Warlock of the Witch World
by Andre Norton
Witch World: Estcarp Cycle (4), Hexenwelt (Book 4), Witch World: Publication Order (1967), Witch World (05)
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Kemoc, one of the Witch World triplets, has to rescue his sister who has fallen under the spell of a man who plans to take over Estcarp.Tags
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This is book 4 of the initial Witch World series and continues the story of the Three, the triplets born to Jaelithe, ex-Witch, and Simon Tregarth, man of our universe who entered the Witch World through an interdimensional gateway.
This time, the story is told from the viewpoint of the second-born, Kemoc, the one to whom their mother wished wisdom. After the events of the previous story, the Valley of Green Silences, haven for those who oppose the Shadow in the land of Escore, is ringed around by enemies. Its leaders try to make alliances with other races in Escore who traditionally have not followed the Shadow. On a mission to the Krogan, a people who depend on water and have gills, but can spend limited time on land, Kemoc meets show more Orsya, a Krogan woman, who tells him (correctly, as events transpire) that the Krogan will not ally with them; instead, her race will attempt to make a deal with the enemy in order to stay neutral and be left alone.
On his return to the valley, Kemoc finds that his sister Kaththea is friendly with Dinzil of the Heights, leader of an allied group. He has an uneasy feeling about Dinzil, who seems to sneer at his disability (Kemoc's hand was injured in the fighting in their homeland of Estcarp, over the mountains). But when he tries to share his worries with his brother Kyllan, he discovers Kyllan is inclined to put his misgivings down to overprotectiveness of their sister, or jealousy. Kyllan warns him not to broach the subject with her as it will only turn her against him. Soon after, a bird messenger alerts the Valley people that more fighters and their dependents are coming over the mountains between Escore and Estcarp to join the armed struggle, and Kemoc joins the party who go to escort them, as the countryside between the mountains and the Valley is riddled with minions of the Shadow.
On the return journey Kemoc is kidnapped by the Krogan who plan to hand him over to the Shadow in return for being left alone, and he only survives due to the bravery and resourcefulness of Orsya. Later, both join forces in a quest to save Kaththea. I won't say more about the plot to avoid spoilers.
I enjoyed this story partly because of the general weirdness which makes it so different to a lot of fantasy, and partly due to the character of Orsya. Kemoc's strength is wisdom, and he puts to good use the knowledge he gleaned in the earlier story when he spent time at Lormt, the old centre of learning in Estcarp, while recuperating from the injury to his hand. He learned words of power which sometimes have unpredictable results in Escore where so much old magic lingers from long-ago power struggles that left the land divided in an uneasy truce between those who follow the Light and those who do evil for the sake of having power.
In the previous story, the coming of the three siblings upset that balance and put current events in motion, but it is clear that Denzil's dabblings were well in hand, and they can't be blamed for his activities which would have caused havoc eventually. For it is possible that Denzil is the Warlock of the title - the term certainly fits his character better than Kemoc's well-meaning blundering and muddling through. I liked it that Kemoc is not the stereotypical man of action: he is a trained warrior and can fight when necessary, but he is also often out of his depth and dependent on Orsya who helps him for her own reasons, partly because she is far more adventurous than most of her people.
The final section features a lot of very weird morphing between different dimensional levels with distortion of perception and bodily reality (reminiscent of some of Michael Moorcock's later fiction, which again shows Norton's influence on the genre) and also shows Kaththea as more than a match for Denzil in her capacity for corruption and downright malice, which is a nice twist. It will be interesting to see how the story plays out, as I think from the title of the next book that the story will continue from Kaththea's viewpoint. This really deserves a 4.5 stars as I enjoyed it most of the series so far, but can't quite award the last 0.5 as the style of writing uses rather clunky dialogue at times which can jar. show less
This time, the story is told from the viewpoint of the second-born, Kemoc, the one to whom their mother wished wisdom. After the events of the previous story, the Valley of Green Silences, haven for those who oppose the Shadow in the land of Escore, is ringed around by enemies. Its leaders try to make alliances with other races in Escore who traditionally have not followed the Shadow. On a mission to the Krogan, a people who depend on water and have gills, but can spend limited time on land, Kemoc meets show more Orsya, a Krogan woman, who tells him (correctly, as events transpire) that the Krogan will not ally with them; instead, her race will attempt to make a deal with the enemy in order to stay neutral and be left alone.
On his return to the valley, Kemoc finds that his sister Kaththea is friendly with Dinzil of the Heights, leader of an allied group. He has an uneasy feeling about Dinzil, who seems to sneer at his disability (Kemoc's hand was injured in the fighting in their homeland of Estcarp, over the mountains). But when he tries to share his worries with his brother Kyllan, he discovers Kyllan is inclined to put his misgivings down to overprotectiveness of their sister, or jealousy. Kyllan warns him not to broach the subject with her as it will only turn her against him. Soon after, a bird messenger alerts the Valley people that more fighters and their dependents are coming over the mountains between Escore and Estcarp to join the armed struggle, and Kemoc joins the party who go to escort them, as the countryside between the mountains and the Valley is riddled with minions of the Shadow.
