http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2021-05.html#norton ( )

Witch World: I can't believe I never read this before. I've collected a number of Andre Nortons over the years, but read surprisingly few of them – and I loved the ones I did read, which makes it weirder. The story is fairly simple: a stranger involves himself in the war his new home is waging against the Kolder (unbelievably, I never twigged to the alternate spelling of that – nice, actually), and his otherworldly skills prove quite useful even against such enemies and alongside such allies as he never conceived of. One of the latter is Loyse, a frail-seeming noblewoman who breaks away from a domineering father and the marriage he has arranged for her; another is Koris of Gorm, a dispossessed price of extremely mixed ancestry who is not in any way a stereotype. Koris and Simon make a formidable, unconventional team which seems to be just what the Good Guys need to take the battle to the enemy and finally start making some progress.

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. ( )

I arrived very late to Witch World. I wanted to read it in as close to order as I could and for reasons I do not understand I had a difficult time getting my grubby paws on copies of the books.

I've now read bits of the Estcarp Cycle, the High Hallack Cycle, and The Turning. I'm very happy now to be able to understand the world better by now having read The Witch World, but it wasn't really necessary to enjoy the later cycle stories. I really want to look more into Norton's world and character building. Her writing drew me in and kept me until I stayed up late to finish. What other compliment can I give other than I started reading slower and slower because I didn't want it to end! ( )

Contains three from the Witch World:

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 an alien force strikes and possession disrupts the always uneasy Estcarp border. Simon and his witch-wife join with new and familiar allies to battle back the growing menace.

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. ( )

Witch world any questions? ( )