Warlock

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Summary: The Empress of Science Fantasy/Fiction Rules Again
Review: Andre Norton, the Grande Dame of Science Fantasy, the unparalled story teller, the most politically ignored science fiction writer has colleted together three of her most imaginative and thrilling tales. Long before the "Pop" culture and "New Wave" she was relating para-psycholobical and extra-terrestial concepts to the exploits of the most characterologically developed humans, aliens and animals. Her imagination is so expertly prsented thatt the reader will wonder whether the stories might nnot be real. Excitement on every page, from the first to the very last; an ability which few other authors have mastered. (And personally, she is a wonderfully kind and considerate woman.)

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Summary: What a Pleasure to See Old Friends Back in Print Again
Review: The first book is Storm Over Warlock. The lead character, Shann Lantee, is the lowest ranking member of a survey team. When the team is attacked he escapes with two trained wolverines into the wilderness that is Warlock where he discovers the race of Wyvern who excel in illusions.

Ordeal in Otherwhere was Andre Norton's first juvenile where the the lead character was female. I understand her publisher was dubious about the idea. He shouldn't have been-- there was a population of readers who was ready to share the adventures of her heroine.

Brought to Warlock as a slave to communicate with the Wyvern who will not deal with men, Charis Nordholme finds herself stranded. However, there is more than surviving in a low tech world to worry about. The Wyverns, the warlock natives, are undergoing social unrest and a questioning of their matriarchal values as the Wyvern males attempt to throw off the control of the Wyvern matriachs.

One of Norton's enduring themes-- the ills of polarization of a society and the strength to be found in pulling together rather than pulling against one another, is worked out in these two books. The Wyverns, because of inequities in their society. have opened the door to greedy offworld interests, who definitely do not have the good of the Wvyerns at heart.

Forerunner Foray only has a tangential connection to the first two novels. It was published about ten years later, but it is still an entertaining book about Ziantho, an employee of the Thieve's Guild, who during a covert raid stumbles onto a Forerunner gem which she is mysteriously drawn to, as she is drawn to the esper, Ris Lantree, who "hears" her first attempt to discover the secret of the gem by mental power.

The gem is a focus of power belonging to a long dead race and they find themselves fleeing across space and time as they follow the history of the gem back to it's beginning. Altogether a darker book, but well worth reading.

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Summary: Prime Norton Stories
Review: Warlock is a compilation of three novels -- Storm Over Warlock, Ordeal in Otherwhere, Forerunner Foray -- which have long been out a print in hardbound form, although frequently reprinted as paperbacks.

These novels have the signature characteristics of the early Norton stories: courageous young persons coping with adversity on their own. Her science fiction stories often added aliens and animals, telepathy and other psionic powers, the Thieves' Guild and the Patrol, and refugee survivors from interstellar wars, all of which are found in these novels.

Storm Over Warlock is the story of Shann Lantree, a contract laborer from the Dumps of Tyr, who is working on Warlock for the Terran Survey Corps. When Throgs attack the camp, he escapes with a pair of mutant wolverines. Later, he finds Ragnar Thorvald, the expedition leader, who had been away, but returned to Warlock only to be shot down by the Throgs. Lantree and Thorvald raid the Throg-occupied Survey camp for equipment and supplies and then head off to find the natives. The natives, however, do not want to be found and have a way of getting into people's head and making them do things against their will.

Ordeal in Otherwhere is about Charis Nordholm, a virtual slave of an illegal trader, Jagan. She has been acquired to act as liaison with the natives on Warlock, for the planet is a matriarchy. The female Wyverns are scaly and saurian, but have great psionic powers. They help Charis to escape from Jagan, provide her with a disk of power, and teach her some basic psionic skills, including telepathy and teleportation. On an impulse, she teleports to Jagan's camp site and finds it has been raided by an unknown force. She is discovered there by Shann Lantree, who is now a cadet in the Survey Corps. They pool their knowledge and decide that the male Wyverns, who have no psionic powers, are rising up against the matriarchy. Moreover, offworlder are using a psionic nullifier to block the matriarchs' power.

Forerunner Foray is about Ziantha, a sensitive from the Dipple who has been trained by the Thieves' Guild. She finds a compelling object during a foray into the treasure trove of High Lord Jacundus and develops a psychic tie with it. Her mistress, Yasa, a Salarika, and Ogan, a renegade parapsychologist, discover that the object is of Forerunner origin and is highly charged with psychic energy. They organize an expedition to discover its origins. On Wayfarer, they discover that the object has come from the tomb of Turan. Using her mind seach abilities, Ziantha guides them to the tomb, but is overwhelmed by the memories in the object. She awakes in the body of Vintra, war-captive of Turan, and Turan is occupied by someone else's mind.

Forerunner Foray is not about Warlock, per se, but reminders of Warlock and the Wyverns pop up throughout the novel. These stories were written during one of the most productive periods of Andre Norton's career. During this time, she wrote the first 12 Witch World stories, the first 4 Time Traders stories, the Magic series for younger children and many others. She also co-edited the Gates To Tomorrow anthology for young people. Although still ignored by the critics, she began to attract wider notice among the fans, not only for her juveniles, but also for her adult fantasies.

Warlock is recommended for all Andre Norton fans and anyone who likes stories about young people, and their animal friends, successfully coping with a hostile environment and even more hostile sentients.