Customer Reviews

The Silent Tower

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It always astounds me to find out that Hambly fans aren't aware of or haven't gotten to the Windrose Chronicles. This is her best work by far, and some of the best fantasy out there, period.

Our heroine, Joanna, finds herself transported across a terrifying Void from enchantment-free Los Angeles (circa the 1980s) to Ferryth, a medieval kingdom on another world, in the company of an actual wizard (Antryg Windrose) and hunted by sundry and all as she makes her way in a morass of treachery and a central mystery that reveals itself in snatches - like the periods of grey, hopeless misery that are affecting both worlds, and the shifting loyalties, inexplicable actions, and agendas of the other wizards, the hateful church witchfinders, the king, the prince regent, and the young warrior who swears that Antryg murdered his grandfather in cold blood and opened the Void for terrible reasons of his own.

Any way she looks at it, Antryg is the only one who can send her home. And he seems to be the only person trying to solve the riddle of the larger pattern. Can he be trusted at all? And if Antryg isn't responsible for the horrors and her own abduction - who is?

The characters are quirky, loveable, and all too human, and the unfolding plot keeps you on your toes. This is a great read - see The Silicon Mage for the rest of the tale!

A friend loaned me a copy of this book as an introduction to Barbara Hambly's books. His copy was really battered, and it wasn't his first, as he'd given away and worn to dust other copies. I've since done the same with this and the other two books in her Windrose stories, Silicon Mage and Dog Wizard. The characters live and breathe, and that's what makes this great, why I've read these many times and will do so again. I love books in general, but there are some books that I will never ever be "finished" reading, and this is one. I hope it comes back into print soon, but used is as good as new!

Joanna, a shy computer programmer, finds herself being stalked as she works late at night. She's learned that someone has been processing vast amounts of data in secret, and now that someone wants her dead -- someone not of Earth. Then she's kidnapped and dumped in a strange world. Searching for a way back home, she reluctantly joins forces with Antryg Windrose, a wizard who may or may not be her stalker. He is obviously insane after having been confined in a tower that painfully prevented him from using his magic. Who wants her dead? And why would anyone in a world without electricity need a computer program

I picked up the Kindle editions of the three Silicon Mage books, because I consider them comfort reads and I wanted to be able to read them without hauling my elderly original paperbacks around. They are still fun books, though the 80's tech is mighty dated. But the story itself is an amusing fantasy-romance adventure: girl programmer from L.A. meets crazy (and possibly villainous) wizard in a world where mages, the Church of the Sole God, and the Imperial forces are maintaining a fragile balance of power.

My biggest kvetch is that the Kindle editions, which are every bit as expensive as the hardcopies at $7.79, are barely edited (probably just spellchecked, with no human review) and the first volume at least is rife with incidents of words that are run together... these make the e-books less comfortable to read than I'd hoped. I don't mind typos, etc in e-books that are free or cheap because they're in the public domain and have been assembled by volunteers, but if you're going to ask pro prices for an e-book, I expect professional production values.

So, for the story, 4 stars... the Kindle e-book from Open Road gets 2, for grievous typos and poor typesetting (if that's what they call it in e-books...). I'll average it out and give the book 3 stars.

The Silent Tower (1986) is the first fantasy novel in the Windrose Chronicles trilogy. Elsewhere among the timelines, the Empire of Ferrych is advancing technologically while the influence of magic is slowly fading. The wizards of the Empire worship another god than the Sole God of the Church. Five centuries before, the Church raised up an army of their own mages and defeated the Council of Wizards at the Field of Stellith. Now the wizards live by an oath to never meddle in human affairs.

In this novel, Salteris Solaris is the Archmage of the Empire. He is old, but powerful. He rules over a Council of Wizards of only seven other mages in Angelshand, the Imperial capital.

Stonne Caris is the grandson of the Archmage. He is mageborn, but his talents are few and weak. So now he is a sworn sasennan of the Council. If he cannot serve with his magic, then he will serve with his sword.

Antryg Windrose is allegedly the strongest wizard within the Empire. He was an apprentice of the Dark Mage and then of the Archmage. He has twice violated his oath by meddling in politics and is now imprisoned within the Silent Tower. There heavy wards to prevent him from making magic or sensing magic done without the walls.

Joanna Sheraton is a programmer at the San Serano Aerospace Complex. She is being stalked by someone who emits the odors of woodsmoke, old wool and herbs. She is grabbed on the throat as she enters the main computer room in the wee hours of the morning and escapes only by striking the assailant with her trusty hammer. Despite extensive searches by Security, no evidence of the intruder is ever found.

In this story, Caris is covering for his grandfather at the Silent Tower when he realizes that something is going on. He assumes that Antryg has lured his father into a trap and rushes into the workroom within the tower itself, only to see someone disappearing through the darkness of the Void. He throws himself after the dark figure and finds himself in another world.

