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Witch World Series 4: Secrets of the Witch World #2
The Magestone
They are two strangers whose people have been at war for a millennium. Mereth, a Dales trader, crosses the sea to Estcarp and the archival citadel at Lormt, seeking clues to the fate of a missing heirloom, an ancient jewel of Power. At the same time, an Alizonder hound lord, Kasarian, finds that an ancestor's key opens a magic gate to distant Lormt.
Alizonders are wolfish tyrants who fight with sadistic poisons and feed fallen leaders to their dogs, but they have always abhorred the sorcery of Witch World. Now, to Kasarian's horror, a maniacal baron seeks to unleash the dark wizards of Escore using Mereth's long-lost Magestone, stolen from Kasarian's murdered father!
Two strangers, two foes suddenly share a common cause, and a legacy more dire than either could imagine....
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
15 people are currently reading
338 people want to read
About the author
Andre Norton
703 books1,390 followersAndre 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.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 9, 2021
This Review was first published on Kurt's Frontier.
Synopsis:
Mereth and Kasarian are two strangers whose two peoples have been at war for a millennium. Mereth is an elderly, mute Dale woman who crosses the sea to Escarp’s archival citadel at Lormt. She is seeking clues to the fate of an ancient jewel of Power, an heirloom lost in the last war. Kasarian is a young hound lord of Alizon. He finds an ancestor’s key to open a magic gate to distant Lormt. Kasarian comes from a militaristic culture of intrigue, where failure can lead to being fed to their hounds. Long have they distrusted magic.
Kasarian discovers that a maniacal Alizon baron seeks an alliance with dark wizards from Escore with Mereth’s long-lost Magestone, which an enemy barron stole from his father. The former foes now have a common cause, and a legacy neither could imagine.
Review:
Andre Norton continues the theme she began in The Key of the Keplian of old enemies reconciling.
Kasarian has never liked the witches of Escarp. He likes the fact that a rival who murdered his father is making common cause with Dark Adepts even less. Andre Norton explores the culture of the Hounds of Alizon, the ancient foes of many inhabitants of The Witch World. It is a culture of intrigue and subtle poisons. Their vicious hounds are unlike any other creature on Witch World, and many have learned to fear them. Yet, Kasarian maintains a code of honor. He stands with Mereth and the sages of Lormt against those who would serve the Dark.
The second book in Secrets of the Witch World is an enjoyable tale of two enemies compelled to come together and realize that the differences between them aren’t insurmountable.
Synopsis:
Mereth and Kasarian are two strangers whose two peoples have been at war for a millennium. Mereth is an elderly, mute Dale woman who crosses the sea to Escarp’s archival citadel at Lormt. She is seeking clues to the fate of an ancient jewel of Power, an heirloom lost in the last war. Kasarian is a young hound lord of Alizon. He finds an ancestor’s key to open a magic gate to distant Lormt. Kasarian comes from a militaristic culture of intrigue, where failure can lead to being fed to their hounds. Long have they distrusted magic.
Kasarian discovers that a maniacal Alizon baron seeks an alliance with dark wizards from Escore with Mereth’s long-lost Magestone, which an enemy barron stole from his father. The former foes now have a common cause, and a legacy neither could imagine.
Review:
Andre Norton continues the theme she began in The Key of the Keplian of old enemies reconciling.
Kasarian has never liked the witches of Escarp. He likes the fact that a rival who murdered his father is making common cause with Dark Adepts even less. Andre Norton explores the culture of the Hounds of Alizon, the ancient foes of many inhabitants of The Witch World. It is a culture of intrigue and subtle poisons. Their vicious hounds are unlike any other creature on Witch World, and many have learned to fear them. Yet, Kasarian maintains a code of honor. He stands with Mereth and the sages of Lormt against those who would serve the Dark.
The second book in Secrets of the Witch World is an enjoyable tale of two enemies compelled to come together and realize that the differences between them aren’t insurmountable.
July 3, 2025
Too many syllables for too little content. The writing is awkward and overuses adjectives and adverbs making it less engaging.
