Rating: 
Summary: She could do tons better
Review: How I treid to finsh it! I couldn't get past the first 70/80 pages or so. the only part that interested me was Irasmus. I wanted to find out more about him and his thoughts. The narrative is sometimes confusing and it is hard to empathize with the characters. It is very hard to get ino the book
Rating: 
Summary: An Incredible Disappointment
Review: I had just finished Norton's and Lackey's "Elvenborn" when I picked up "Wind in the Stone", so I had high expectations. From the start, I was unimpressed, particularly with the writing style. Probably Norton was attempting to write in a Shakespearean fashion, but it came off seeming awkward and rather detached. Throughout the book, I felt no attachment to the characters and didn't particularly care whether or not the villain triumphed in the end. The plot itself had countless holes where Norton could have expanded upon the story and the characters, but she missed these opportunities time after time. On top of that, the weak plot that was actually present was unable to hold my interest, and I found myself struggling through each paragraph, wishing it were over. By the end, all I was hoping for was a descent conclusion to make amends for the rest of the book, but I was denied even that; the end left me with no sense of satisfaction - except that I had actually struggled through to the finish.
For a seasoned author like Norton, this book came as a tremendous disappointment. The story was ultimately a cheap rip-off of "Elvenborn" with the same plot except written dispassionately and awkwardly. This was the first book I had read that was written solely by Norton, and it will be a long time before I read another.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment from a Master of Fantasy
Review: I have LITERALLY read everything that Ms. Norton has written and I can count the number of times I've been less than delighted on the fingers of one hand. Well, this is one of those times. She delivered such a gem in A SCENT OF MAGIC that my expectations were high for this one. But a WIND IN THE STONE is a disjointed mishmash of a story with characters you spend too little time with to get to know. Skip this one, especially in hard cover, and read the paperback if you absolutely must.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointment from a Master of Fantasy
Review: I have LITERALLY read everything that Ms. Norton has written and I can count the number of times I've been less than delighted on the fingers of one hand. Well, this is one of those times. She delivered such a gem in A SCENT OF MAGIC that my expectations were high for this one. But a WIND IN THE STONE is a disjointed mishmash of a story with characters you spend too little time with to get to know. Skip this one, especially in hard cover, and read the paperback if you absolutely must.
Rating: 
Summary: Very good.
Review: I have read the rest of the reviews impatiently .Wind in the Stone is a perfectly good book.True ,it begins slow ,true Norton did put some pointless stuff in it ,but overall it was good.At first I thought it would be horendous as the previously written book ,Scent of Magic,but it was fine.As I always do when I read one of Norton's best ,I enjoyed the creatures that Norton invented .Especially the Sasqua and the gobbes.Her villain is hateable ,her characters loveable,the plot enchanting .Here is the plot :Irasmus ,the evil magician assaults the valley with his gobbes.The Dark was driven out long ago by the Wind (in this book Wind is a powerful substance)but now it has returned .Irasmus brutally attacks a family with a woman with two twins,one boy one girl .Irasmus catches the boy but not the girl .The girl ,Falice flees into the wood with her Mother .Her Mother dies but she lives and is adopted by the Sasqua,the inhabitants of the wood .When she grows into a young woman ,the Wind tells her that she must overthrow Irasmus and free her brother.
Rating:
Summary: Confusing Babble
Review: I've enjoyed several of Norton's other works and was full of expectations for her new book. I was very disappointed! This book was completely confusing, I never came to care for any characters and the world, well, it wasn't well defined. She gave us a hint of their society and beliefs and we had to fill in the blanks. Try Scent of Magic, a much better book.
Rating:
Summary: it's not at all bad!!
Review: ok, i was very unhappy with what other people wrote. but i respect their opinions. i admit that it was very dense, and the names sometimes got confusing, but it is a really good book. at first i was intrigued by the simplicity of it's description on the back, (i needed summer reading and i love fantasy) so i bought this book.
at first i had a lot of trouble, because it is a style that is hard to read, but i got used to it, and i really enjoyed the plot and the overall ending. i was very satisfied, so much so that after tearing apart my room and realizing i had lent my copy to an ex-best friend and never got it back, i am going to by a new one!!
happy reading! and just try the book, it's really good once you get into it!
Rating:
Summary: it's not at all bad!!
Review: ok, i was very unhappy with what other people wrote. but i respect their opinions. i admit that it was very dense, and the names sometimes got confusing, but it is a really good book. at first i was intrigued by the simplicity of it's description on the back, (i needed summer reading and i love fantasy) so i bought this book.
at first i had a lot of trouble, because it is a style that is hard to read, but i got used to it, and i really enjoyed the plot and the overall ending. i was very satisfied, so much so that after tearing apart my room and realizing i had lent my copy to an ex-best friend and never got it back, i am going to by a new one!!
happy reading! and just try the book, it's really good once you get into it!
Rating: 
Summary: Ms. Norton proves she is still one of the grandmasters
Review: The Valley has always been a blessed place touched by magic that leaves a serene, safe locale. That pleasant environment changes when the teaching Magi of the Place of Learning fails to comprehend the threat posed by the seemingly pathetic student, Irasmus. However, through trickery and theft, Irasmus soon becomes more powerful than his instructors and soon moves into the Tower in Styrmer. Irasmus has broken the convent of noninterference shared by all the magical forces to avoid a second deadly war. To enhance his powers, Irasmus insures that a Valley gal births a son for him. Irasmus raises the lad Fogar as his apprentice who will augment the evil sorcerer's strengths. Meanwhile, Irasmus tossed out Fogar's twin sister Falice, who is raised by the native Sasqua and the Wind as the hopeful counterbalance to her male relatives. America had not entered World War II when Andre Norton was already a highly regarded author. Now sixty years have gone by and the great writer shows she still is one of the shining lights in the fantasy genre. WIND IN THE STONE is a well written, entertaining, by the book (that is "Norton's anthology") tale that will please genre fans , especially those of this great talent. The characters are fully developed, but it's the non-human sentient beings that seem so genuine that turns this story into another triumphant tale by the lifetime achievement award winning wrier(SF and fantasy) Ms. Norton.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Norton proves she is still one of the grandmasters
Review: The Valley has always been a blessed place touched by magic that leaves a serene, safe locale. That pleasant environment changes when the teaching Magi of the Place of Learning fails to comprehend the threat posed by the seemingly pathetic student, Irasmus. However, through trickery and theft, Irasmus soon becomes more powerful than his instructors and soon moves into the Tower in Styrmer. Irasmus has broken the convent of noninterference shared by all the magical forces to avoid a second deadly war. To enhance his powers, Irasmus insures that a Valley gal births a son for him. Irasmus raises the lad Fogar as his apprentice who will augment the evil sorcerer's strengths. Meanwhile, Irasmus tossed out Fogar's twin sister Falice, who is raised by the native Sasqua and the Wind as the hopeful counterbalance to her male relatives. America had not entered World War II when Andre Norton was already a highly regarded author. Now sixty years have gone by and the great writer shows she still is one of the shining lights in the fantasy genre. WIND IN THE STONE is a well written, entertaining, by the book (that is "Norton's anthology") tale that will please genre fans , especially those of this great talent. The characters are fully developed, but it's the non-human sentient beings that seem so genuine that turns this story into another triumphant tale by the lifetime achievement award winning wrier(SF and fantasy) Ms. Norton.
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