One Dark Window
core novel 2022 The Shepherd King
Record
| First published | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 4.25 (754,152 ratings, collected 2026-08-20) |
| Page count | 432 |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780316312486 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
One Dark Window opens The Shepherd King duology in the gothic kingdom of Blunder, where a strange, spreading magical infection has left the land shrouded in mist and its people wary of anyone touched by it. Elspeth Spindle hides a dangerous secret: she carries the infection, which lets her absorb power from magical Providence Cards, a trait that would see her executed if discovered, and shares her body and thoughts with a centuries-old spirit known as the Nightmare. When she crosses paths with Ravyn Yew, the king's nephew and a Captain of the Destriers charged with hunting the infected, the two are drawn into an uneasy partnership rather than the confrontation either might have expected. Together they race to collect the twelve Providence Cards before the coming solstice, navigating court intrigue and the threat of execution hanging over anyone marked as infected like Elspeth.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Shepherd King
- Series: The Shepherd King core; position 1 of 2 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Rachel Gillig
Notes
- From the series record (The Shepherd King): Two-book duology in settled internal chronology, marketed and reviewed throughout as complete.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Shepherd King: position 1 of 2: next Two Twisted Crowns (2023)
Sources
← The Shepherd King dossier · All universes
Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.