Lost Lands of Witch World Read Online Free

after power for the sake of power had unleashed an evil that still lingered. An ancient and uneasy balance had been struck between good and evil in Escore, and the three out of Estcarp are the straw that unbalances it and brings war again.
    Andre Norton had no need to make copies of the formula that made The Lord of the Rings a success; she had long since become a master of the craft of storytelling, and the Witch World books go on a path all their own. This book is all about the abuse of power and its consequences. You see that in the “present” as the Witches abuse their power and drive the triplets into Escore. You see it in the past, in Escore, where abuse of power has already created great and terrible evil. It is also about making the wrong kind of compromise—a compromise with evil, which only allows evil to grow stronger. I should be remiss if I failed to mention that this book and the other two of the set are told in that most difficult of “voices,” first person, from the viewpoint of the eldest of the triplets, the warrior Kyllan.
    Once again, the ending of the book only ends a chapter; there is going to be a war in Escore of good against evil. Some of the Old Race—families, with women and children—come to join in that war and perhaps make a place for themselves when—if—the war is won. It is clear that there is much more to come.
    But not immediately. Nineteen sixty-five also saw yet another branch from the
Witch World
tree.
The Year of the Unicorn
, which also had interior art by Gaughan, showed readers that there was more to Witch World than Simon and Jaelithe and their offspring, that the Kolder threatened not just Estcarp but an entire world, giving us two linked and yet separate storylines—Estcarp and Escore, and High Hallack and the Dales. Alas, it also brought a step backward, for thereis not a single word about
fantasy
in the blurb—no, Gillan of the Dales faces a
super-science challenge
.
    And by this time, Andre Norton established that series books were not only possible but profitable. The series has been in production for forty years now, and I do not believe that any of the books has ever been out of print for very long.
    I should also point out something else; these books were all written long before the advent of personal computers—which meant every draft had to be handwritten, transcribed, typed, and retyped. It took
forever
—and yet Andre Norton was producing no fewer than three and as many as five books a year, plus short fiction. Now
that
is the definition of
prolific
.
    For instance: 1963, the year that
Witch World
was published, also saw publication of
Judgment on Janus
and
Key Out of Time
. Nineteen sixty-four brought
Web of the Witch World, Ordeal in Otherwhere
, and
Night of Masks
. Nineteen sixty-five meant a whopping five books in publication—two Witch World books and also
Quest Crosstime, Steel Magic
, and
The X Factor
. One has to wonder what Andre would have produced had computers been available.
    Three Against the Witch World
was followed by
Warlock of the Witch World
. As
Three Against the Witch World
is told from Kyllan’s viewpoint,
Warlock of the Witch World
comes from Kemoc’s. And here is a new theme—that a clever, evil man can wear a face that fools anyone who doesn’t examine him and his deeds closely. Kaththea consorts with someone who is thought to be a friend, only to discover that he is the enemy. She does so partly because he is accepted by the People of the Green Silences, and partly because he offers something she wants badly. She walks into the situation with the best of intentions, but by willfully refusing to see the signs of trouble is herself corrupted, and nearly brings disaster down on everything and everyone she cares for.
    Sorceress of the Witch World
, told from Kaththea’s viewpoint, brought this storyline to a close in 1968. In trying to save Kaththea, Kemoc had struck her