He studied Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and Old Norse at Oxford University and then spent several years in both the United States and Denmark before returning to Northern Ireland.
[2] Kearney made his name with the stand-alone novels A Different Kingdom (1993), The Way to Babylon (1992)[a], and Riding the Unicorn (1994).
Despite strong reviews, these books had commercially disappointing sales,[5] and Kearney was asked to consider a more traditional fantasy epic.
However, Kearney was quickly signed-up by publisher Solaris Books, who contracted him to write a new fantasy epic entitled The Ten Thousand and based loosely on the Anabasis of Xenophon.
[1] In 2009 Kearney was longlisted for the inaugural David Gemmell Legend Award for Best Fantasy Novel.