Antryg is also there, so Caris follows him, keeping to the shadows to avoid discovery. He also sees Joanna in the house full of drunken and stoned party goers. Later, he sees Antryg -- now shaven, shorn and wearing local clothing -- leaving the party to go toward a building up the hill.

Joanna awakes to find herself within a locked stone room. She has her huge purse, with its assortment of tools, papers and other useful items, so she starts to remove the hinge pins from the door. But she notices that someone is outside releasing the bolt and she waits for the door to open. Then she attacks the intruder with her trusty hammer.

This time, the attack doesn't work quite right. Everything she tries is countered. Then the man stops fighting with a dagger at his throat. Caris has taken Antryg and Joanna is now free to leave. Still, all three sense that something horrible is waiting outside the door. They quickly exit the room and turn away from the threat.

When they run out into the night, Joanna discovers that she is not in her own world. Even before the sun comes up, she notices the clarity of the sky and the absence of nightglow from the city lights. Then she sees the lack of smog, airplanes and power lines. Caris and Antryg tell her that she is now in the Empire of Ferrych.

Caris is convinced that Antryg is responsible for everything that has gone wrong. First, Antryg has removed or hidden the Archmage. Second, he has brought or created the abominations that are terrorizing the countryside. After returning to the nearby town, Caris also concludes that Antryg has betrayed the wizards of the Council.

This tales involves Joanna in the affairs of wizards. She cannot return to her world without their assistance. Since the Church and the Prince Regnant are imprisoning all the wizards, Antryg is her only hope of getting home.

This story has a similar plot and background as The Time of the Dark. In this tale, however, the heroine is a computer programmer, with skills similar to wizards. She has a remarkable ability to think about details in minute steps, as is true for most good programmers.

The story is not fully resolved in this volume. Read the sequel -- The Silicon Mage -- to find out more. Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Hambly fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high magic, political intrigue, and sheer perseverance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This book is wonderful, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy or just a wonderful book. The whole series has wonderful, believable characters and an amazingly detailed world. The story goes beyond your normal run-of-the-mill "help-I've-been-transported-into-a-fantasy-world" and really makes it seem plausible. I've loaned this book out to all of my friends and made fans of them all. I don't necessarily rave for all of Barbara Hambly's work, but this series is an all-time favorite of mine.

New Ebook Edition. Copy provided by NetGalley.

Premise: In the world of Ferryth, mages are forbidden to interfere with people's lives, but factions in the government and the Church are still looking for a reason to move against them. They might get it when a minor mage is murdered by someone manipulating the dangerous Void, releasing abominations into the land. Caris, bodyguard and nephew to the Archmage, is traveling with him to try and solve the mystery. The first stop is the imprisoned mage Antryg Windrose, mad apprentice to the late Dark Mage who knew the most about the Void. The other piece of the puzzle, however, is held by a computer programmer named Joanna who is being hunted from across the Void by their unknown foe.

How did I miss this one until now? Admittedly, I was a little skeptical of the world-jumping premise, but it's well handled throughout. The fantasy world is grounded enough, and Joanna's reactions to it are reasonable, as are Caris' thoughts during his brief sojourn in California.

Most of the story concerns the mystery: who is working this dark magic, what is his/her plan, what does he/she need a programmer for so badly that they traveled across dimensions to kidnap one? Joanna soon solidifies as the main character, with Caris along as local guide and second opinion.

There's a romantic plot that works without overwhelming, and my attention was fully held by the emotional lives of the characters.

One of the weaker aspects here is that the "modern" technology, while vague enough, is quite dated. Joanna was a programmer in 1988, after all.

Also the version I read had a handful of severe and confusing copyediting problems, including whole phrases misplaced in the next or previous sentence. I really hope those aren't in the paid edition, but I don't know.

I found the penultimate section a bit shaky, but the story finishes very strong. Fair Warning: you're going to want to read the next book right away, to find out what happens next.

Thanks to Open Road Publishing for re-releasing all of Hambly's work as ebooks.

silicon tower and silicon mage are two of my all time favorite books. I have literally read more than one copy to shreds.

Hambly is one of those authors whose books are *always* on the shelves in stores. I have been seeing them for more years than I care to admit, but I finally decided to read something and see why she's been so prolific. I did a little research and this was the oldest one I could find.

The technology is (of course) a little dated now, but not so much that it even matters. These stories that involved someone from our world traveling to a fantasy world are not the easiest thing to pull off but Hambly does it without a hitch. This was a very entertaining read. I am almost finished with the 2nd book in the series and haven't lost interest for a single page. Good stuff.

Second world shanghai.


A woman from our world in the eighties (which was the current time then) finds herself in a fantasy world, and hence with more than one problem, least of which is attempting to get back where she came from.

Her hope is one clever, good wizard. Of course, there is the possibily of an evil wizard in opposition back from the grave, too.

Decent enough example of the modern woman/man to a world of magic example. Nothing more than that.