The Northern Girl (1980)

Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0425047253, Mass Market Paperback)

The final book in the Chronicles of Tornor (after World Fantasy Award- winning Watchtower and The Dancers of Arun) takes readers back to Arun, where decades of peace and a ban on edged weapons in the great city of Kendra-on-the-Delta have seen the famed cheari warriors fade into legend. For 17-year-old Sorren, bondservant to city councilor Arré Med, the wanderlust of youth is fed by the need to learn whether the strange tower she sees in her dreams is a real place. When Sorren learns of her namesake, the Lady of Tornor Tower of northern legends, Sorren determines to go north and find Tornor when her bond expires in a year. Sorren is surrounded by others who hunger for new challenges, from her lover's adolescent son, Ricard, to the unhappy drunkard Kadra-no-Ilezia, who longs to sail away and chart new lands. Likewise Arré's younger brother, Isak, long relegated to the background while his sister handled the Med's civic and business responsibilities, is determined to carve out a role in the city's power structure--even at the cost of breaking ancient law. While his scheme forms the core of the plot, at the real heart of this book is the simple idea that peace alone is not enough for happiness. Sorren charts her course into the future along with the rest of Arun, searching for the wonder that makes life worth living. This is a thoughtful fantasy novel which effectively mixes intrigue and adventure with dreams, thwarted hopes, and renewed possibilities. --Charlene Brusso