Andre Norton & Lyn McConchie, Silver May Tarnish

Silver May Tarnish

Andre Norton & Lyn McConchie

Tor, Dec 2005, $24.95, 288 pp.

ISBN 0765306379

Invaders from the realm of Alizon made war on the Dales, using siege machines and weapons of mass destruction that made the land lifeless. Those who didn't die in battle were left to fend for themselves, and many became outlaws and bandits, taking what they wanted and killing without compunction.

Lorcan, heir to the dead land of Erendale, is saved from bandits by Maive, the lady of the bees, who lives in a land never touched by battle. Lorcan is grateful to Maive of Honeycoombe, and pledges to be her liege man, although in time he wants much more from the beautiful woman who holds power over the bees. Bandits killed everyone in her Dale, so they seek decent people to inhabit the isolated yet rich land. Even after they accomplish this, another battle looms, for an old enemy is coming to kill him and settle the land.

Set in the world of the Witch World series, readers get to see the effects of war on civilians, and how they cope with their losses. The two paths they travel, banditry and relocation, are realistically portrayed, and the protagonists are people whose deeds the jongleurs sing about. Readers can see the steps to reconstruction begin as soon as the war ends, and the bandits are dealt with in a harsh manner by good people who don't want the hatreds that festered through the war to destroy what they are trying to rebuild.

Harriet Klausner