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Chronicles of Tornor #3
The Northern Girl
The final volume in The Chronicles of Tonor trilogy observes the flowering and eventual decay of the cheari--nomadic warrior--civilization of Arun as it chronicles the saga of a young servant girl who discovers her own destiny as a warrior and who forever alters the world in which she lives. Reprint.
470 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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436 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth A. Lynn
53 books95 followersElizabeth A. Lynn is a US writer most known for fantasy and to a lesser extent science fiction. She is particularly known for being one of the first writers in science fiction or fantasy to introduce gay and lesbian characters; in honor of Lynn, the LGBT bookstore "A Different Light" took its name from her novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
August 22, 2011
Elizabeth Lynn's Chronicles of Tornor are richly characterized but have no connecting characters, her style changes per book to fit the period described, and she muses challengingly on both gender and orientation. the cumulative effect of all the life journeys depicted is one that encourages careful reflection on some weighty matters: what makes a person, what makes a community, what makes a civilization?
this third novel in the trilogy takes a wider look at the themes Lynn has previously established, eschewing the rather chamber piece-like qualities of the first and the pastoral sentiments of the second. she chooses instead to show how components of the past, as established in those two preceding novels, have been transformed into key elements of a now richly imagined and contrastingly complex present. the protagonist Soren is a crowd-pleasing creation: a plucky young lady with emerging psychic powers (perhaps), destined to experience the wider world. she is surrounded by a host of engaging, warmly depicted supporting characters; they all live within a narrative that is often traditional, but at times genuinely mystifying. despite the host of progressive values on display, a central thesis appears to be the necessity of force in maintaining the careful balance of community and forward movement towards which any civilized society should always be striving...an idea first illustrated within the first novel (although one that was compellingly critiqued) and in some ways rejected in the second novel. with this third novel, it becomes clear that Lynn has been guiding and transforming her themes and ideas all along; these shifts in perspective clearly parallel the growth and maturation of both her central protagonist, and the world itself.
overall, a wonderfully absorbing achievement.
this third novel in the trilogy takes a wider look at the themes Lynn has previously established, eschewing the rather chamber piece-like qualities of the first and the pastoral sentiments of the second. she chooses instead to show how components of the past, as established in those two preceding novels, have been transformed into key elements of a now richly imagined and contrastingly complex present. the protagonist Soren is a crowd-pleasing creation: a plucky young lady with emerging psychic powers (perhaps), destined to experience the wider world. she is surrounded by a host of engaging, warmly depicted supporting characters; they all live within a narrative that is often traditional, but at times genuinely mystifying. despite the host of progressive values on display, a central thesis appears to be the necessity of force in maintaining the careful balance of community and forward movement towards which any civilized society should always be striving...an idea first illustrated within the first novel (although one that was compellingly critiqued) and in some ways rejected in the second novel. with this third novel, it becomes clear that Lynn has been guiding and transforming her themes and ideas all along; these shifts in perspective clearly parallel the growth and maturation of both her central protagonist, and the world itself.
overall, a wonderfully absorbing achievement.
October 30, 2023
Rep: sapphic mc, intersex sapphic side character, sapphic side character
June 11, 2019
“As she drew on her pants, the mountain vision came upon her. She was a bird (though without form or weight) soaring over the steppe. She smelled the northern air, thin and clean and dry as bone, tasted it, felt her lungs labor for it. The sun was hot. The hills rose below her, brown and green and white. The white was sheep. They grazed placidly on the grass, as girls with sticks watched them. A river, blue as a ribbon, threaded a path toward a valley. Behind the river, the mountains stood. Within the cleft of the mountains, a tower lifted a gray spike to the sky.”
*
delightful. a striking change of tone from the first two books — much more political, less claustrophobic. that ending!
*
delightful. a striking change of tone from the first two books — much more political, less claustrophobic. that ending!
March 5, 2022
“Are there any real chearis left?” asked Sorren.
“Maybe, in the north somewhere. Legend says that a scion of the line of Van of Vanima still lives in the Red Hills.”
232 years have past since the events of Watchtower, the first book of the Chronicles of Tornor trilogy. The Northern Girl follows the relationship between two women, Sorren, a tall, blonde haired 17 year old with a unique gift, and her older lover, Pax, a fierce, dark skinned warrior. Both women serve Arre, who leads one of the most powerful families in Arun. Together, it falls to these three women to stem the tide of greed and dissolution that threatens to plunge Arun back into a collection of warring fiefdoms.
The novels trace the invention of a new belief system - part religion, part philosophy, and part martial art discipline, all wrapped together in the aesthetics of dance. Called the chea, it starts as the vision of a renegade aristocrat in Watchtower, the first book. By the second, The Dancers of Arun, it’s pervasive across the land of Arun, with the dancers, or chearis, credited for maintaining the balance and peace throughout the land.
By the third book, The Northern Girl, the chearas have died out, and the chea has become an established but degraded, institution. The art of dance has been cut off from the arts of combat. Sorren, the tall, pale Northern girl at the center of the book, has visions of the past and feels the call of Tornor. History may not repeat itself, as the saying goes, but it rhymes, and we get the sense that more is at stake than Sorren’s future.