On the return journey Kemoc is kidnapped by the Krogan who plan to hand him over to the Shadow in return for being left alone, and he only survives due to the bravery and resourcefulness of Orsya. Later, both join forces in a quest to save Kaththea. I won't say more about the plot to avoid spoilers.
I enjoyed this story partly because of the general weirdness which makes it so different to a lot of fantasy, and partly due to the character of Orsya. Kemoc's strength is wisdom, and he puts to good use the knowledge he gleaned in the earlier story when he spent time at Lormt, the old centre of learning in Estcarp, while recuperating from the injury to his hand. He learned words of power which sometimes have unpredictable results in Escore where so much old magic lingers from long-ago power struggles that left the land divided in an uneasy truce between those who follow the Light and those who do evil for the sake of having power.
In the previous story, the coming of the three siblings upset that balance and put current events in motion, but it is clear that Denzil's dabblings were well in hand, and they can't be blamed for his activities which would have caused havoc eventually. For it is possible that Denzil is the Warlock of the title - the term certainly fits his character better than Kemoc's well-meaning blundering and muddling through. I liked it that Kemoc is not the stereotypical man of action: he is a trained warrior and can fight when necessary, but he is also often out of his depth and dependent on Orsya who helps him for her own reasons, partly because she is far more adventurous than most of her people.
The final section features a lot of very weird morphing between different dimensional levels with distortion of perception and bodily reality (reminiscent of some of Michael Moorcock's later fiction, which again shows Norton's influence on the genre) and also shows Kaththea as more than a match for Denzil in her capacity for corruption and downright malice, which is a nice twist. It will be interesting to see how the story plays out, as I think from the title of the next book that the story will continue from Kaththea's viewpoint. This really deserves a 4.5 stars as I enjoyed it most of the series so far, but can't quite award the last 0.5 as the style of writing uses rather clunky dialogue at times which can jar. show less
I first read this as a teenager. A girl in class whom I hardly knew lent it to me 'I think you'll like it, my brother raves about it'. It totally blew me away then, and having re-read it twice the effect is the same. Why, I don't quite know. Fantasy as a genre was in its infancy when I first read it, maybe it was the shock of the new. Visions of its strange landscape still enter my mind at random intervals...that's how strong an effect it has. Andre Norton was a genius.
This is definitely a guilty pleasure. I don't know why this half fish/half man was so romantically compelling...but who can predict romantic attraction?
Again Andre Norton drew me into the story just like the first time I read it back in the 80s.
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436+ Works 76,392 Members
Born Alice Mary Norton on February 17, 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio, she legally changed her name to Andre Alice Norton in 1934. She attended the Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) for a year then took evening courses in journalism and writing that were offered by Cleveland College, the adult division of show more the same university. Norton was a librarian for the Cleveland Library System then a reader at Gnome Press. After that position, she became a full-time writer. She is most noted for writing fantasy, in particular the Witch World series. Her first book The Prince of Commands was published in 1934. Other titles include Ralestone Luck, Magic in Ithkar, Voorloper, Uncharted Stars, The Gifts of Asti and All Cats are Gray. She also wrote under the pen names Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston She was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and the Nebula Grand Master Award. She has also received a Phoenix Award for overall writing achievement, a Jules Verne Award, and a Science Fiction Book Club Book of the Year Award for her title The Elvenbane. In 1997 she was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. She died on March 17, 2005. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Witch World: Estcarp Cycle
10 works (4)
Hexenwelt
10 works (Book 4)
Witch World: Publication Order
32 works (1967)
Witch World
28 works (05)
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Warlock of the Witch World
- Original title
- Warlock of the Witch World
- Original publication date
- 1967
- People/Characters
- Dahaun (Lady of the Green Silences); Dinzil; Ethutur (warlord of the Green Silences); Foruw (Mosswife); Frono (Mosswife); Fubbi (Mosswife) (show all 14); Fuusu (Mosswife); Fyngri (Mosswife); Godgar; Loskeetha; Orsya; Kaththea Tregarth; Kemoc Tregarth; Kyllan Tregarth
- Important places
- Valley of Green Silences, Escore, Witch World; moss land, Escore, Witch World; Garden of Stones, Escore, Witch World; Dark Tower, Escore, Witch World
- First words
- It has been an oft-told story of our birthing that our mother, the Lady Jaelithe (she who put aside her witchhood in Estcarp to wed the outland warrior, Simon Tregarth), did demand of some Power she served certain gifts for u... (show all)s, whom she bore in great and painful travail. That she named my brother Kyllan, warrior, my sister Kaththea, witch (or one to control powers), and asked for me, wisdom. But it has been that my wisdom consists in knowing that I know very little, though the thirst for learning has ever been in me. Only, in spite of all my striving, I have done no more than nibble at the edges of knowledge's rich cake, liplicked the goblet of true wisdom. But perhaps to know one's limitations is, in itself, a kind of sagecraft.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And our tale of three has not yet ended.
- Original language*
- Englisch
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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Statistics
- Members
- 766
- Popularity
- 36,494
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 14
- ASINs
- 25
