Trey of Swords

Witch World Series 1: The Estcarp Cycle #6

by Andre Norton

The past and the future merge as THE LOST BATTLE OF WITCH WORLD is fought again - but this time, it must be won! For as ancient heroes walk again by day, so do ancient evils - and it is up to Yonan the weakling, and Crytha, the untrained witch-girl, to halt the Forces of Darkness by the power of the SWORD OF ICE, the SWORD OF SHADOW... and one sword more.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Ebooks, Audiobook, Witches

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Andre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trey of Swords returns to the original setting of the series: Estcarp and Escore. Prior to the events in this novel, the children of Jaelithe and Simon Tregarth broke the geas which had blinded the Old Race to the existence of their homeland Escore to the East. With the geas broken, however, the Old Race has begun to return. Yonan and Crytha are members of one of these households. The first two sections of this book (“Sword of Ice” and “Sword of Lost Battles”) deal with Yonan’s struggle to control the Sword of Ice and alter the past so that an ancient battle would end in victory for the Light. The third section, “Sword of Shadow” recounts Crytha’s battle against Laidan, a witch who attempts to thwart Yonan.

This is another decent entry in the Witch World saga (see my reviews of Year of the Unicorn and Spell of the Witch World ), though it still doesn’t recapture the “coolness” of the first book. The first two sections are standard Norton, which – for those who haven’t read my other reviews – feature alienated youths, life quests, and both physical and mental struggles against the Dark. Yonan is a perfectly adequate hero but hardly distinguishable from many of Norton’s other protagonists (especially if you’ve been reading a string of the author’s novels, as I have). What set this particular entry in the series apart from the rest is the resolution of Crytha’s story. Avoiding spoilers, I’ll say that it’s a twist on the traditional Norton ending that I found refreshing.

Recommended for Witch World fans.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancient battles are refought by a youngster of no great talent or strength, encouraged by a hero of ancient days. Worth reading over and over for the social factor if nothing else.

We see past and future merge in the three stories: (1) Sword of Ice, (2) Sword of Lost Battles, and (3) Sword of Shadows. Overall, well done but typical of the time period, epic good against evil with no possibility of redemption.

This was another gem from the acknowledged master, written when the public demand was more for sword and sorcery than cranial musings. It led us through the lives (and past lives) of several people, and gave a completion that failed to completely satisfy.

A point that is both positive and negative is that this story ties in with several others in the Witch World series, where many of the characters appear in various guises.

One very positive statement about Norton’s work though is that if a character acts a certain way in one storyline, the next appearance does not change their actions/reactions UNLESS there has been an epiphany that causes a character to change. If that happens, the character is changed from that point forward.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable three part work which becomes better as it develops with final section “Shadow Sword” especially good. It is a fine development of the “Estcarp Cycle” and I believe it will give pleasure to Andre Norton fans.

[Olga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Points off for the second part of the book.
It did feel like an unnecessary addition included for the sole reason of prolonging the writing to a size of a novel. Crytha definitely does not make for a compelling main character - she has the unusual powers she was born with, so she's special because she's special, but that never places her in any confrontations with the world she exists in. Quite contrary, when her powers turn into a source of danger and she has an option to get rid of them, she is encouraged not to do so, for the sole reason of: if she feels it is her path and it is right to keep them, she should go ahead (neglecting the well-being of the others). No conflict, no character development, the result is predictably bland. Crytha's chapters have some action and the episode with the spiders was reasonably clever. Main feats of the hero, however, are performed not because of her outstanding achievements but thanks to a benevolent interruption from a mysterious third party. Deus ex machina, yay.
There is plenty enough of it in the first part as well - a crystal becoming a blade of a sword, the said sword compelling Yonan to break the glass column (which he arguably would have done anyway, but it is specified that he was led by a sword, so it takes away his decision), Yonan's ability to control the sword telepathically, etc. Yonan, however, is at least a believable character that has to engage in struggles with himself and the world around him, so it's more redeemable.
overall the book is okay, but not much more than that. I still maintain that Norton's best has been the first few books of the Solar Queen.

