Search Worlds Without End

Kaleva is Earth's first and only interstellar colony, discovered by Lucky Sariola who was transported there by an Ukko, a mysterious asteriod-like entity that responds to stories told to it - in Lucky's case, those of her Finnish grandmother. Now Queen Lucky, half-mad and newly widowed, is obsessed by relocating that Ukko - but this is potentially disastrous, as the snakelike alien Isi are also on its trail as part of their design to enslave humans. Understanding this, one of Lucky's daughters (with obsessions of her own) crowns herself rival queen. A summer turns into unseasonable winter and elysian peace turns to bitter civil war and Ukko, once more, has a role to play in the history of Kaleva.

Darkness cannot be caged.

In the land of Cymria, humans and griffins rule side by side. Arren Cardockson is a Northerner, a member of a race that was conquered and enslaved centuries ago. By freak chance he became a griffiner, chosen by a griffin to live beside her and work alongside her to gain power and privilege. But Arren and his partner Eluna live surrounded by those who hate and fear them, and their dreams of grandeur will only lead to betrayal and death. And meanwhile, out in the wildnerness, a savage black griffin with no name hunts for something he cannot name - something that will bring himself and Arren together. But when they meet, only disaster can follow.

The Dark Griffin is a story of prejudice, hatred and revenge. Not the story of a hero, but of a villain.

A man with no soul has nothing left to lose.

Arren Cardockson is dead. But something won't let him rest. Resurrected by dark magic, Arren has no heartbeat, no home and no friends. Hated and hunted, his only companion is Skandar, the giant, maneating black griffin. And now a dark power lives inside him, driving him to acts of murder and cruelty.

Together, he and Skandar flee Northwards in the hopes of finding a place to hide from their enemies, and a cure for the curse that has Arren in its grip. And all the while, the god of death watches...

There is no Arren, Arren is dead. And war is coming.

Arenadd Taranisäii, formerly known as Arren Cardockson, has come to the North, where the Southerners rule and his race are second-class citizens in their own land. But now everything is about to change. Rebellion is in the air. Together with his partner, the dark griffin Skandar, Arenadd promises his allegiance to the savage Night God and prepares to lead his people to freedom - no matter what the cost.

But meanwhile his archenemy Erian, bastard son of the murdered Lord Rannagon, sets out on a journey of his own - to find a sacred weapon that can kill Arenadd, the man without a heart.

After untold ages of futurity, the world is old. Regret is endless. Deceit is ubiquitous. And for the Weeping Czar, love is new.

Ken Scholes is the author of the five-book Psalms of Isaak sequence, comprising Lamentation, Canticle, the forthcoming Antiphon, and two more in progress. "A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon" is set in the same world, about a thousand years before the events of Lamentation.

Read the full story for free at Tor.com.