The Queen Of Air & Darkness

About this book

On a world of endless winter twilight, a child vanishes from a camp of settlers, and the grieving mother is left with one last hope: a lone, eccentric investigator named Eric Sherrinford. So begins Poul Anderson's Nebula Award-winning novelette, a masterful blend of hard science fiction and ancient fairy lore. The colonists of a distant planet have found a land that seems to belong to older powers. In the northlands, the Outlings dance beneath the aurora, winged pooks haunt the moors, and a tall, beautiful Queen rules from her hall beneath the mountain at Carheddin. Are these creatures truly magical, or is something stranger and more calculated behind the legends? Barbro Cullen will risk everything to get her son Jimmy back. Sherrinford, a precise and unconventional thinker from the planet Beowulf, agrees to help her follow the trail into the dark. What they find will test reason against wonder. Anderson, one of the great storytellers of science fiction, brings his Scandinavian saga sensibility, scientific rigour and poetic prose to a tale that is both a detective story and a chilling meeting of two worlds. Perfect for readers of classic SF, planetary romance and dark fantasy. Buy now and start reading online instantly in your browser, with no app or download needed.

Author

Poul Anderson

Length

~66 pages

Reading time

1 h 18 min

Chapters

1

Released

November 11, 2026

Languages

UND · 🇬🇧 EN · 🇵🇱 PL · 🇩🇪 DE · 🇫🇷 FR · 🇪🇸 ES · 🇮🇹 IT · 🇧🇷 PT-BR · 🇲🇽 ES-MX · 🇵🇹 PT · 🇺🇦 UK · 🇨🇿 CS · 🇸🇰 SK · 🇬🇷 EL · 🇭🇺 HU · 🇹🇷 TR · 🇳🇱 NL · 🇷🇴 RO · 🇧🇬 BG · 🇭🇷 HR · 🇷🇸 SR · 🇸🇮 SL · 🇱🇹 LT · 🇱🇻 LV · 🇪🇪 ET · 🇸🇪 SV · 🇩🇰 DA · 🇳🇴 NB · 🇫🇮 FI · 🇯🇵 JA · 🇰🇷 KO · 🇨🇳 ZH · 🇹🇼 ZH-TW · 🇮🇩 ID · 🇻🇳 VI · 🇹🇭 TH · 🇮🇳 HI · 🇸🇦 AR · 🇮🇱 HE

Formats

eBook

Print format

Paperback, 13.5 × 21 cm, 70 pages

Age rating

Teen 13+