Witch World
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The Witch World series by Andre Norton is a long series of fantasies laid in a parallel universe where magic works, and at the beginning at least, is the exclusive property of women. The series combines many traits of high fantasy and sword and sorcery. It begins with what is now called the Estcarp cycle. These describes the adventures of Simon Tregarth from Earth, his witch wife Jaelithe, and their three children Kyllan, Kemoc and Kaththea.
It expanded greatly with the High Hallack cycle, starting with Year of the Unicorn in 1965 and its sequels Jargoon Pard and Gryphon in Glory. The Dales of High Hallack are on a different continent from Estcarp and its neighboring lands.
Mostly these cycles are organized by continent. Estcarp corresponds to Europe in our world (directly: Simon Garth entered Estcarp through Europe).
The Turning sequence is about events which convinced conservative witches men could handle magic responsibly. The Secrets of the Witch World trilogy brings many of these story lines to a climax. Both deal with worldwide events. Except for the last of the Secrets of the Witch World books most of these were written in collaboration with Miss Norton's fans. The Witch World series can be considered the first romantic fantasy series, both because of the content and because these books were a primary inspiration to later romantic fantasy authors like Mercedes Lackey.
In many ways, Norton's Witch World could be considered a mirror image of Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea. As noted, in the Witch World as first introduced, magic power is considered to be exclusively female and exercised only by virgins, with the sexual act depriving a witch of her power (which leads Estcarp's male-dominated enemies to consider rape as a convenient way of "neutralising" captive witches). The advent of Simon Tregarth, a man who turns out to posses some magical power and who forms a magical link with the witch Jaelithe after she becomes his wife, poses an uncomfortable challenge to the conservative witch hierarchy, which is by slow degrees forced to accept that males - and females who have relationships with them - can and do posses magic power.
While in Earthsea magic is not exclusively male, it is very nearly so - with men keeping all significant magical positions which confer social and political power while women's magic is derided as "weak" and "wicked" and its practitioners as "ignorant village witches". And like in the Witch World, it is asserted that magic and sex are antithetical and that "a mage who makes love thereby unmakes his power". In the first books of the series all of this is asserted to be inherent in the magic power itself, but later it is revealed as no more than the prejudice and mindset of a particular group of male mages, who seized control of a school of magic which actually was originally founded by women. Towards the end of the series this conservative hierarchy, too, is forced to recognise unpalatable realities - faced with the prophecy that a woman is fated to take the vacant place of the Archmage, at the very top of the magical pinnacle, and with women performing the hitherto unthinkable feat of transforming themselves to dragons at will.
Here is a list of Witch World stories:
[edit] Estcarp Cycle
- Witch World (1963)
- Web of the Witch World (1964)
- Three Against the Witch World (1965)
- Warlock of the Witch World (1967)
- Sorceress of the Witch World (1968)
- Trey of Swords (1977)
- Ware Hawk (1983)
- The Gate of the Cat (1987)
- Ciara's Song (1998) with Lyn McConchie
- The Dukes Ballad (2005) with Lyn McConchie
- Witch World: Swords and Spells (omnibus) (SFBC) (1987) contains Trey of Swords, Ware Hawk & The Gate of the Cat
- Chronicles of the Witch World (omnibus) (SFBC) (1998) also published as Lost Lands of Witch World contains Three Against the Witch World, Warlock of the Witch World & Sorceress of the Witch World
- Lost Lands of Witch World (omnibus) (TOR) (2004) also published as Chronicles of the Witch World contains Three Against the Witch World, Warlock of the Witch World & Sorceress of the Witch World
[edit] High Hallack Cycle
- Year of the Unicorn (1965)
- The Crystal Gryphon (1972)
- Spell of the Witch World (1972) collection of stories
- The Jargoon Pard (1974)
- Zarthor's Bane (1978)
- Gryphon in Glory (1981)
- Horn Crown (1981)
- Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) with A. C. Crispin
- Were-Wrath (1984) Very Rare - Only 177 Copies Printed
- Songsmith (1992) with A. C. Crispin
- Silver May Tarnish (2005) with Lyn McConchie
- Annals of the Witch World (omnibus) (SFBC) (1994) also published as The Gates to Witch World contains Witch World, Web of Witch World & Year of the Unicorn
- The Gates to Witch World (omnibus) (TOR) (2001) also published as Annals of the Witch World contains Witch World, Web of Witch World & Year of the Unicorn
Gryphon Trilogy these books also in High Hallack Cycle
- The Crystal Gryphon (1972)
- Gryphon in Glory (1981)
- Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) with A.C. Crispin
[edit] The Turning
- Storms of Victory (omnibus) (1991) contains Port of Dead Ships by Andre Norton & Seakeep by P. M. Griffin
- Flight of Vengeance (omnibus) (1992) contains Exile by Mary H. Schaub & Falcon Hope by P. M. Griffin
- On Wings of Magic (omnibus) (1994) contains We the Women by Patricia Mathews & Falcon Magic by Sasha Miller
- The Key of the Keplian (1995) with Lyn McConchie
- The Magestone (1996) with Mary H. Schaub
- The Warding of Witch World (1996)
- Secrets of the Witch World (omnibus) (2001) contains Key of the Keplain, The Magestone & The Warding of Witch World - Released as Digital Media Only
[edit] Short stories
(most are set in High Halleck)
- "Ully the Piper" (1970)
- "Amber out of Quayth" (1972)
- "Dragon Scale Silver" (1972)
- "Dream Smith" (1972)
- "Legacy from Sorn Fen" (1972)
- "The Toads of Grimmerdale" (1973)
- "Spider Silk" (1976)
- "Falcon Blood" (1979)
- "Sand Sisters" (1979)
- "Changeling" (1980)
- "Of the Shaping of Ulm's Heir" (1987)
- "The Way Wind" (1995)
[edit] Witch World Short Story Collections and Anthologies
- Spell of the Witch World (1972) Collection of Stories
- Lore of the Witch World (1980) Collection of Stories
- Tales of the Witch World 1 (1987) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction & Of the Shaping of Ulm's Heir
- Four from the Witch World (1989) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
- Tales of the Witch World 2 (1988) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
- Tales of the Witch World 3 (1990) Collection of Stories edited - Andre Norton wrote Introduction
