The King's Justice - Tapa dura

Skillfully crafted characters...Readers who enjoyed the complex characters and layered plots of his Thomas Covenant novels will find similar pleasures in these two tales. Publishers Weekly
Praise for the Thomas Covenant Chronicles
[A] landmark fantasy saga. Entertainment Weekly
A trilogy of remarkable scope and sophistication. Los Angeles Times
The most original fantasy since The Lord of the Rings. Time Out
I don t think books like this come along more than a few times in a lifetime. Marion Zimmer Bradley
Will certainly find a place on the small list of true classics. The Washington Post Book World
Covenant is Donaldson s genius. The Village Voice"

Two new, original novellas—Donaldson's first publication since finishing the Thomas Covenant series—are a sure cause for celebration among his many fans.

In The King's Justice, a stranger dressed in black arrives in the village of Settle's Crossways, following the scent of a terrible crime. He even calls himself "Black," though almost certainly that is not his name. The people of the village discover that they have a surprising urge to cooperate with this stranger, though the desire of inhabitants of quiet villages to cooperate with strangers is not common in their land, or most lands. But this gift will not save him as he discovers the nature of the evil concealed in Settle's Crossways.

The "Augur's Gambit" is a daring plan created by Mayhew Gordian, Hieronomer to the Queen of Indemnie, a plan to save his Queen and his country. Gordian is a reader of entrails. In the bodies of chickens, lambs, piglets, and one stillborn infant he sees the same message: the island nation of Indemnie is doomed. But even in the face of certain destruction a man may fight, and the Hieronomer is utterly loyal to his beautiful Queen--and to her only daughter. The "Augur's Gambit" is his mad attempt to save a kingdom.