Written 40 years ago, this beautiful, immersive novel is noteworthy on several fronts. Lynn, a two time World Fantasy Award winner, was among the first to feature LGBTQ characters in fantasy and science fiction, and, to this day, is one of the even fewer to feature an intersex character. She’s also remarkable in her commitment to racial, socioeconomic, and gender diversity.
Equity, in Lynn’s invented world, isn’t an aspiration but a fundamental aspect of reality. This novel is centered on a broadly inclusive group of women, all coming from different backgrounds and races, all of which are caught in the mysterious and dangerous machinations of barely glimpsed villains.
But the Northern Girl shouldn’t be appreciated just for its inclusion. It’s gorgeously conceived and written. Moreover, it’s deeply human themes reflects aspects of own world, which is likewise caught in a struggle between old and new, between balance and instability. The book has stood the test of time, and deserves broader recognition.
Part of its appeal is the way it perfectly fits means and ends, form and function, together. Lynn’s terse earlier style is here turned out to pasture. Unsaddled and unbridled, it finds its own free-range rhythm. Sinking into the run of words in a sentence, the pacing of a chapter, is a pleasure unto itself. The prose has a luxuriant feel, basking in carefully selected details, mooring us in the present moment along with each of the characters, bring the world of Arun alive.
But this luxuriance doesn’t mean Lynn loses her gritty realism. There’s steel in her spine and in her words. She thinks her story through until she gets to the dirty, phlegmy, venal reality that exists alongside Arun’s poetic beauty. The novel has a hard edged, intimate precision that has all the unforgiving clarity of a Hans Holbein portrait. Perhaps this is a hallmark of seminal fantasy worlds, the synthesis of deep grained reality with the fantastic.
You won’t find easy tropes or formulas in this book. It’s as if Lynn takes on the role of a cosmic clockmaker, winding her characters and setting with an exacting intricacy and then letting it loose, allowing the narrative to unspool according to its own idiosyncratic mechanics.
This is classic world-building, crafting a world according to its own inner logic. Tolkien, who was religious, called it “secondary creation” (God’s creation being primary), in his classic essay, “On Fairy-Stories.” I’m not sure such secondary creation is possible in our hyperlinked, intertextual, social media saturated lives. But in Lynn’s Arun, we have a serious, thorough, and entirely enchanting example.
Her characters are complex and real in ways I’m not sure many contemporary authors can match. Today, giving a novel the gloss of gritty reality amounts to a marketing gimmick: don’t worry, young authors, we have a mad-lib template for whatever mood, a prefab shellac for whatever feeling, your story needs. The multifaceted emotions and textures of Lynn’s world, by contrast, feel hard won, built up from the ground layer by sweaty, sedimented layer. As a result, The Chronicles of Tornor, and, especially this last book of the trilogy, has its own unique, nearly irresistible gravity.
With the Northern Girl, Lynn, without question, established herself as an author who deserves to be remembered and grouped along with Tolkien, LeGuinn, and other classic fantasy world builders.
“Maybe, in the north somewhere. Legend says that a scion of the line of Van of Vanima still lives in the Red Hills.”
232 years have past since the events of Watchtower, the first book of the Chronicles of Tornor trilogy. The Northern Girl follows the relationship between two women, Sorren, a tall, blonde haired 17 year old with a unique gift, and her older lover, Pax, a fierce, dark skinned warrior. Both women serve Arre, who leads one of the most powerful families in Arun. Together, it falls to these three women to stem the tide of greed and dissolution that threatens to plunge Arun back into a collection of warring fiefdoms.
The novels trace the invention of a new belief system - part religion, part philosophy, and part martial art discipline, all wrapped together in the aesthetics of dance. Called the chea, it starts as the vision of a renegade aristocrat in Watchtower, the first book. By the second, The Dancers of Arun, it’s pervasive across the land of Arun, with the dancers, or chearis, credited for maintaining the balance and peace throughout the land.
By the third book, The Northern Girl, the chearas have died out, and the chea has become an established but degraded, institution. The art of dance has been cut off from the arts of combat. Sorren, the tall, pale Northern girl at the center of the book, has visions of the past and feels the call of Tornor. History may not repeat itself, as the saying goes, but it rhymes, and we get the sense that more is at stake than Sorren’s future.
Written 40 years ago, this beautiful, immersive novel is noteworthy on several fronts. Lynn, a two time World Fantasy Award winner, was among the first to feature LGBTQ characters in fantasy and science fiction, and, to this day, is one of the even fewer to feature an intersex character. She’s also remarkable in her commitment to racial, socioeconomic, and gender diversity.
Equity, in Lynn’s invented world, isn’t an aspiration but a fundamental aspect of reality. This novel is centered on a broadly inclusive group of women, all coming from different backgrounds and races, all of which are caught in the mysterious and dangerous machinations of barely glimpsed villains.
But the Northern Girl shouldn’t be appreciated just for its inclusion. It’s gorgeously conceived and written. Moreover, it’s deeply human themes reflects aspects of own world, which is likewise caught in a struggle between old and new, between balance and instability. The book has stood the test of time, and deserves broader recognition.
