DAW Books Presents The Finest in Imaginative Fiction by TAD WILLIAMS

MEMORY, SORROW AND THORN

THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR

STONE OF FAREWELL

TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER

THE LAST KING OF OSTEN ARD

THE WITCHWOOD CROWN*

THE HEART OF WHAT WAS LOST

* * *

THE BOBBY DOLLAR NOVELS

THE DIRTY STREETS OF HEAVEN

HAPPY HOUR IN HELL

SLEEPING LATE ON JUDGEMENT DAY

SHADOWMARCH

SHADOWMARCH

SHADOWPLAY

SHADOWRISE

SHADOWHEART

OTHERLAND

CITY OF GOLDEN SHADOW

RIVER OF BLUE FIRE

MOUNTAIN OF BLACK GLASS

SEA OF SILVER LIGHT

TAILCHASER’S SONG

THE WAR OF THE FLOWERS

*Coming soon from DAW

Copyright © 2017 Beale Williams Enterprise.

All Rights Reserved.

Jacket illustration by Michael Whelan.

Jacket design by G-Force Design.

Maps by Isaac Stewart.

DAW Book Collectors No. 1744.

Published by DAW Books, Inc.

375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Ebook ISBN: 9780756412494

Version_2

Contents

DAW Books by Tad Williams

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

Maps

Part One

The Ruined Fortress

Part Two

Three Ravens Tower

Part Three

The Nakkiga Gate

Part Four

The Fatal Mountain

Part Five

The Long Way Back

Appendices

An Explanation . . .

Glossary of Terms

Dedication

The Osten Ard books have been incredibly important to me and also to lots of readers, so writing a sequel to the original story after so many years away has been a daunting and even occasionally terrifying project; but it has also been a joy.

This book, The Heart of What Was Lost, starts the journey back to Osten Ard by filling in an important piece of history left out of the last volume of “Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn”—namely, the tale of the Norns after the Storm King’s War ended in their defeat.

I honestly never planned to return to Osten Ard, at least not in any major way, and it wouldn’t have happened had it not been for all the kind people who asked me over the years, “But are you ever going to go back to Osten Ard?” and “What about those twins and their birth prophecy? Come on, you can’t tell me that wasn’t setting up a sequel!”

After enough readers asked, I started to think about it. A story finally came to me that I wanted to tell; so now, with this small volume and much more to come, I return to those lands I thought I’d left behind. Thus:

This book is dedicated to the readers who always wanted to know more about Osten Ard, about Simon and Miriamele and Binabik and the Sithi and the Norns, who wanted to know more of the history of Osten Ard before the first books began and also the history that followed the More-or-Less-Happily-Ever-After of the first story’s ending. Your love for the characters and the place was something I never expected. I finally gave in, and I’m glad I did. Thank you all for your support and kindness. I’m doing my best to make you glad you encouraged me.

Welcome back! And for those of you who are new to Osten Ard, I paraphrase one of our heroes, Simon Snowlock, as he greeted an ally at the end of the first story: Come and join us. You have a world full of friends—some of them you don’t even know yet!

Acknowledgments

Getting back to the land of Osten Ard after all these years and exploring old and new parts of it has been a huge and sometimes daunting task. I couldn’t have managed without the help of many people.

My wife and partner, Deborah Beale, worked hard to make all the good things happen. Thanks, Deb!

My publishers, Sheila Gilbert and Betsy Wollheim, who are also my award-winning editors, also worked diligently to make this the best book possible, as they have with the whole of my return to Osten Ard. Josh Starr of DAW has also done a great deal to make this book possible. Thanks, Betsy and Sheila! Thanks, Josh!

Copyeditor Marylou Capes-Platt always brings the smarts and has improved every book of mine she’s worked with. This book is no different. Thanks, Marylou!

My excellent agent Matt Bialer worked his own magic over the project as well, for which I am always grateful. Thanks, Matt!

Lisa Tveit has been a rock of support for a long time now with her work on the TW webpage and in many other ways. Thanks, Lisa!

I owe special debt of gratitude for this book to Ron Hyde and Ylva von Löhneysen, who have been titans of fact-checking and priceless sources of Osten-Ard-iana, not to mention being such enthusiastic fans of the original books that it makes me feel like I have done something useful with my working life. That alone is a gift beyond thanks, but they’ve given me much more. Thanks, Ron and Ylva!

And of course, I want to acknowledge the support I’ve had from so many of the people associated with the tadwilliams.com website, including Eva Maderbacher, who offered some very useful opinions on the first draft of Heart. The other early readers of the series will be thanked properly and personally in the opening volume of the new trilogy, The Witchwood Crown, which many of them read in manuscript. But for now, I just wanted to say: Thanks, friends! Because no author has ever had nicer or more supportive readers.

Author’s Note

You can find a cast of characters and an index of other names at the end of this book. You will also find a short essay (by one of the characters) titled An Explanation of the Fairy People Known as Sithi and their Cousins the Norns, which those new to the land of Osten Ard might find helpful and might want to read before starting the book.

Tad Williams

October, 2016