How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Cardan grows up unloved at his father's court. A troll woman named Aslog tells him the tale of a boy with a heart of stone who falls for a monstrous girl, and each time they meet the story means something new. The book revisits scenes from the trilogy through Cardan's eyes, from his early contempt for Jude to what he really felt. After The Queen of Nothing, Cardan and Jude, now on the throne, travel to the mortal world to repay a favor Jude owes a faerie: hunting down a creature Cardan has known since childhood. In the end, he faces that past and understands what the old story was always saying about him.

1. Behind the scenesSaved on purpose

   Black says she always pictured a Cardan novella, but there was no way to write it during the trilogy without spoiling readers' sense of who he was.

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2. Behind the scenesAn illustrated treat

   After the trilogy, she and Little, Brown wanted to do something special. Every chapter comes with full-color art by Rovina Cai.

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3. ReferenceScenes from the other side

   The book revisits moments from the trilogy through Cardan's eyes. Kirkus warned you need to have read all three books first.

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4. SetupThree versions of one story

   As a child, Cardan hears the tale of a boy with a heart of stone in three versions, each with different details and a different moral. Compare them.

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