The Last King of Osten Ard Books in Order

The Last King of Osten Ard returns to the world first introduced in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, jumping forward more than thirty years. Simon Snowlock and Miriamele, once the young heroes of the earlier trilogy, now rule as king and queen from the Hayholt, trying to keep peace among kingdoms that remember both war and hard won alliances.

On the surface their reign has brought stability, but age, grief, and lingering prejudice eat at the foundations. The long lived Sithi have retreated again into their forest fastness, men bicker over borders, and few take seriously the idea that the defeated Norns might threaten the world a second time.

A short bridge novel, The Heart of What Was Lost, shows what really happened to the Norns in the immediate aftermath of the Storm King's fall, and a prequel, Brothers of the Wind, looks back to the ancient tragedy that made Ineluki into that undead power in the first place. Together they set the stage for the new trilogy.

In The Witchwood Crown, the first main volume, the couple's grandson Morgan is supposed to be learning how to be heir, but would much rather drink, brawl, and avoid responsibility. As worrying signs accumulate across Osten Ard, from strange dreams to new religious fervor and political unrest, evidence emerges that the Norn Queen Utuk'ku may be moving pieces on the board again.

Empire of Grass and Into the Narrowdark widen the story to include the nomadic Thrithings riders, turmoil in Nabban, and the internal politics of the Norn and Sithi. Old companions like Binabik and Jiriki appear alongside a swell of new characters, many of them second or third generation descendants of the original cast. By the time of The Navigator's Children, the conflicts of mortals and immortals, humans, Sithi, and Norns all converge on the haunted valley of Tanakirú and the burning Hayholt.

This series page helps you see how the newer Osten Ard novels connect to the original trilogy and to each other. It is especially useful if you are returning after many years and want a guide to which prequel or bridge book to read before tackling the main sequence of The Last King of Osten Ard.