Early in the novel one character suggests keeping their language simple, so the non-native speaker can understand more easily. No change.
Anyway, the story line is not bad, but it's short and could be told using a lot less pages.
P.S. My review might be biased due to not having read the previous book in the series.
Early in the novel one character suggests keeping their language simple, so the non-native speaker can understand more easily. No change.
Anyway, the story line is not bad, but it's short and could be told using a lot less pages.
P.S. My review might be biased due to not having read the previous book in the series.
December 11, 2020
Excellent installment in the series. Very interesting characters and engaging plot.
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December 1, 2015This is an unusual Witch World book for several reasons. Two spring immediately to mind (1) One of the main heroes is an elderly woman and (2) The internal workings of Alizon are examined in some detail.
There're fewer murders in the book than the usual Witch World book, and there's more than usual description of everyday life at places like Lormt and on board Sulcar ships. The book's worth reading for that alone, I think.
Note on the blurb: Alizon and the Dales have NOT been at war for 'millennia'. In Crystal Gryphon it is clearly stated that after the fall of Sulcarkeep, the Dales began to be visited by Alizonder 'traders' (more along the lines of pochteca--spies using their role as traders to move among the populace with the intention of spying in anticipation of invading).
In other sources it's made clear that the Kolder tried to use certain clans and factions in Alizon to invade the Dales in order to open access to the Waste for the Kolder--and that they failed. The fact that the common ancestor of Kasarian and Mereth ended up immured near High Hallack seems to have been more or less a coincidence.
Note on this edition: the dedication is to the co-author's father, who had died shortly before publication of this book. There is also a map of the continent of the Witch World containing Estcarp, Alizon, Karsten, Escore, etc, in case the reader was looking for one.
There're fewer murders in the book than the usual Witch World book, and there's more than usual description of everyday life at places like Lormt and on board Sulcar ships. The book's worth reading for that alone, I think.
Note on the blurb: Alizon and the Dales have NOT been at war for 'millennia'. In Crystal Gryphon it is clearly stated that after the fall of Sulcarkeep, the Dales began to be visited by Alizonder 'traders' (more along the lines of pochteca--spies using their role as traders to move among the populace with the intention of spying in anticipation of invading).
In other sources it's made clear that the Kolder tried to use certain clans and factions in Alizon to invade the Dales in order to open access to the Waste for the Kolder--and that they failed. The fact that the common ancestor of Kasarian and Mereth ended up immured near High Hallack seems to have been more or less a coincidence.
Note on this edition: the dedication is to the co-author's father, who had died shortly before publication of this book. There is also a map of the continent of the Witch World containing Estcarp, Alizon, Karsten, Escore, etc, in case the reader was looking for one.
January 6, 2021
Reread again 2016 - what can I say? This book is one of the best in the series.
This story is part of the Witch World series, but does not deal per se with the Witches of Estcarp.
The story focuses mainly on an Alizonian lord, Kasarian, who has a mysterious mirror in his home, which links to the ancient citadel of knowledge at Lormt.
For once, we have someone from Alizon who is fighting on the side of good, trying to stop a genocidal maniac from wiping out the witches and their allies, using a mage stone which belongs to Kasarian.
This story is part of the Witch World series, but does not deal per se with the Witches of Estcarp.
The story focuses mainly on an Alizonian lord, Kasarian, who has a mysterious mirror in his home, which links to the ancient citadel of knowledge at Lormt.
For once, we have someone from Alizon who is fighting on the side of good, trying to stop a genocidal maniac from wiping out the witches and their allies, using a mage stone which belongs to Kasarian.
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April 25, 2017The Magestone (Secrets of the Witch World) by Andre Norton (1996)
January 25, 2011
Only gets 3 stars because I never got to finish it.
August 12, 2024
Not as good as a pure Andre Norton written book. There was too much talking and explaining and so it lacked that spare magical atmosphere of one of her Witch World books.
January 15, 2020
While Ms. Norton is a favored author this is one of my least favorite books. A real slogfest. It took 3 days to read just under 200 pages!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews