Richard Swan

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About Richard Swan

Richard was born in North Yorkshire and spent most of his early life on Royal Air Force bases in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. After studying law at the University of Manchester, Richard was Called to the Bar in 2011. He subsequently retrained as a solicitor specialising in commercial litigation.

Between 2015 and 2018, Richard self-published "The Art of War Trilogy", a sequence of epic space opera novels, as well as a prequel ("Hadan's Reach") and two spinoff mil-sci-fi novellas ("VIPER One", and "VIPER One: Countervalue", the latter co-authored with George Lockett).

Richard's debut fantasy "Empire of the Wolf" trilogy recently sold to Orbit Books for a six-figure sum, with the first installment coming out in Spring 2022.

When he is not writing or working, Richard can be found in London with his wonderful wife Sophie, where they attempt to raise, with mixed results, their two very loud sons.

For updates follow him at stonetemplelibrary.com.

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The Justice of Kings (Empire of the Wolf Book 1) Feb 22, 2022

by Richard Swan

( 450 )

$9.99

Action, intrigue, and magic collide in this epic fantasy following Sir Konrad Vonvalt, an Emperor's Justice, who is a detective, judge, and executioner all in one—but with rebellion and unrest building, these are dangerous times to be a Justice . . .

The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics, and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the Imperial throne.

Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers, and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his talented protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the Empire.

When the pair investigates the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of Imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: Will they abandon the laws they’ve sworn to uphold, in order to protect the Empire?

"Richard Swan's sophisticated take on the fantasy genre will leave readers hungry for more." – Sebastien de Castell, author of Spellslinger

“A fantastic debut.” – Peter McLean, author of Priest of Bones

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Audio CD

Reclamation (The Art of War Trilogy Book 1) Mar 7, 2015

by Richard Swan

( 78 )

$4.56

Espionage, intelligence, warfare, politics, religion, diplomacy, genocide... the Reclamation has begun.

Tier Three: a compact of six vast interstellar empires, intricately bound by political, diplomatic and trade accords. Together, after centuries of massacres, brushfire wars, trade embargoes and political assassinations, they have finally brought a modicum of peace to a turbulent galaxy.

But all of it is about to unravel.

In deep space, the kaygryn inexplicably launch a suicidal attack on an Ascendancy crusade fleet; and on the shared world of Uvolon, the Ascendancy shoots down a kaygryn corvette over the human city of Anternis.

Zavian Yano, a member of the United Nations’ élite Xeno Division diplomatic corps, has one job: to stop the provar and the kaygryn from going to war.

Strike Commander John Garrick, one of Solar Operations Command’s most senior generals, also has one job; but he has been side-lined by the President at the height of tensions.

On a rainy Uvolonese mountainside, Special Agent Lyra Staerck is killed by a kinetic railstrike, and must find out why.

Captain Ben Vondur, a pilot in UNAF's 6th Goliath Squadron, has orders that seem designed only to inflame the situation.

Four people, separated by thousands of lightyears, are bound by fate. And all the while the galaxy hurtles towards war…

***"Fantastic action sequences"- The Book Reviewers

For updates, see my website, stonetemplelibrary.com

The Ascendancy War (The Art of War Trilogy Book 2) Feb 18, 2016

by Richard Swan

( 21 )

$4.56

The Ascendancy War has raged for six months.

After two enormous fleet actions at New Port Louis and the Pillars of Cain, the seemingly unstoppable provari advance into UN space has finally been forced to a grinding halt.

In the respite of stalemate, the UN gears up for its biggest counter-offensive of the war: Operation Talisman, a do-or-die effort to open up the coreward flank of the Ascendancy. Succeed, and the UN will seize the upper hand; fail, and defeat is inevitable.

Andrea Constance, President of the UN and an anxious coalition of Tier Three allies, must prepare for either outcome as D-Day draws closer. But she knows that every human lost and every provar killed means two fewer soldiers to fight the Kaygryn Empire…

For updates, follow me at stonetemplelibrary.com

Other Formats: Paperback

Empire of the Fallen (The Art of War Trilogy Book 3) Oct 1, 2016

by Richard Swan

( 19 )

$4.56

The Kaygryn Empire is coming.

