Steel Magic

The Magic Books #1

by Andre Norton, Tristan Elwell (cover illustration)

Book 1 of 6: The Magic Sequence

A well told story of time travel with wonderful detailed black and white, pen and ink illustrations.

Sara, Greg, and Eric Lowry are exploring the woods near their uncle's Hudson Valley estate when they are magically transported to the land of Avalon. There they meet Huon, Warden of the West. When he tells them that the forces of darkness have stolen the three talismans that protect Avalon-King Arthur's sword, Excalibur; Merlin's ring; and Huon's horn-the children set off on a quest to find the three tokens of power. For Avalon stands as a wall between the Dark and the mortal world. And if Avalon falls, so does Earth....

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Young Adult, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Arthurian, Magic

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1965

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

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh piss off! What's with the fancy modern cover and "Steel" instead of "Gray"?!

Seriously. I read an original-edition paperback of this book, titled "Gray Magic", which was originally my mother's when she was a kid. I loved this book; it's honestly great for a bored seven year old stuck in her grandmother's house for two weeks in the summer. Wasn't sure what to do with the other 13 days, but this provided magic for one whole day.

And now it's all shiny and new and with a real-as-life cover. Pah! It used to have a drawing of two winged horses on it with the kids on the back with the elfen guide. Books these days...

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book that got me reading science fiction/fantasy.

[MB (What she read) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a treat to find this childhood favorite now available from Kindle Unlimited. I loved this book as a child, and it was a quality nostalgia reread for me. I missed the evocative illustrations* in this ebook version, but the literary goodness is still there. It was a quick read, but well worth the revisit. I have to give kudos here for some of the most unusual magical talismans I've come across in my reading experience.

I was also happy to discover there are four additional books in this series that I've never read! My childhood library only owned three of the seven, so those four (now available on KU), are a fun vintage but new to me discovery and I'm sure i'll enjoy them. I've already started book #2, Octagon Magic. Yay!

*The version I remember reading as a child had absolutely wonderful illustrations by Robin Jacques throughout. I can still picture them in my head. If you're into vintage hardbacks, search it out.

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good young adult or children's book. It contains limited magic, and problems each of the 3 children must overcome in order to succeed in their quest. The success of their quests changes them forever for the better, and sets an example for others to follow in their lives as we go about our day to day tasks. This is a simple and fast read, and held my interest at 70, though I read it the first time when I was around 22 or 23 years old.

Read it again 31 Jan 2018, enjoyed it.

[Cinnamingirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Andre Norton - she was amazing for her prolificacy (is that the right word?) if nothing else. And I have a ton of her stuff, and some of it I really love. I hadn't read any of The Magic Books before, so I started one on a long train ride today.

Sadly, I wasn't impressed - I don't think this is one of her best works... it's a rather mediocre story about 3 kids who end up in Avalon and have to help retrieve 3 magical talismans: Merlin's ring, Huon's horn, and Excalibur. And... that's about it, honestly. Sure, the children are sent on separate quests that force them to face their fears and grow with the help of magically-enlarged cutlery (yes, really) and there's some gender issues that annoy me, but other than that, the book was fairly... nondescript? At the very least, it wasn't super-interesting.

On to the next book, which I'm almost finished with already, and is a bit more interesting.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steel Magic

Another in the series of magic books this is a strong well written story. Based on the myths and legends of Arthurian tales plus it is an interesting twist of plot. A god read.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this and loved it when I was a kid. 91? I just reread it. It was still good, but not as great as I remembered.

[Alexandra]

2/13/18 $1.99 for Kindle.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a child, I adored Lavender Green Magic. It featured heavily in my childhood as my best friend, and I not only acted it out but made all the "potions" in the back of the book, and my friend dressed as a Puritan for Halloween one year. It was only later in my adult life that I discovered it was part of a six-book series. Finally, I'm getting around to reading the rest of the books. While I enjoyed Steel Magic, I didn't find it as good or as captivating as LGM. But it was the first in the series, so maybe they will get better. I'm still looking forward to reading them. My favorite part of this book was when Sara turned into a cat. I can imagine Norton pondering a picnic basket one day and letting her mind drift to create a whole fantasy around it. She did well in that regard.

[L Y N N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admittedly, during the first 30 pages or so I wondered how this would finish for me. (I reminded myself this was published in 1965! Different time and this writing style did seem a bit stilted to me...) I was not overly-impressed at that point in time. But then the action picked up and I quite enjoyed this book overall. Certainly not a favorite for me, but I would definitely continue with this series.

Although there were 3 siblings each individual child had to complete their own challenge. I liked that idea that each of them was functioning on their own. Most of the time the children operate as a unit, so this was a bit unique, at least to me!

Anxious to see what my grandchildren think!

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Overly simplistic, the kids act without agency. | Young readers are capable of so much more than this book provides. Everything is set out without complexity, step by step in order. The protagonists say magic words without knowing that they're going to of what those words will do, the magic objects they're holding make decisions for them, and the dangers they face are minimal. They even get pulled out of Avalon before the battles begin. There's some awkward, stilted language in the beginning, where each character's greatest fear is shoehorned into their introduction, so the reader knows what they'll have to face before anything even begins. And one of the boys, after berating himself over his habit of impatience and hurry, which nearly leads to the failure of his quest, is shouting and pounding fists in on a magic mirror just minutes later, demanding to go home NOW! I'll go ahead and read the next two in the series, because the discount edition is these first three combined, so I have them. Maybe they'll get a little deeper than this was.

