Book Review: Wind in the Stone

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Wind in the Stone     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Andre Norton
Class/Genre:   Fantasy
Avon Eos, Nov 1999, $23.00, 280 pp.

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 writer (SF and fantasy) Ms. Norton.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner

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