One Dark Window
by Rachel Gillig
- Series
- The Shepherd King, 2 books
- Genre
- Gothic fantasy
- Age
- ages 15 and up
About the series
Elspeth Spindle has a secret. As a child she was infected with a forbidden magic in the kingdom of Blunder, where the mist hangs thick around the forests, and now a creature lives inside her head. She calls it the Nightmare. It speaks to her, protects her and gives her power, but she doesn’t know what it is or what it wants.
In Blunder the only lawful magic comes from the so-called Providence Cards, and anyone who is infected risks their life. When Elspeth is drawn into a plan to gather twelve of the cards to find a cure, she grows close to Ravyn Yew, the king’s nephew and captain of his Destriers, and to his family, who have secrets of their own. And the Nightmare knows more about the kingdom’s history than anyone else does.
The series is dark, atmospheric and full of riddles, written in a style that feels like an old fairy tale. It suits readers from around 15 who enjoy a gothic mood and slowly built mysteries.
The books in the series
- One Dark Window (2022)
- Two Twisted Crowns (2023)
My thoughts
I was completely caught up in this series. The way it’s told is unlike most other books, almost like a dark fairy tale, and it makes you read more slowly and notice everything. The world, with the mist and the cards, is simple, but there’s always something lying underneath. And the mysteries, especially the one around the Nightmare, are what kept me hooked. You want to know who he is.