Part of its appeal is the way it perfectly fits means and ends, form and function, together. Lynn’s terse earlier style is here turned out to pasture. Unsaddled and unbridled, it finds its own free-range rhythm. Sinking into the run of words in a sentence, the pacing of a chapter, is a pleasure unto itself. The prose has a luxuriant feel, basking in carefully selected details, mooring us in the present moment along with each of the characters, bring the world of Arun alive.
But this luxuriance doesn’t mean Lynn loses her gritty realism. There’s steel in her spine and in her words. She thinks her story through until she gets to the dirty, phlegmy, venal reality that exists alongside Arun’s poetic beauty. The novel has a hard edged, intimate precision that has all the unforgiving clarity of a Hans Holbein portrait. Perhaps this is a hallmark of seminal fantasy worlds, the synthesis of deep grained reality with the fantastic.
You won’t find easy tropes or formulas in this book. It’s as if Lynn takes on the role of a cosmic clockmaker, winding her characters and setting with an exacting intricacy and then letting it loose, allowing the narrative to unspool according to its own idiosyncratic mechanics.
This is classic world-building, crafting a world according to its own inner logic. Tolkien, who was religious, called it “secondary creation” (God’s creation being primary), in his classic essay, “On Fairy-Stories.” I’m not sure such secondary creation is possible in our hyperlinked, intertextual, social media saturated lives. But in Lynn’s Arun, we have a serious, thorough, and entirely enchanting example.
Her characters are complex and real in ways I’m not sure many contemporary authors can match. Today, giving a novel the gloss of gritty reality amounts to a marketing gimmick: don’t worry, young authors, we have a mad-lib template for whatever mood, a prefab shellac for whatever feeling, your story needs. The multifaceted emotions and textures of Lynn’s world, by contrast, feel hard won, built up from the ground layer by sweaty, sedimented layer. As a result, The Chronicles of Tornor, and, especially this last book of the trilogy, has its own unique, nearly irresistible gravity.
With the Northern Girl, Lynn, without question, established herself as an author who deserves to be remembered and grouped along with Tolkien, LeGuinn, and other classic fantasy world builders.
September 6, 2016
I read, and reread and reread and a few more times back in the early 80s. So much so that certain scenes became welded into my psyche the way a very few scenes from other books did as well. Always with women as leading characters, and always non-girlie women who weren't terribly powerful or pretty but just went out there and handled what needed handling. Best of all, none became princesses or world saviors or any such visible high falutin thing. They just did the job that needed to be done, with guts, humility and without much back up or fan fare.
These were the heroines who appealed to me, and they made a terrific difference in my life and imagination.
These were the heroines who appealed to me, and they made a terrific difference in my life and imagination.
March 23, 2016
An interesting read, and unlike the previous two volumes, this one concentrates on female characters. The main one is Sorren, 17 year old bondservant with a Northern heritage that makes her stand out against the mixed races of Kendra-on-the-Delta. Tall and blonde, Sorren is a drummer, daughter of a deceased vineyard worker who bequeathed a set of fortune telling cards to her daughter. She now has one year to run in her service to Arre Med, a councillor of the city, and plans to travel North to Tornor Keep when her service is complete, because she has visions of the place and people. In the course of the story, she learns that she is not a far seer but has the psychic talent of seeing into the past. The third main character, alongside Sorren and Arre, is Pax, Arre's Yardmaster and an accomplished soldier, and Sorren's older lover. Pax learns that another major family in the city is smuggling in short swords and training their guards in their use. Ultimately, this action, borne out of sibling rivalry, will have far reaching effects on the city and the Med family.
The story is set centuries later than book 2. Swords have been banned in the city, and the chearis of the past have died out. A lot of the book deals with the politics and treachery in the city, and the roles of the three main female characters and a few minor characters in resolving these. Unlike the previous books, most of the men are not admirable, including Arre's brother. Over the course of the story, Sorren learns life lessons about herself and others and ultimately finds that dreams may not come true but can lead to other possibilities.
The story is set centuries later than book 2. Swords have been banned in the city, and the chearis of the past have died out. A lot of the book deals with the politics and treachery in the city, and the roles of the three main female characters and a few minor characters in resolving these. Unlike the previous books, most of the men are not admirable, including Arre's brother. Over the course of the story, Sorren learns life lessons about herself and others and ultimately finds that dreams may not come true but can lead to other possibilities.
December 17, 2012
THE NORTHERN GIRL by Elizabeth A. Lynn
(review written in August 2006)
How do I write about ‘The Northern Girl’, one of my favourite novels? The city of Kendra On The Delta haunted me for years after my first reading twenty years ago. Reading it again recently was like catching up with old friends. Sorren, the 17-year-old bondservant. Her lover Paxe (37), yardmaster for the Med house. Arre (40), head of the Med house. Of Sorren, Arre will say, “She is the daughter I never had.”
‘The Northern Girl’ is the story of these three characters, each strong and determined, and of the events that will culminate in Sorren’s early freedom, written with tact and precision. Arun is a country at peace with its neighbours. Kendra On The Delta is its main city, where politics are rife with selfish plotting and petty calculating. Arre and her friend/ally Marti Hok are the only wise heads of the council; everyone else is corrupted, manipulated or manipulative, in the name of power rather than the greater good. The witchfolk from the Tanjo are not exempt from these conflicts.
