Andre Norton Forum

Re: Gryphon's Eyrie and other cowritten books

: Michael, : Thanks for writing. I'm very new to this message board, and : felt a little guilty saying something negative, as for the most : part everything here seems to be in a very positive note.

I would regard anyone who came to the board simply to complain about Andre as a troll and remove their messages. But if you don't like the book, dang it, you don't like the book! You're free to say so, and to disagree with someone who thinks it's the biggest thing since sliced bread.

This board started out as the Witch World Message Board. When I realized it would be better named the Andre Norton board I asked a friend to run the idea by her, and Andre was flattered. There is no official connection between Xenite.Org and Andre. But she did once visit the board and I have to admit that I've been a little gun-shy since then about speaking my mind because, quite frankly, I'm unhappy with ALL the collaborations. She picked some really good writers in my opinion (Ann Crispin, Pauline Griffin, et. al.), but Witch World and the galactic history books are, to me, territory that only Andre can present adequately.

I know other people feel the same way, but it's not an issue I want to launch a crusade over. The fact is that Andre is no longer handling some of her worlds, and in other cases she has invited other authors to share her worlds. That's her prerogative. But these authors cannot ever share HER vision. They have their own visions. And it was only Andre's vision which brought me to her worlds.

: Out of all the Norton books I had as a kid, Year of the Unicorn : is the only one I managed to hang on to. It really is a great : read. I just read The Jargoon Pard for the first time this : month, and quite enjoyed it. (Though it wasn't quite as good. : What would be?) I liked the original Witch World a lot. Witch : World seemed to have more complex and satisfying secondary : characters than many of the other books. After my experience : with Gryphon's Eyrie I wouldn't have thought to pick up The : Crystal Gryphon, but I guess I'll give it a chance. Thanks for : the input.

I don't believe you'll be disappointed with either THE CRYSTAL GRYPHON or GRYPHON IN GLORY. But before you read GRYPHON IN GLORY, I think you should also read SPELL OF THE WITCH WORLD. I think you should. Unfortunately, my book collection is a mess right now and my Andre books are scattered all over the place. I can't check to see if Jervon and Elys are in the second GRYPHON book or just the third.