[Warren Dunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like there was a lot of history that I missed before coming into this series, and there was not enough information given to properly elaborate on this culture. Only hints were given of an embattled past, and this story was a way to revisit some of what had happened. I usually love being dumped into a society, but I normally have more to go on. The story of the sword and the lost battle being refought had a lot of good introspection, but not enough detail to keep me thoroughly interested. I didn’t get to know Yonan or Crytha at all, except for their fears about being inadequate. They were used as pawns, thrown back into the past, but for what reason? If it was to show that the outcome of the battle could be changed with patience and foresight, then what did it achieve? Did anything in the present change (we never get back to the present, so it’s unknown), or did they even go to the past at all? There is too much manipulation and not enough motive.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norton definitely has some standard Witch World tropes: orphans of mixed-race parentage who don't feel at home anywhere, heroes in the grip of powers that want to move them like chess pieces, a woman with witch talents but limited training. Here they're Yonan and Crytha, who find themselves drawn into the resolution of a very old battle in Estcore (around the time of Warlock of the Witch World) which involves time travel, mind-control, lost cities and other perils.
It's competently done, with a character arc different from what I expected. I might have rated it higher except I was very distracted during the reading.

[Tamp_kh · Rating 3 out of 5]

В этот раз у нас комбо - повествование ведётся от лица сразу двух героев. Нет бы, блин, показать хотя бы пару тройку книг от лица одного персонажа, раскрывая его развитие и изменения (ну пусть даже со стороны). С ужасом думаю что будет в следующих книгах серии...
P.S. Я, может, что-то пропустил, но в книге я встретил только два меча... А третий где?

[jonathan rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, apart from so many proof reading mistakes! Bbbbbb bnbbnnnnnnnnnmmmnjjjnnjnhbvvgggggghvffgvv

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[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seemed like two novellas shoved together in one book. Had a hard time with the style of the writing, for fantasy novel it came off as too passive/descriptive in voice. The later two books in the series were better.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't care for the writing style at all. Was hard to follow the language and ended up giving up finishing this book.

[Max Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical Norton, Great Read

Weaves many threads together with masterful skill. Multidimensional characters that take you on the journey with them. Enjoy the read

[Jacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witch World #8

This has been sitting on my bookshelf for years. I'm fairly sure that I have read it before, but even part way through it wasn't doing more than ringing faint bells, and that may have been because some of Norton's other Witch World characters were mentioned or had small roles in this novel.

The central character is Yonan, adopted into the household of Lord Hervon, lately fled from Karsten to Estcarp and from there emigrated to the magically unstable Escore to forge a new life at the call of Kyllan Tregarth (one of Simon Tregarth's sons from earlier Witch World novels). Yonan, never a brilliant fighter and somewhat weak as a child, has grown up with little self-worth.

Yonan has always been in love with Crytha, the niece of his guardians, but she's destined to marry her cousin, Hervon's heir. Crytha is a witch by inclination if not by training and in Escore she attaches herself to Dahaun, Lady of Green Silences, to learn what she can about her power.

Okay, that's all background. It turns out that Yonan carries the soul of Tolar – a warrior of old who was pitted against the evil Targi and despite having little liking for war himself must take up Tolar's ancient sword, Ice Tongue and fight the old battle once more.

Divided into three sections, the first two cover Yonan's rescue of Crytha from a kidnap attempt by the evil Thas and his freeing of the ancient warrior, Uruk from a block of ice and his and Uruk's journey back in time to fight against Targi once again.

Then suddenly, having been in Yonan's head for two thirds of the story, we change to Crytha who has been called by Laiden who is trying to resurrect Targi. It's a strange break point in the story and quite dragged me out of the tale. The first part of it repeated the bits where Yonan and Crytha's story intersected, but from her point of view (though this added little, I think). I read it assuming that when Crytha's part in making sure Targi never returns is finished that Crytha and Yonan would be reunited... but no. It's like the last chapter of the book is missing completely. After the 2/3 point we never hear from Yonan again and Crytha decides that she 's going to dedicate herself to learning more about her powers. I could have taken to it more if it had been presented as a shorter novel followed by Crytha's novella rather than as part of the same book.

