No one could have predicted, in the early 1960s, just how large an impression Andre Norton’s Witch World would make on science fiction and fantasy readers. Originally a standalone adventure story which propels a desperate World War II veteran (Simon Tregarth) into an alternate world, the story inspired a large and faithful audience to seek out sequels. The second book, Web of the Witch World, continued Simon’s story, but the third book in the unfolding series left Simon and his wife Jaelithe in Estcarp while transporting Norton’s readers across the wide sea to High Hallack, a previously unnamed region of the world.
The Year of the Unicorn is arguably the very best of all the Witch World books. It introduces a young woman, Gillan, who undertakes a dangerous journey into a mysterious wasteland as one of thirteen brides who have been offered to the perilous Were-riders, mystical warriors who have helped High Hallack to defeat Alizon’s technological armies.
Gillan’s inner turmoil surfaces as she establishes a bond with Herrel, the young Were-rider who alone of his companions expected not to be chosen by one of the brides. Together, they follow a path fate has set before them into the lost world of the hidden realm of Arvon.
The Witch World stories introduce readers to the concept of traveling to far worlds through gates the nature of which are not fully explained. Although the power that drives them clearly seems magical, within the scope of the Witch World that power seems a natural force that can only be shaped and influenced through long study. That power also extends to other worlds, some created and some apparently occurring naturally in the universe. As Simon and his family and others travel from world to world through the gates, they explore the far reaches of the universe decades before the “Stargate” movie and subsequent TV show brought the concept fully into the realm of science fiction.
The historical boundaries of the Witch World were expanded by Andre and other writers whom she invited to contribute to the Witch World’s unfolding tale. Witch World thus became one of the first and most popular “shared” science fiction and fantasy worlds.
Andre Norton 1912-2005
When Irene Harrison interviewed Andre at the World Fantasy Con in 1992, she asked Andre what she most hoped to achieve with her career.
“I just don’t want to be forgotten,” Andre replied graciously and humbly.
Dear, sweet lady. We will NEVER forget Andre Norton.