With Arre, we are immersed in council meetings, politics and responsible decisions. With Paxe, we follow the life of the guards and the day-to-day dealings to ensure the safety of the city and each of its districts. With Sorren, we discover glimpses of the city’s underbelly and the life of a bondservant.
‘The Northern Girl’ is the final instalment of award-winning fantasy trilogy ‘The Chronicles of Tornor’. It was written at a time when lesbian fantasy was feminist, political and meaningful, hence probably the style, the choice of words and the correctness of the main characters.
If it is fantasy, you need one of the main characters to be a witch. Sorren is reluctantly holding the title. She is afraid of witches and does not wish to live in the Tanjo, even if it means losing her gift. Rejecting the potential honour, she chose to keep her gift of mind-travelling a secret, sharing it only with her lover. Paxe, respectfully, chooses not to advise on any best decision.
You will meet a few secondary characters. Marti Hok is the oldest councillor in Kendra On The Delta, but far away from being senile. Kadra used to be a messenger, but is now a drunk mostly living on the streets and mocked by most people for being a ghia (hermaphrodite). Isak, Arre’s brother, is a greatly admired dancer, but hates his sister and won’t hesitate to conspire against her. Sorren happens to drum for him, which puts her occasionally in an uncomfortable position.
While Sorren is slowly finding out that the keep she is regularly having visions of, is the Tornor Keep, built more than 400 years ago, by one of Arre’s distant ancestors, Paxe has to deal with the discovery of a short sword in one of her men’s belongings and the following infiltration of the city with more of the same item. Edged weapons were banned in Kendra On The Delta less than 100 years ago, but there seems to be a loophole around the short swords. Whatever the world, there are always unscrupulous people in power willing to exploit such discrepancy. Who is behind it? The Ismenin family? These brothers have the reputation to get into fights more often than anyone in the country does. With the Festival approaching fast, it is more and more of an emergency to solve this problem.
How does it affect a bondservant like Sorren? Read the book! What drastic decision will Arre have to make? Read the book! And what about Paxe, what will she do when her lover Sorren will eventually leave Kendra On The Delta to travel to the Tornor Keep? You will find everything and more in ‘The Northern Girl’, captivatingly wrapped up with musical words and legendary loyalty.
(review written in August 2006)
How do I write about ‘The Northern Girl’, one of my favourite novels? The city of Kendra On The Delta haunted me for years after my first reading twenty years ago. Reading it again recently was like catching up with old friends. Sorren, the 17-year-old bondservant. Her lover Paxe (37), yardmaster for the Med house. Arre (40), head of the Med house. Of Sorren, Arre will say, “She is the daughter I never had.”
‘The Northern Girl’ is the story of these three characters, each strong and determined, and of the events that will culminate in Sorren’s early freedom, written with tact and precision. Arun is a country at peace with its neighbours. Kendra On The Delta is its main city, where politics are rife with selfish plotting and petty calculating. Arre and her friend/ally Marti Hok are the only wise heads of the council; everyone else is corrupted, manipulated or manipulative, in the name of power rather than the greater good. The witchfolk from the Tanjo are not exempt from these conflicts.
With Arre, we are immersed in council meetings, politics and responsible decisions. With Paxe, we follow the life of the guards and the day-to-day dealings to ensure the safety of the city and each of its districts. With Sorren, we discover glimpses of the city’s underbelly and the life of a bondservant.
‘The Northern Girl’ is the final instalment of award-winning fantasy trilogy ‘The Chronicles of Tornor’. It was written at a time when lesbian fantasy was feminist, political and meaningful, hence probably the style, the choice of words and the correctness of the main characters.
If it is fantasy, you need one of the main characters to be a witch. Sorren is reluctantly holding the title. She is afraid of witches and does not wish to live in the Tanjo, even if it means losing her gift. Rejecting the potential honour, she chose to keep her gift of mind-travelling a secret, sharing it only with her lover. Paxe, respectfully, chooses not to advise on any best decision.
You will meet a few secondary characters. Marti Hok is the oldest councillor in Kendra On The Delta, but far away from being senile. Kadra used to be a messenger, but is now a drunk mostly living on the streets and mocked by most people for being a ghia (hermaphrodite). Isak, Arre’s brother, is a greatly admired dancer, but hates his sister and won’t hesitate to conspire against her. Sorren happens to drum for him, which puts her occasionally in an uncomfortable position.
While Sorren is slowly finding out that the keep she is regularly having visions of, is the Tornor Keep, built more than 400 years ago, by one of Arre’s distant ancestors, Paxe has to deal with the discovery of a short sword in one of her men’s belongings and the following infiltration of the city with more of the same item. Edged weapons were banned in Kendra On The Delta less than 100 years ago, but there seems to be a loophole around the short swords. Whatever the world, there are always unscrupulous people in power willing to exploit such discrepancy. Who is behind it? The Ismenin family? These brothers have the reputation to get into fights more often than anyone in the country does. With the Festival approaching fast, it is more and more of an emergency to solve this problem.
How does it affect a bondservant like Sorren? Read the book! What drastic decision will Arre have to make? Read the book! And what about Paxe, what will she do when her lover Sorren will eventually leave Kendra On The Delta to travel to the Tornor Keep? You will find everything and more in ‘The Northern Girl’, captivatingly wrapped up with musical words and legendary loyalty.