It's very unusual for Norton, who was one of the writers who first led me into fantasy, it's an unsatisfying ending. She sets up expectations at the beginning and then drops all the threads at the end. Very like life, but not at all like fiction.

[Valerie]

These are details, but details are very important to verisimilitude. Unless you can relate to a fantasy world as a real place, with geography and inhabitants, it's little better than the limbo spaces Norton and others occasionally create. These stories are interesting as dealing with the ordinary folk, called to extraordinary fates. Of course, they're also violent--Norton never seemed to escape her proclivity for creating creatures only to have them killed in the second act. Some of the fan literature based on her stories did, though.

As implied by the title, three stories: (1) Sword of Ice, (2) Sword of Lost Battles, and (3) Sword of Shadows.

Note, by the way, that 'Swords' is a suit in the tarot card deck. I just realized this. I gather that the trey of swords has significance, but I'm not QUITE sure how it relates to time travel.

Also note that characters from this book appear in later stories. For example, Yonan plays a fairly major part in Gate of The Cat, which also takes place after the Turning.

[Magill · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit weak, I thought, although the writing itself was fine. More like 3 short stories, although connected.

Several errors: Pagar of Geen who was reuniting Karsten became Ragan of Cleen. The Thas, who previously could move earth like water were merely tunnelers and did not have any poison as had affected Kemoc. And from Dahaun's initial uncertainty about who they sided with before they had attacked previously, it was shown that they had sided with the Shadow in the past, which she should have known.

Yonan and Crytha, who came with the first wave of the Old Race from Hervon's manor, both ended up channeling past lives and the stories happen in Yonan's present, Tolar through Yonan in the past and then Crytha's present, who just happens to be an untrained witch whose presence in the Valley creates an opening for the Shadow... hmmm, sound familiar?

It doesn't really add anything to the Canon.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would have been very disappointed had I been eagerly awaiting the next installment. This book seems to be just a filler, or perhaps a contractual obligation - the story doesn't really fit. I'm not sure what the 3rd sword is, unless it's an axe.

back cover:
In this long awaited continuation of Andre Norton's Witch World fantasy saga, the past and the future merge as "The Lost Battle of Witch World" is fought again - but this time it must be wond. For as ancient heroes walk again by day, so do ancient evils - and it is up to Yonan, the weakling, and Crytha, the untrained witch-girl, to halt the Forces of Darkness by the power of The Sword of Ice, the Sword of Shadow... and one sword more.

[James Latimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old fashioned Sword & Sorcery tale, sparsely told yet full of haunting details, largely narrated from within two different protagonists head (three connected stories, first two from same POV). I really enjoy these type of classic tales, though it was hard to put my finger on exactly what Witchworld or its inhabitants were like. It's not really the worldbuilding but the horror-tinged, mystIcal action. No "hard magic" here! This is my first encounter with Norton, and I was reminded of Moorcock - the style isn't exactly the same but the overall effect is similar. Will have to find more!

[Eric Birk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book back in the early 80s. What I remember most about it, was telling my English teacher, Mr. Neighbors, about how much I liked it and being stunned when he told me that Andre Norton was actually Andrea Norton. It wasn't well known at that time the she was a girl. I was a fifteen year old boy at the time, I don't know if I would have bothered to read it had I known, but now I'm glad that I did and can tell others that I read one of SciFi's greats.

[Tom Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't recall reading much of Witch World, although I may have read the first one. Picked this up used, and it was enjoyable enough old-school fantasy. Nice to reset after reading a bunch of more modern stuff. I'll have to try to find more of them and fill in the gaps of the story.

Oddly enough I think the third sword is an ax.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit bland...not strictly derivative, just not distinctive. All three stories reference the past of Estcarp, but the events of the past seem context-free, nor do we see any substantial impact on the present. It's all rather toothless.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but some of the earlier volumes were better.

[Thomas Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book at fifteen as well. It was my first high scifi book. Though other books have overshadowed it, it was still my first.

[Dwer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is only a 3 because it is part of a series that I enjoy other parts of. Otherwise, it would be a 2 and into a box.

[Priscilla Sage · Rating 5 out of 5]

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