The Thorn Boy:& Other Dreams of Dark Desire

Darien is the king’s favourite – cool, aloof and quick to conspire. Akaten is warm, sensuous and full of life – and a captive of war. Darien is driven by desire. Akaten by love. This is the story of their passion – and what happens when the king chooses a new favourite. Set in the world of the Magravandias trilogy, ‘The Thorn Boy’ is a tale of love and revenge and of the lessons in survival learned hard in the dangerous territory of a royal court, where everyone seeks to secure their place in a fragile and treacherous hierarchy.

This volume collects all of Storm Constantine’s stories set in the world of her acclaimed Magravandias trilogy (‘Sea Dragon Heir’, ‘Crown of Silence’ and ‘The Way of Light’). Spanning different periods in the history of that world, some inspired by well-loved fairy tales, the dreams of dark desire to be found within this book take the reader on feverish and heady journey, from the exotic land of Mewt to the royal courts of Cos.

This new edition includes two stories not found in the previous Stark House edition and a revised introduction by the author.