[Nor'dzin Pamo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard about this book on BBC Radio 4. I had not realised that it was a children’s book. It is a simple story and rather obvious for an adult reader, but nevertheless quite charming. I also did not realise that it was part of a series of stories. Perhaps I will look the others up for when my grandson is older.

[Jessie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, I love kids books and always rate them as what they are - for kids. But this one was so simple it was almost insulting. Scratch that - it WAS insulting. There was no point, no "magic" to the magic, no character development, no real struggle. I love kid's fantasy - Lloyd Alexander, Edward Eager, Levine, etc - this, however, was.....well, you get the point.

[Carlos JP Navia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember enjoying this book when I was much younger, although all I can recall about it now is how I thought it both absurd and fantastic that these kids, the main characters, could have wound up in a setting where the silverware stood taller than they were.

[Magda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much too cutesy for an adult, but maybe the kidlets would find it exciting. I'd still rather start them with something better, like The Once and Future King.

[Elizabeth]

Gray Magic by Norton (1972)

[L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this better as a kid than I did rereading it as an adult. I suppose though, that that is only to be expected.

[Gary Sundell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andre Norton in YA mode. If you like a straightforward adventure set in Avalon as visited by three kids from our world this might be your cup of tea. 3.5 stars rounded up because it is Norton.

[Linda Stover · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year was 1978 and a friend lent me book. He assured me that it was really good and I'd like it. And over the weekend I managed to finish it which only led me to want to read more from Ms. Norton. Which I then did over the next few years.

Three siblings, while staying with their Uncle, decide to take a picnic lunch and explore his estate. There they find an island, in the middle of a small lake, with a small castle at the centre of it. Seeking adventure they manage to make their way there and find themselves transported to the magical land of Avalon where they meet characters of myth and legend and are tasked with finding and returning three magical talismans to their rightful owners. Armed with the power of their stainless steel cutlery, or cold iron as it's known in Avalon, they set forth to save the land and hopefully save their own world as well.

This is very much a book for young readers but I don't mean that in a bad way. It doesn't talk down to kids but looking back at it as an adult it feels like a "paint by numbers" set. It's like making a grocery list and checking each item off as you put it into your basket. It's imaginative and well written and youngsters will get a kick out of it.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I felt perplexed and underwhelmed by this whilst reading, but weirdly I can't stop thinking about it, simplistic children's book though it may be on one level and, frankly, it's definitely not Norton's best prose and she struggles to find the appropriate linguistic style here, particularly in the first few chapters. And yet ... there's something offbeat, peculiar, and I want to say comforting about this little adventure which is setup too quickly, ill-explained and resolved even faster. It's really as if Norton wants to play with her own ideas as a writer and the readers ideas and approach to fantasy and Arthurian literature and has thrown out this kid's book in order to do that, and I really like the impetus. the three different situations with the three children are very different, original and vividly described. (Not that I'm not finding the Witch World books experimental, mind you ...)

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read this particular Norton novel as a child, but I read others, so it was a pleasant autumn experience to revisit the tone of her work. It is a slight story, I think it would be a chapter book now except that the vocabulary might be too complex -- a patterned story with three children who have three fears and go through three experiences which cause them to face their fears and then in the end it comes to joy, facing their fears gives the adults the tools they need to defeat darkness. I was glad I read it, and will read more of her work, but despite some beautiful imagery it has not stayed with me strongly.

[Brandon Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of my all time favorite books when I was young. It's a great read with your children. The Goodreads description says this is a time travel book. No, it's not. They travel to another realm. The only time travel is the normal real-life forward direction, unless you count when you switch from one character perspective to another. Of course, you have to catch each character up.

This was also my first Andre Norton read, and it sparked my interest in her other books.

[Philip Cavanagh · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A GREAT READ, and probably the easiest book I've read so far, no wonder I am a fan of Andre Norton, 3 teens go through a portal to enter a world known as Avalon to find 3 items that were lost, I was reading the Archway paperback, the print is bigger then many books and at only 148 pages it took me an afternoon to read. Can't wait to hunt down the second book in the Magic sequence (there are 7 books in the series), highly recommended.

[Saily Bhagwat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steel Magic might as well be called an "ideal" children's fantasy book. What's particularly refreshing is that the siblings are required to split and go on solo quests, each to face and overcome his/her respective fear alone. The settings are very interesting, as are the characters' journeys through them.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read a number of Andre Norton and enjoyed them. I hadn't quite appreciated that this was a children's book and was somewhat taken aback by the simplistic and somewhat prosaic telling of the story, it just lacked that 'spark' that makes reading such a pleasure. Admittedly I'm not the target audience but I think I may have found this dull as a child.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's dated to a simpler time in children's books, but I think it still holds up.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A childhood favorite which had always stayed in my memory and was really pleasurable to reread.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this Arthurian portal story. It was an adventure that any age could enjoy.

[Hryuh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Маленькая задорная книжка про храбрых ребят в волшебном мире Авалона. Бодренько, хорошо, красиво. Подвиг совершили и до свидания.

[Marc Maxmeister · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is dated (1940s-50s) and dialogue has a lot of unnecessary "saidisms" that was typical of the "right way to write" at the time. But distracting today. And the story is fine if you're 5 but rather predictable if you read a lot of fantasy.