Status
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Description
The first three legendary Witch World novels from one of the most popular authors of our time-Publishers Weekly Few authors have achieved such renown as World Fantasy Life Achievement honoree Andre Norton. With the love of readers and the praise of critics, Norton's books have sold millions of copies worldwide. Perhaps her best loved and most influential novels, the Witch World series have been too long unavailable to readers. But finally, in the first of two ominibuses, Witch World, Web of the Witch World, and Year of the Unicorn, the first three novels of the Witch World, are united for the first time so readers can once again step through The Gates to Witch World. Witch World -- Simon Tregarth, a man from our own world, escapes his doom through the gates to the Witch World. There he aids the witch Jaelithe's escape from the hounds of Alizon, only to find himself embroiled in a deeper war against an even deadlier foe: the Kolder. Web of the Witch World -- The Kolder linger on, a constant threat to Simon and the witches he's sworn to protect. To save their world from this threat from another dimension, Simon and Jaelithe must venture to the heart of the poisonous Kolder realm and vanquish them for good, or witness the enslavement of their world. Year of the Unicorn -- Far from the besieged home of Simon and Jaelithe, in peaceful Norsdale, we meet Gillan, who longs to leave her dull life in a secluded country abbey. But when her wish comes true, she finds more than a little adventure. As she ventures out, not only is her life in danger, but also the power that lies within her, waiting to be discovered.… (more)
User reviews
I've now read bits of the Estcarp Cycle, the High Hallack Cycle, and The Turning. I'm very happy now to
Witch World, the beginning of the story of Simon Tregarth and his bond with one of the nameless witches. A soldier on the run with nothing to lose, Simon takes a chance on an ancient gate and soon learns he has everything to gain.
Web of the Witch World in which
Year of the Unicorn - apparently unrelated at first, this installment introduces a pair who will take part in later events. At the end of their agreement with the men of High Hallack, the Were Riders quite the Waste as promised, but only with their agreed upon 13 maiden brides as payment. For Gillan, the opportunity is one never regretted.
Because of the era this comes from, there is not the connection with the characters a reader is used to with current fantasy, and I was surprised at how little joyful exploration of the new world there was. Granted: war, some constriction of movement, and Simon's not exactly typically filled with childlike wonder, but still: either Simon was remarkably uncurious about his new setting or the reader was not shown his process of discovery. Coming from (apparently) Cold War era Earth into a completely new world filled with completely new flora and fauna and architectures and people, I wouldn't expect him to stand about gawping, but a little bit of hey-wow might have been nice. I wonder if it might have been in part because Ms. Norton was still world-building. For me Witch World is something of a relic of its time, a tantalizing bundle of possibilities which were not, in this volume and for me at least, fulfilled. But it's only the beginning.