July 13, 2019
The Northern Girl (1980) by Elizabeth A Lynn is the third Chronicle of Tornor. This is one of those books that I'd see sitting on the paperback but never bothered picking up.
To me, this book was more a chronicle of torpor, its plot moving along at a snail's pace, more involved in its own politics than in any narrative arc for its lead character, Sorren. For me, the book really got started around page 300, and wrapped up at 400, so 3/4 of the novel involved mostly nothing. I skimmed heavily, feeling like I'd missed nothing.
For a detail oriented person, this book gives you a very close slice of Sorren's life, but for a non-detail oriented person, the book gives you a grindingly slow view of Sorren's life while focusing on the most uninteresting parts. Yet, even with all that detail, I feel that this city and situation were significantly under-explored. For example, exploring the life of a bond servant in a fantasy city.
We have a lead character who gets visions. What part do they play in the plot? Nothing. They have no bearing on the plot. In fact, very little of what Sorren does involves the plot. I found her singularly uninteresting. Normally I react very favorable to stories focusing on unamazing characters who can't solve everything with combat, but this book proved that such a scenario is not always engaging.
In general, I found all the characters underdeveloped and tedious. Given how much the characters talk in circles, that's no mean feat.
It's fair to say, then, that this wasn't my type of book, but I won't rake it over the coals because some parts really do work.
To me, this book was more a chronicle of torpor, its plot moving along at a snail's pace, more involved in its own politics than in any narrative arc for its lead character, Sorren. For me, the book really got started around page 300, and wrapped up at 400, so 3/4 of the novel involved mostly nothing. I skimmed heavily, feeling like I'd missed nothing.
For a detail oriented person, this book gives you a very close slice of Sorren's life, but for a non-detail oriented person, the book gives you a grindingly slow view of Sorren's life while focusing on the most uninteresting parts. Yet, even with all that detail, I feel that this city and situation were significantly under-explored. For example, exploring the life of a bond servant in a fantasy city.
We have a lead character who gets visions. What part do they play in the plot? Nothing. They have no bearing on the plot. In fact, very little of what Sorren does involves the plot. I found her singularly uninteresting. Normally I react very favorable to stories focusing on unamazing characters who can't solve everything with combat, but this book proved that such a scenario is not always engaging.
In general, I found all the characters underdeveloped and tedious. Given how much the characters talk in circles, that's no mean feat.
It's fair to say, then, that this wasn't my type of book, but I won't rake it over the coals because some parts really do work.
October 9, 2022
Tornorin kronikat saavat arvoisensa lopun tässä kirjassa. Ajassa hypätään taas eteenpäin ja tarina valuu taas etelään Arunin maassa. Tällä kertaa päähenkilö Sorren asuu etelärannikolla Kendra-on-the-Deltan kaupungissa. Sorren on nuori palvelustyttö Arré Medin, yhden kaupungin valtaapitävistä, kotona. Arrén suosikkina Sorren — ja siinä sivussa lukija — pääsee lähelle kaupungin valtapelejä ja juonitteluja.
Teräaseiden käyttö kaupungeissa on ollut kiellettyä jo pitkään, sillä Arun on vihdoin rauhaisa maa, eikä sitä rauhaa haluta järkyttää. Chearit, tanssivat soturit, ovat kadonneet, ja tanssiminen ja taisteleminen eriytyneet omiksi taidoikseen. Cheareja sopii muistella kaiholla, mutta kun paljastuu, että joku salakuljettaa aseita Kendraan, valtaapitävät huolestuvat.
Siinä missä Watchtower kertoi rajaseutulinnan asukkaista, nyt ollaan vahvasti kaupunkilaiselämässä ja hienostuneissa poliittisissa juonitteluissa. Tornoriin palataan kuitenkin. Sorrenin suonissa virtaa pohjoinen veri ja hän näkee näkyjä linnasta jossain kaukana.
The Northern Girl on tyylikäs kirja ja hieno lopetus Watchtowerin aloittamalla trilogialle. Historian kerrostuneisuus korostuu tässä viimeisessä osassa. Edeltävän Dancers of Arunin tapahtumat ovat tämän kirjan henkilöille etäisesti muistettua historiaa, ainakin tärkeimmiltä osiltaan, Watchtowerin tapahtumat taas jo täyttä legendaa. Kaiken tietävä lukija voi myhäillä tyytyväisenä.
Tornorin kronikoita on helppo suositella kaikille fantasian ystäville. (3.12.2010)
Teräaseiden käyttö kaupungeissa on ollut kiellettyä jo pitkään, sillä Arun on vihdoin rauhaisa maa, eikä sitä rauhaa haluta järkyttää. Chearit, tanssivat soturit, ovat kadonneet, ja tanssiminen ja taisteleminen eriytyneet omiksi taidoikseen. Cheareja sopii muistella kaiholla, mutta kun paljastuu, että joku salakuljettaa aseita Kendraan, valtaapitävät huolestuvat.
Siinä missä Watchtower kertoi rajaseutulinnan asukkaista, nyt ollaan vahvasti kaupunkilaiselämässä ja hienostuneissa poliittisissa juonitteluissa. Tornoriin palataan kuitenkin. Sorrenin suonissa virtaa pohjoinen veri ja hän näkee näkyjä linnasta jossain kaukana.
