOW! Thanks for accepting my request! Hope to read more of your books soon, Master. :)


John Gregory Wynn For all your fans:

If anyone wants a signed copy of the UK Version of Blood Song when it comes out Goldsboro Books has them. They Ship to the US! :
http://www.goldsborobooks.com/books/b...


♥ Unaeve ♥ Thank you for becoming my friend.
I loved your Blood Song very much,looking forward to read more of your work.
Best wishes in achieving everything you have put your mind to!
A new fan ♥


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