Andre Norton Forum

Re: Gryphon's Eyrie and other cowritten books

: I've been buying up Norton paperbacks recently, the ones I : remember from my childhood plus whatever else happens to be on : the used book shelves. Gryphon's Eyrie is the first book I've : gotten that was cowritten. I realize after looking at it that : it's the third in a series, and I haven't read the other two. : And I've never read any of Norton's books written in the 80's : and 90's, and I'm sure her style has changed with time. : : Nonetheless, I only got about 20 pages into this book. It : didn't sound like Norton to me at all, but someone trying, with : at best moderate success, to imitate her voice. Did I just : pick the worst of the lot, or do all the cowritten books read : like this?

Of the three Gryphon books, EYRIE is probably the least, but it's not really a bad book in itself. Andre's own writing style has changed a little through the years. But she has also come to address a larger, more sophisticated audience than she used to write for, while opening her worlds to younger authors to encourage them (or perhaps nurture them) in building their careers. The collaborations are undoubtedly reflecting the voices and perspectives of the collaborators.

Nonetheless, some of Andre's own later writing seems a little rushed. There may be may reasons for this. She has been a fairly active lady in terms of writing and collecting and going through changes in her life. I suppose some of the hectic events may have shown up in the pages of later books.

If you're looking for classic Norton at its best, as far as WITCH WORLD books go, the two best books are undoubtedly YEAR OF THE UNICORN and THE CRYSTAL GRYPHON. There are certainly many other good books in the series, but these two stand out (IMO). It's almost all sort of downhill from there, even if the sloping is only gradual where many of the books are concerned.

One of the darker WW books, I think, is ZARSTHOR'S BANE. It's almost depressing, but is nonetheless well-written and holds a lot of twists and turns. THE JARGOON PARD is probably the best Escore story after YEAR OF THE UNICORN (and it does sort of follow on from the earlier book as a sequel, though it's not quite that).

I don't recall ever saying much about the books I least like here on this message board, but I'll go ahead and say I didn't like KEY TO THE KEPLIAN. I felt that was the absolute worst of all the WITCH WORLD books, and it was a grave disappointment. I think that was the first Lyn McConchie book.