The Northern Girl on tyylikäs kirja ja hieno lopetus Watchtowerin aloittamalla trilogialle. Historian kerrostuneisuus korostuu tässä viimeisessä osassa. Edeltävän Dancers of Arunin tapahtumat ovat tämän kirjan henkilöille etäisesti muistettua historiaa, ainakin tärkeimmiltä osiltaan, Watchtowerin tapahtumat taas jo täyttä legendaa. Kaiken tietävä lukija voi myhäillä tyytyväisenä.
Tornorin kronikoita on helppo suositella kaikille fantasian ystäville. (3.12.2010)
February 14, 2019
Fantasy. First published 1980
Der letzte Band der Trilogie gefällt mir am besten. Politische Intrigen und Verschwörungen... rätselhafte Vergangenheiten... starke weibliche Figuren. Yes! Arré Med stelle ich mir unwillkürlich immer vor wie Chrisjen Avasarala aus "The Expanse" :-))
Es liegen jeweils große zeitliche Abstände zwischen den drei Büchern, und damit wird ein Gefühl dafür vermittelt, wie einzelne Personen und einzelne Geschehnisse schwerwiegende Konsequenzen für die Zukunft haben können. Und wie historische Überlieferung verzerrt wird - zum Teil durch Missverständnisse oder fehlende Aufzeichnungen - zum Teil absichtlich aus politischen Gründen.
Sehr, sehr schade, dass Elizabeth A. Lynn an dieser Reihe nicht weiter gearbeitet hat... die Welt der Tornor-Chroniken steht jetzt an der Schwelle einer "Renaissance"... der Fernhandel blüht auf, es wird mit Währungen spekuliert, Entdeckungsreisen werden ausgerüstet... großartiges Potential für eine vierte Geschichte weitere hundert Jahre später... geht es auch ohne Sklavenhandel, Genozid und ökologische Zerstörung?
Der letzte Band der Trilogie gefällt mir am besten. Politische Intrigen und Verschwörungen... rätselhafte Vergangenheiten... starke weibliche Figuren. Yes! Arré Med stelle ich mir unwillkürlich immer vor wie Chrisjen Avasarala aus "The Expanse" :-))
Es liegen jeweils große zeitliche Abstände zwischen den drei Büchern, und damit wird ein Gefühl dafür vermittelt, wie einzelne Personen und einzelne Geschehnisse schwerwiegende Konsequenzen für die Zukunft haben können. Und wie historische Überlieferung verzerrt wird - zum Teil durch Missverständnisse oder fehlende Aufzeichnungen - zum Teil absichtlich aus politischen Gründen.
Sehr, sehr schade, dass Elizabeth A. Lynn an dieser Reihe nicht weiter gearbeitet hat... die Welt der Tornor-Chroniken steht jetzt an der Schwelle einer "Renaissance"... der Fernhandel blüht auf, es wird mit Währungen spekuliert, Entdeckungsreisen werden ausgerüstet... großartiges Potential für eine vierte Geschichte weitere hundert Jahre später... geht es auch ohne Sklavenhandel, Genozid und ökologische Zerstörung?
July 28, 2025
Another point in time in Arun, another Northern Girl, another Sorren lived in Kendra-on-the-Delta, as bondservant to Arré Med, one of the elites of the city. Arré is mired in the city’s intrigues, drawing Sorren as well, but Sorren dreams of the north, of Tornor Keep, but is the reality equal to her dreams? How will Sorren get there, considering her ties to those within the city and her lack of knowledge about where she wants to go?
This novel is a puzzle, a mystery, and a journey of self-discovery where the pieces of slowly out put together by Sorren and others, unraveling a web of manipulation, scheming, and what’s happening. As I read, I was drawn into this web as I was into the lives of the characters.
Distinct and different in time, setting, and narration from the other two books in the trilogy, this cast a unique spell in fleshing out the world, a civilization veering towards corruption, and the changes occuring. Linked to the other two novels, yet isolated by its own circumstances, it was fascinating to rediscover everything through Sorren’s eyes.
This novel is a puzzle, a mystery, and a journey of self-discovery where the pieces of slowly out put together by Sorren and others, unraveling a web of manipulation, scheming, and what’s happening. As I read, I was drawn into this web as I was into the lives of the characters.
Distinct and different in time, setting, and narration from the other two books in the trilogy, this cast a unique spell in fleshing out the world, a civilization veering towards corruption, and the changes occuring. Linked to the other two novels, yet isolated by its own circumstances, it was fascinating to rediscover everything through Sorren’s eyes.
November 14, 2023
This is the best book in the Tornor trilogy and proof positive that Elizabeth Lynn is a naturally talented and deeply underrated writer. Aside from the interesting insights into identity and the connections we sometimes have to larger things (as well as Lynn's ahead-of-her-time pro-LGBTQ inclusion), this book offers a delightful balance of worldbuilding and character and goes about it in a refreshingly leisurely way. One is not too bogged down here. THE NORTHERN GIRL can be read separately from the other two books, although there are many intriguing connections to the other two books. I liked the idea of heavenweed encouraging a peacefully ideal city, as well as the futile efforts to ban swords. I liked the side characters and the power structure here, as well as the gentle attention to a class system.
