Witch World

Last updated

Witch World is a speculative fiction project of American writer Andre Norton, inaugurated by her 1963 novel Witch World and continuing more than four decades. Beginning in the mid-1980s, when she was about 75 years old, Norton recruited other writers to the project, and some books were published only after her death in 2005. [1] The Witch World is a planet in a parallel universe where magic long ago superseded science; early in the fictional history, it is performed exclusively by women. The series began as a hybrid of science fiction and sword and sorcery, but for the most part it combines the latter with high fantasy.

Contents

Map of the Witch World by Barbi Johnson, from the 1970 ACE Witch World Gift Box Set Witch World map 1970.jpg
Map of the Witch World by Barbi Johnson, from the 1970 ACE Witch World Gift Box Set

Witch World begins with what is now called the Estcarp cycle. These describe the adventures of Simon Tregarth from Earth, his witch wife Jaelithe, and their three children Kyllan, Kemoc and Kaththea. The series was then expanded with the High Hallack cycle, starting with Year of the Unicorn in 1965 and its sequels Jargoon Pard and Gryphon in Glory. Mostly these cycles are organized by continent, with High Hallack being on one to the west of the one containing Estcarp and its neighboring countries, with a sea in between.

The Turning sequence is about events which convinced conservative witches that men could handle magic responsibly. The Secrets sequence brings many of these story lines to a climax. Both deal with worldwide events. Except for the last Secrets book, most of these were written in collaboration with Norton's fans. The Witch World series can be considered the first romantic fantasy series,[ citation needed ] both because of the content and because these books were a primary inspiration to later romantic fantasy authors like Mercedes Lackey.

On the Witch World, magical ability was considered to be exclusively the domain of female virgins, with the sexual act depriving a witch of her power. Estcarp's male-dominated enemies consider rape as a convenient way of neutralising captive witches. The advent of Simon Tregarth, a man who turns out to possess 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 possess magical power.

Novels

Estcarp

Simon Tregarth
The Tregarth Children
Others

High Hallack

  • The Crystal Gryphon (1972)
  • Gryphon in Glory (1981)
  • Gryphon's Eyrie (1984) with A. C. Crispin

The Turning

Short stories

(Most are set in High Hallack.)

Collections and anthologies

See also

Related Research Articles

George Alec Effinger was an American science fiction author, born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Andre Alice Norton was an American writer of science fiction and fantasy, who also wrote works of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. She wrote primarily under the pen name Andre Norton, but also under Andrew North and Allen Weston. She was the first woman to be Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy, to be SFWA Grand Master, and to be inducted by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Swordsmen and Sorcerers Guild of America

The Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America or SAGA was an informal group of American fantasy authors active from the 1960s through the 1980s, noted for their contributions to the "Sword and Sorcery" kind of heroic fantasy, itself a subgenre of fantasy. When it developed a serious purpose that was to promote the popularity and respectability of Sword and Sorcery fiction.

<i>The Beast Master</i>

The Beast Master is a science fiction novel by American writer Andre Norton, published by Harcourt in 1959. It inaugurated the Beast Master series, or Hosteen Storm series after the main character. In German-language translation it was published as Der Letzte der Navajos —literally, The Last of the Navajo.

<i>Wizard at Large</i>

Wizard At Large by Terry Brooks is the third novel of the Magic Kingdom of Landover series, following The Black Unicorn. Written in 1988, the plot has Abernathy accidentally transported to Earth by one of Questor's ill-conceived spells, while a demonic imp is unleashed upon the kingdom of Landover. It was the last of a trilogy of annual Landover novels until The Tangle Box was published six years later. The book was re-released as part of a Landover omnibus in 2009.

Magician (fantasy) Magicians appearing in fantasy fiction

A magician, also known as a enchanter/enchantress, mage, magic-user, sorcerer/sorceress, spell-caster, warlock, witch, or wizard, is someone who uses or practices magic derived from supernatural, occult, or arcane sources. Magicians are common figures in works of fantasy, such as fantasy literature and role-playing games, and enjoy a rich history in mythology, legends, fiction, and folklore.

These works were written or edited by the American fiction writer Andre Norton. Before 1960 she used the pen name Andrew North several times and, jointly with Grace Allen Hogarth, Allen Weston once.

Bibliography of science fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and nonfiction writer L. Sprague de Camp:

Lyn McConchie is a New Zealand writer of speculative fiction, picture books for children, a nonfiction humour series, a number of standalone books and many short stories, articles, poems, opinion pieces, and reviews.

This is a list of books by Mercedes Lackey, arranged by collection.

<i>Lore of the Witch World</i>

Lore of the Witch World is a collection of science fantasy short stories by American writer Andre Norton, forming part of her Witch World series. It was first published in paperback by DAW Books in September 1980, and has been reprinted numerous times since. Early printings had cover art by Michael Whelan and a frontispiece by Jack Gaughan.

<i>The Magister</i>

The Magister is an accessory for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The book, with product code TSR 9229, was published in 1988 by TSR. It was written by Ed Greenwood and Steve Perrin, with cover art by Jeff Easley and interior art by Valerie Valusek.

Diana Wynne Jones was a British writer of fantasy novels for children and adults. She wrote a small amount of non-fiction.

<i>Wizards Worlds</i>

Wizards' Worlds is a collection of science fantasy short stories by American writer Andre Norton. It was first published in hardcover by Tor Books in September 1989, with a limited edition, also in hardcover, following in December of the same year from Easton Press as part of its "Signed First Editions of Science Fiction" series. The book was reprinted in paperback by Tor in July 1990.

<i>Kellory the Warlock</i>

Kellory the Warlock is a fix-up fantasy novel written by Lin Carter, the third book of the Chronicles of Kylix series. Its seven episodic chapters were originally written as short stories, but only one, "In the Valley of Silence," had been previously published. The book was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in April 1984. It was reissued in hardcover and trade paperback by Wildside Press in October 2007, and in trade paperback and ebook by the same publisher in April 2016.

This is a partial bibliography of American science fiction and fantasy author Roger Zelazny.

<i>Spells</i> (anthology)

Spells is an anthology of themed fantasy and science fiction short stories on the subject of spells edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh as the fourth volume in their Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy series. It was first published in paperback by Signet/New American Library in May 1985. The first British edition was issued in trade paperback by Robinson in 1988.

<i>Isaac Asimovs Magical Worlds of Fantasy</i>

Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy is a series of twelve themed paperback fantasy and science fiction anthologies edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Charles G. Waugh, a companion set to the ten volume Isaac Asimov's Wonderful Worlds of Science Fiction, produced by the same editors. It was published by Signet/New American Library from 1983 to 1991. Volumes 1 and 2 were also issued in hardcover in an omnibus collection titled Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy: Witches & Wizards.

Bibliography of British science fiction and fantasy writer Tanith Lee:

References

  1. Witch World Universe series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. Retrieved 2013-07-07