Customer Reviews

Knight or Knave (The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan; Book 2)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Knight or Knave is the second novel in the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan series. In the previous volume, Ysa's magic has brought Zazar, Ashen, and herself together for introductions. The Sea-Rovers have settled New Vold in Ashenhold lands. Ashen Deathdaughter and Obern have been brought to Cragden Keep by Count Harous, who gives Ashen gifts and hints of her mother. The Bog-folk have begun to attack Rendelian lands. King Boroth has died, after claiming Ashen as his daughter.

In this volume, Florian has become the King, succeeding his father, and, under pressure of his mother and various nobles of the court, has married Rannore, whom he has made pregnant. Ashen meets Queen Ysa and moves into Rendelsham Castle. Ysa sends a messenger to New Vold to inform Snorri know of her son's wedding, to let him that his son, Obern, is alive, and to invite him to visit her at a later date. In the unseasonable cold, the Bog-folk have taken to attacking New Vold for food.

Ashen has met a priest in the Great Fane of the Glowing, who informed Obern and herself of the history of Rendel. Meeting again in the fane, the priest, Esander, shows her a great library hidden deep under Rendelsham which contains many volumes of magical lore. As directed by Zazar, she does not yet attempt any of the magics, although she studies the lore diligently.

Snorri arrives in time for Florian's wedding and, after the ceremony, he tells Obern of the death of his wife, Naeve. Upon discovering that Ashen has been abducted, Obern mounts a rescue effort and then asks for her hand in marriage; his request is granted. After the wedding, Ashen meets the new emissary of the Nordens, Gaurin, son of Count Bjauden, who tells her that his father has never returned from his mission to Rendel and that she wears his father's bracelet, which she had found on a skeleton in some ruins within the boglands. He takes the bracelet, breathes on it -- which causes it to glow briefly -- and returns it, telling her to put it on and think of him if she is ever in need on anything. Obern and Ashen travel to New Vold, where she meets his son, Rohan.

In the northlands, ominous forces are gathering. The Foul One is preparing for the invasion of Rendel.

Some reviewers seem disappointed that this series is not like the Witch World or Time Traders series. Yet those series were intended as juveniles for the most part, whereas this series is for more mature readers. Those series were mostly focused on singleton or paired characters, whereas this series deals with a larger cast of interacting protagonists. Hints of this series can be seen in the tales of Escore, High Hallek, and the Dales, and especially in the Gryphon stories. Indeed, Shadow Hawk, one of Norton's earliest stories, is a tale of courtly intrigue.

Recommended for Norton and Miller fans and anyone who enjoys court intrigue in a fantasy setting.

I don't think so. Andre Norton's Witch World books got me hooked on the genre so many years ago. It's hard to believe that she has lent her name to this poorly written book.

The premise was promising, and I had high hopes after the first book that the characters would take on a life of their own, and pull me into their world. Sadly, that didn't happen. Norton and Miller can't seem to decide who their protaganist is, or even who major characters in the story are. Are we supposed to like or dislike the queen? We know Ashen is important, but why should we care about her? She is supremely uninteresting. Much time is spent explaining why characters do the things they do (a hallmark of poor writing) because no development has taken place that would allow the reader to infer motivations, or even personalities.

It's a shame. In the write hands, I do believe this could have been an interesting story, with characters who live and breathe, and make you care about what will happen to them next.

KNIGHT OR KNAVE can't decide what it is about or who its protagonist should be. Is it Queen Ysa, who is terribly evil yet trying to do the right thing for her country? Or maybe it's Ashen, who can't decide who she wants to be married to and then changes into an absolute witch (with a 'b') when confronted with her step-son's choice of a woman. Or maybe it is Rohan, the title character who is clearly a knight, at least as far as this book is concerned. In what possible way could he be classified as a knave.

Evil continues to threaten in the north, but it doesn't really make an appearance until the end of the book. Ysa continues to drive any plot development but she is a relatively minor player in this novel and, as a result, the plot doesn't develop very much at all. Instead the characters run around, kill one another, and don't seem to learn a great deal from their mistakes.

I grew up with Andre Norton. TIME TRADERS and especially WITCH WORLD and THREE AGAINST WITCH WORLD are among my favorite novels. I'd love to see Norton return to her earlier form. Unfortunately, this isn't the book that does it. Since it's the second book in a 4 part series, I have my doubts on whether the series can be saved.

Check out the quotes on the back of the book. If you've ever read such lame praise anywhere else, I'd be surprised.

The novel is well written and I found the universe Norton and Miller have created to be intriguing and full of potential. Unfortunately, they have yet to deliver.

With this book in the series, Norton develops the complex conflict between good and evil in both the profane and ethereal realms of the world.

This is a very poorly edited book, it was written by two people, and the separate chapters are very poorly integrated.

Have you ever played the continuing story game? Each person writes some part of the story and then passes it on to the next person. That's exactly what this book is like. In one chapter you'll real some great prose and exiting plot, only to be struck by how childish everyone suddenly acts in the next chapter.

It gets even more confusing when the same character is written by both of the authors - the characters act different in the hands of each author! The queen is the worst in this regard - one author has her as this evil manipulator, the other has her as a reluctant queen of a decaying realm. Another example is the Sea-Rovers, in the first book they are noble people who are going to save the realm by example, in this book they are dismissed as savages, and killed off and completely forgotten by the end of the book! (Did the two authors have a disagreement?)

It also suffers plotwise for the same reason - since each author basically wrote their own story the book never quite gets it together. Nothing much happens by the end of the book to move the story along from the first book. Basically some time passed, with descriptions of what everyone did - none of which really matters in the long run. This book doesn't even appear to have had an outline prepared of upcoming events so that the authors could add some foreshadowing, and coordinate events!

I have no way of knowing, but I assume Andre Norton wrote the better parts and Sasha Miller wrote the childish prose. I wish Andre had just written the whole thing, and given us a great story - the background certainly had potential. Or if the background was created by Sasha (as is common in these types of collaborations), then at least Andre should have gone over the book later and reedited it to integrate it. And make an outline of future event that both authors can agree on! It seemed like exactly the opposite happened - Andre just sent in some material, and had Sasha do all the work of integrating it, which was a mistake.

Make sure read the first book first or you will be lost.
Pay attention or you will be lost.
If you do all of the above this book will be the best, most enjoyable book you've ever read!

In the Kingdom of Rendel, the King recently died with his son succeeding him to the throne. The new monarch is weak, hedonistic, and spiteful as he abuses his power while keeping in check the real ruler, the Dowager Queen Ysa. Although she holds the reigns of power, Ysa knows that her husband's illegitimate daughter Ashlen remains a threat to her rule.

The nobles despise Florian or just want more power. They see Ashlen as a rallying point to cause trouble for Florian. The new king must agree with that assessment because he has his half-sister abducted, but Obern, son of the Sea Rovers, rescues her. Ashlen marries Obern, but that relationship is short lived as destiny has other plans for her in the upcoming war of the North.

The second book in this four-novel series lays the groundwork with dangling threads for what will follow yet remains a stand-alone tale. This romantic fantasy shows that Andre Norton retains her magic while co-author Sasha Miller shows her strong talent too. KNIGHT OR KNAVE is a powerful fantasy that imparts much joy to genre fans.

Harriet Klausner