February 24, 2025
Stopped reading after a torture scene about half way through. It was completely unexpected and as far as I could tell, totally unnecessary. This is especially odd because it's one of the "good" characters that instigates the torture. Serves no purpose, and no depth or meaning is gleamed from it. And it's very out of place with the rest of the series. The rest of the book is a mostly boring description of the town the book takes place in. There's also an age gap relationship between two characters that feels predatory. This is a 40 year-old book, and generally I try to be understanding about historical sexual mores, but I just couldn't help feeling icky about this one. Definitely the weakest book in the series, and doesn't really tie in much with the first 2 books. Honestly, I recommend skipping it, unless you're a hardcore Lynn fan.
June 21, 2022
Probably the strongest book in the series, and probably relatedly, the longest. Gives its characters and plots time to simmer and build, feels less rushed and forced as the earlier ones.
The plots around the political machinations of the ruling houses are enjoyable and tense, but somewhat straightforward. The more uncertain throughlines of the character arcs surrounding them are what makes it intriguing, as they feel less obvious or predictable. The ending feels odd, like the author is trying to make an uncertain and ambiguous situation feel more certain, but in a way that feels odd, like I'm not sure I can believe it. I'm not sure after reading it whether destiny is a thing that is supposed to exist here or not.
The plots around the political machinations of the ruling houses are enjoyable and tense, but somewhat straightforward. The more uncertain throughlines of the character arcs surrounding them are what makes it intriguing, as they feel less obvious or predictable. The ending feels odd, like the author is trying to make an uncertain and ambiguous situation feel more certain, but in a way that feels odd, like I'm not sure I can believe it. I'm not sure after reading it whether destiny is a thing that is supposed to exist here or not.
Read
October 23, 2025This novel of a young servant girl who finds the warrior within herself--and radically alters the peaceful-but-oppressive world in which she lives--is the final volume in Elizabeth Lynn's World Fantasy Award-winning trilogy."A marvelous blend of fantasy and realism." --Marion Zimmer Bradley"Astonishing." --Theodore Sturgeon"A fine ear for the right word and a fine eye for action." --Vonda McIntyre"Unusual, powerful and beautiful." --John Varley"A book of depth and vigor and surprises." --Robert Silverberg"Her women have dignity and strength." --Marge Piercy"An adventure story for humanists and feminists." --Joanna Russ
July 29, 2018
This was probably my least favourite of the Tornor books, but still very good.
Really bizarrely - the cover for my copy has Sorren topless while using a bow. But it's a different topless cover from the one that's already on here!
Really bizarrely - the cover for my copy has Sorren topless while using a bow. But it's a different topless cover from the one that's already on here!
March 6, 2017
After re-reading the trilogy I looked here hoping that somehow there was a fourth book, some addition that has slipped past me all these years.
Read
August 25, 2022This was my favorite of this series as a young person.
Want to read
October 30, 2023hello this cover???
Read
March 30, 2024A Fantasy writer I remember from my young-mid adulthood.
October 26, 2012
I first read Lynn's "early" books -- all of them -- between 1979 and 1984 or so, when they were new. "The Northern Girl" was probably my favorite then, and I just re-read it over the last few days. (And: I bought the e-book edition and I am very grateful to Richard Curtis and his crew at ereads.com for re-publishing Lynn's work for a new generation.)
There's one little scene in this book, almost at the end, that really stuck with me for years, and which I could visualize so clearly. It's a brief description of a character, but when I re-read it again this afternoon, it was just as lovely as it had been then, and made me feel nostalgic and warm.
At the time the "Tornor" trilogy came out I suppose "mainstream" SF/Fantasy was not full of non-hetero relationships or really strong women; perhaps that's part of what attracted me to these: the plain matter-of-fact way the characters in that world had relationships, and whether those were homo or hetero was basically irrelevant -- part of the ordinary background.
Lynn's actual prose style is rather spare and direct; not as "lush" or detailed as I often like in a book. But she does a good job of defining this world, making us see the people and the city, and giving us glimpses of a much wider world. And I always wanted more more more... Unfortunately, she stopped writing in the mid-1980s, and we will probably never get any further books about this interesting world. We'll have to cherish the ones we have, I guess -- but that thought made me sad when I finished reading today.
There's one little scene in this book, almost at the end, that really stuck with me for years, and which I could visualize so clearly. It's a brief description of a character, but when I re-read it again this afternoon, it was just as lovely as it had been then, and made me feel nostalgic and warm.
At the time the "Tornor" trilogy came out I suppose "mainstream" SF/Fantasy was not full of non-hetero relationships or really strong women; perhaps that's part of what attracted me to these: the plain matter-of-fact way the characters in that world had relationships, and whether those were homo or hetero was basically irrelevant -- part of the ordinary background.
Lynn's actual prose style is rather spare and direct; not as "lush" or detailed as I often like in a book. But she does a good job of defining this world, making us see the people and the city, and giving us glimpses of a much wider world. And I always wanted more more more... Unfortunately, she stopped writing in the mid-1980s, and we will probably never get any further books about this interesting world. We'll have to cherish the ones we have, I guess -- but that thought made me sad when I finished reading today.
