Witch World Books In Order

Publication Order of Witch World: Estcarp Cycle Books

Publication Order of Witch World: High Hallack Cycle Books

Publication Order of Witch World: The Turning Books

Publication Order of Witch World Anthologies

Publication Order of Witch World Saga Books

Witch World is a series of fantasy novels written by an award-winning American author of young adult, fantasy and science fiction books, Andre Norton. The speculative fiction project debuted in 1963 when Witch World the first book in the series was published. In the mid-1980’s when Andre was 75 years, she recruited other writers to the project, and some novels were published after her death in 2005. The series is set on a planet in a parallel universe a place where magic long ago superseded science; initially, in the fictional history, it is performed by women. Andre Norton began Witch World series as a hybrid of sword & sorcery and science fiction, but for the most part, it combines sword and sorcery with high fantasy.

The series begins with what is now known as the Estcarp cycle. These books narrate the adventures of Simon Tregarth from Earth and his wife Jaelithe and their three children Kaththea, Kyllan, and Kemoc. The series was later expanded with the High Hallack cycle beginning with Year of the Unicorn published in 1965. Continent organizes these cycles, Estcarp, and the neighboring countries are situated on the eastern side while the High Hallack is located on the western side of a sea between.

The Turning sequence narrates the story which convinced traditional witches that male could handle magic without its misuse while the Secret sequence results many of these storylines to a climax. Witch World Series can be termed as the pioneer of romantic fantasy genre because of the content and because these novels were the main source of inspiration to later romantic fantasy writers like Mercedes Lackey. While in the witch world, magic is considered to be for only females and exercised purely by virgins and a sexual act deprives a witch of her power.

Witch World

In the first book in Witch World series, our main character Simon Tregarth, a United States retired soldier of Cornish descent, after strange circumstances get him on the wrong side of the law and the wrong side of a crime syndicate he is on the run and his time is quickly running out. But he is offered a strange escape, and soon finds himself in a bizarre new world, and then sees a person on the run from pursuers. He jumps in and helps the woman hide from those pursuing her. This ultimately ends up working out for him as it allows him a time and a place to learn the language of this strange land and fins a place he can call home in this world.

The first book in Witch World series is a wonderful read. Andre Norton her real name being Alice is often referred to as the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy and was the first woman to win a Gandalf Grand Master Award awarded to her by the World Science Fiction Society. Andre’s writing is pleasant and easy to read, and all the characters are brilliant and pleasantly engaging. Though decades old, the plot is a quick fun and fast paced with a blend of science fiction and fantasy.

Year of the Unicorn

Year of the Unicorn is a classic Norton set up: an outsider is forced to embark on a journey where she soon discovers her hidden abilities and overcomes the threat to both personal integrity and life and ends up with the promise of a new life.

The story takes the readers from the Witch World’s initial setting in Estcarp across the seas to High Hallack by a race of humans who mistrust magic and avoid places of magic scattered across their land. The main character is Gillian, a woman who survived a shipwreck as a baby and now lives a life immured in Abbey Norstead. From her description, she is fairly skinned and thin, dark-haired and readers of Witch World series will instantly identify her as one of the Old Race. This means that she has some measure of talent and some sensitivity to uses of power.

High Hallack has just sent an invasion from Alizon; a kingdom found north of Estcarp. The country suffered largely, and the only ways that the Dalesmen could defeat their nemesis was by forming alliances with the Were Riders of the Wastes. The price is 13 Maidens who would later become the Were Riders bride. The bridal bash passes across Abbey Norstead on its way to the Riders, and even though Gillian is not one of the maidens, she manages to take one’s place and sets out with the party to meet their new husbands.

The grooms have set up an allure where the girls are attracted to the cloaks of the men best drawn to. However, Gillian’s senses allow her to see through the illusion, but she is nevertheless attracted to one particular rider named Herrel. Just like her, Herrel is an outsider amongst the riders as his mother was fully human and his father the leader of the pack barely acknowledges him. Worse, if anyone discovers who and what Gillian is she may be killed; the riders want brides and mother of their future children, not someone who might outcompete them in power.

Gillian’s real identity is eventually revealed, and Halse, the book’s central antagonist and a thoroughly unlikable one put her life at risk in an effort to eliminate the threat she possesses. Year of the Unicorn is one of the Witch World series best novels. Couple factors contribute to this. The main character is an impressive young woman who engages the reader’s sympathy. She is resourceful, intelligent, and strong-willed and the latter character trait is important in Andre Norton’s work. The author always challenges her main characters with threats to their personal integrity and their lives. The author also manages to create tension, you know that both Gillian and Herrel will succeed in the end but what you don’t know is how far the author will let Halse go before they triumph. The characters are beautifully woven; the plot is fast-paced, with plenty of twist and turns.