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. “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 Stephen R. Donaldson is the author of the The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant , a landmark in modern fantasy. Every volume, beginning with Lord Foul's Bane in 1977, has been an international bestseller. Donaldson returned to the series with The Runes of the Earth in 2004, and completed it with The Last Dark in 2013. He lives in New Mexico. THE KING’S JUSTICE   The man rides his horse along the old road through the forest in a rain as heavy as a damask curtain--a rain that makes dusk of midafternoon.  The downpour, windless, strikes him from the long slash of open sky that the road cuts through the trees.  It makes a sound like a waterfall among the leaves and branches, a damp roar that deafens him to the slap of his mount’s hooves.  Ahead it blinds him to the road’s future.  But he is not concerned.  He knows where he is going.  The broad brim of his leather hat and the oiled canvas of his cloak spare him from the worst of the wet, and in any case he has ridden in more frightening weather, less natural elements.  His purpose is clear. Shrouded by the deluge and covered by his dark gear, he looks as black as the coming night--a look that suits him, though he does not think about such things.  Having come so far on this journey, and on many others, he hardly thinks at all as he rides.  Brigands are no threat to him, even cutthroats desperate enough to hunt in this rain.  Only his destination matters, but even that does not require thought.  It will not until he reaches it. Still his look does suit him.  Black is the only name to which he answers.  Many years ago, in a distant region of the kingdom, he had a name.  His few comrades from that time--all dead now--knew him as Coriolus Blackened.  But he has left that name behind, along with other pieces of who he once was.  Now he is simply Black.  Even his title rarely intrudes on who he has become, though it defines him. He and his drenched horse are on this road because it leads to a town--so he has been told--called Settle’s Crossways.  But he would have taken the same road for the same purpose without knowing the name of the place.  If Settle’s Crossways had been a village, or a hamlet, or even a solitary inn rather than a town, he would still have ridden toward it, though it lies deep in the forests that form the northern border of the kingdom.  He can smell what he seeks from any distance.  Also the town is a place where roads and intentions come together.  Such things are enough to set and keep him on his mount despite the pounding rain and the gloom under the trees. He is Black.  Long ago, he made himself, or was shaped, into a man who belongs in darkness.  Now no night scares him, and no nightmare.  Only his purpose has that power.  He pursues it so that one day it will lose its sting. A vain hope, as he knows well.  But that, too, does not occupy his thoughts.  That, too, he will not think about until he reaches his destination.  And when he does think about it, he will ignore himself.  His purpose does not care that he wants it to end.