September 28, 2013
This was my favorite of the trilogy by far.
Again, some years have passed in Arun. In a Council's attempt to bring peace to the land, swords have been banned from the cities - and along with them, the chearis, masters of weapons, have been banished as well. However, the Council is honeycombed with plots and intrigues, and the powerful society of 'witches' - those with mental talents - may be involved as well.
The girl of the book's title, Sorren, is a bondservant in the house of a childless council member, Arre Med, who cares for her 'almost as a daughter,' but whose main focus is the governance of the city. Sorren has her own concerns - ranging from the mysterious visions of a Northern Keep that come upon her unexpectedly, the fortune-telling cards that were her only inheritance from her mother, the issue of whether to go to the witches (as the law states that she should) about her visions, or whether she should instead leave her southern home and travel north in search of the source of her visions and her origins.
But she cares for her employer/mistress, and even more for her lover, an older woman who is the head of the Med family's guard.
While Sorren's trying to make these personal decisions, larger issues are coming to a head, as powerful families are vying for power, smuggling illegal weapons into the city, staging riots and jostling for alliances....
Thoroughly enjoyable!
Again, some years have passed in Arun. In a Council's attempt to bring peace to the land, swords have been banned from the cities - and along with them, the chearis, masters of weapons, have been banished as well. However, the Council is honeycombed with plots and intrigues, and the powerful society of 'witches' - those with mental talents - may be involved as well.
The girl of the book's title, Sorren, is a bondservant in the house of a childless council member, Arre Med, who cares for her 'almost as a daughter,' but whose main focus is the governance of the city. Sorren has her own concerns - ranging from the mysterious visions of a Northern Keep that come upon her unexpectedly, the fortune-telling cards that were her only inheritance from her mother, the issue of whether to go to the witches (as the law states that she should) about her visions, or whether she should instead leave her southern home and travel north in search of the source of her visions and her origins.
But she cares for her employer/mistress, and even more for her lover, an older woman who is the head of the Med family's guard.
While Sorren's trying to make these personal decisions, larger issues are coming to a head, as powerful families are vying for power, smuggling illegal weapons into the city, staging riots and jostling for alliances....
Thoroughly enjoyable!
January 21, 2013
Tall and pale, Sorren looks like a Northerner and seems out of place in the southern city of Kendra-on-the-Delta. Bondservant to the Med house, she's pulled deep into the city's politics--but visions of Tornor Keep draw her to the north. The Northern Girl is at once a fitting conclusion to and the most disparate volume in the Chronicles of Tornor. Where the other two books are driven by character, not plot, this a tale more political than personal. The characters are still strong--there's a particular bevy of diverse, empowered women--and relationships between them may be sympathetic, but there's much more at play. Numerous nods to characters and themes from previous books mean that, while it does stand alone, this book works best as a conclusion to the series; as the most substantial (and best written) book in that series, it ends it on a strong note--not neatly, but by charting the storied past into an uncertain but changed future. That said, because Lynn deviates from her strong and compelling focus on character relationships, The Northern Girl feels like something of a disappointment; it's fine in its own right, but it's not what I expected or hoped for from the series. If you read the other two, by all means conclude with this volume; however, I don't recommend it as a standalone novel.
February 18, 2023
I think that this is the best book in the series. The previous two books in this series were rather slight in terms of both plot and the cast of characters. The Northern Girl has about a dozen important characters, and the main events are the machinations of various political factions within a city. Sorren, the titular character, is a bond servant that has dreams of Tornor Keep, even though, at the beginning of the story, she did not even know it exists. As a servant to the most powerful woman in the city, Sorren views the political maneuvers from an intimate perspective--she has personal (or intimate) relationships with many of the characters. Sorren is easily Lynn's best portrayed character, and her feeling and motivations are complex and evolve during the story. Ultimately, she plays a key role in resolving the turmoil in the city, she then makes a journey to Tornor hoping to learn about her past. The ending is quite open, but still satisfying. In a sense, the series has come full circle back to Tornor.
Addition, it has been eight months since I read this novel, and I still think about it. I've revised my rating from 4 stars to 5. This really is a masterpiece of modern fantasy.
Addition, it has been eight months since I read this novel, and I still think about it. I've revised my rating from 4 stars to 5. This really is a masterpiece of modern fantasy.
May 14, 2014
I absolutely LOVE this book. I remember why I started reading it again.
I started reading this book last year for the first time and loved it, I worked my way backwards in the series and loved it. This time I read all of the ones before it.
I can read about Sorren and really...connect with her. When I read this I can almost smell what Sorren smells, but nobody else.
I started reading this book last year for the first time and loved it, I worked my way backwards in the series and loved it. This time I read all of the ones before it.
I can read about Sorren and really...connect with her. When I read this I can almost smell what Sorren smells, but nobody else.
June 22, 2013
Discovered all three books of the series on my bookshelves. I must have read them years and years ago and I remember liking them so giving them three stars. Gave them to my jr. high son to read and he's enjoying them as well.
January 18, 2008
Just couldn't get into it.
Read
January 8, 2010I read Lynn's books several times. I love the world she creates.
September 5, 2011
my all-time favorite fantasy series. 100% love.
October 8, 2012
All time favorite. Amazing.
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