Amidst the embers of the Ascendancy War, old enmities must be forgotten and new alliances forged if the UN is to rally against the Imperial Fleet of Reclamation.

Yet even on the eve of battle, the beleaguered forces of Tier Three are far from prepared. Power-hungry politicians, duplicitous generals and terrorists from all races threaten to destroy the fragile new alliance.

In the face of annihilation, one last throw of the dice: a suicide mission deep into Andromeda, to the heart of the Kaygryn Empire. Its only objective? To stop the invasion at all costs...

Other Formats: Paperback

Hadan's Reach Jan 16, 2018

by Richard Swan

( 2 )

$4.56

Hadan’s Reach. To the kaygryn, a major federal nation of a few hundred million. To the UN, an irrelevant backwater garrisoned by a few platoons of bored troopers. As the UN and the Ascendancy thrash out the final terms of the largest and most controversial trade treaty in Tier Three history, intelligence agencies receive a tip-off from a murdered UN Marine: The Reach, far from an unassuming colonial outpost, is the nexus of an Ascendancy slavery ring. Elise Kudo, a freshly-minted counter-terrorism officer from EFFECT’s Electronic Warfare School, has her first assignment: shut down the ring before the word gets out and the UN is forced to withdraw from the deal. But she is about to discover just how lawless and isolated the vast jungles of the Reach can be...***Hadan's Reach as a standalone novel set fifty years before the events of Reclamation. For updates and more, follow me at stonetemplelibrary.com

Earth Remembers Nov 10, 2018

by Richard Swan

( 1 )

$3.91

“It was the Martians who made contact, first via Nazca, then radio, and finally their advanced crystal drive starships. They brought technology and medicines and made late 19th Century Earth a vast melting pot of anachronisms. The aliens filled the streets of Earth’s metropolises and brought with them an understanding of the different races of the solar system that had for centuries eluded even the most learned of human scholars…”

Then came the Great Mutiny. Betrayed, the human League of Nations spent ten long years battling on Earth and Mars, earning its place amongst the Great Powers of the solar system. Now, retribution. With the red soil of Mars under human occupation, the vast armies of the League turn their attentions to Venus. On a planet where the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, where a single day lasts three months and where the air itself is too hot to breathe, Captain Gabriel Velterson must lead his men into battle against a terrifying alien enemy. But with a company made up of disgruntled conscripts and petty, incompetent officers, the Venusians may well be the least of his problems…

VIPER One Nov 3, 2016

by Richard Swan

( 2 )

$2.60

The United Nations and the Provar Ascendancy are at war, and across the galaxy, human politicians, generals and diplomats are being abducted as part of a brutal campaign of psychological warfare.While the vast armies of humanity battle frantically to stem the Ascendancy advance, UN Joint Intelligence Command orders the formation of a new unit: VIPER, Very Important Person Recovery, an experimental squad of mission specialists with the latest in military hardware and an unlimited mandate. When news that Vaughn Almeida, a senior diplomat in the United Nations’ Xeno Division, is being held by the provar on Iepthae, it’s a chance for Captain Adrian Vasco to prove that VIPER can work. But with UN forces poised to retake the planet within days, the clock is ticking…

VIPER One: Countervalue Jun 2, 2017

by Richard Swan, George Lockett

( 2 )

$2.60

Ariadne has been abandoned. As the UN reels from multiple Ascendancy attacks and cedes hundreds of lightyears of territory, Solar Operations Command has initiated a policy of "Strategic Sacrifice". Hundreds of colonies across the Outer Ring will be left to their fate as the UN Fleet desperately rallies. With six hours to go until the provar arrive, VIPER must extract seven persons of interest from two cities on Ariadne. Except, with the planet on the brink of civil war, the arrival of the Ascendancy is the least of their worries…

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