Customer Reviews

Silver May Tarnish (Witch World Chronicles)

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Silver May Tarnish (2005) is the fourth Fantasy novel of the Witch World Chronicles. In this novel, the Hounds of Alizon invaded the Dales of High Hallek with their war machines, overrunning Dales and leaving behind ruins, bodies and dead vegetation. Yet the Dalesmen and their allies, the Riders of the Waste, slowly drove the invaders back until all Alizons were killed.

Lancor is the youngest son of the Lord of Erondale. His family is a cadet branch of the Lords of Palendale. The two Dales foster the sons of each other for weapon training and other education required of a lord.

Lancor was declared to be a child of sorrow by the wisewoman Aynera. Three sorrows were the death of his mother, then of his younger sister, and finally the death of his father and older brothers when the Alizon assault came to Erondale. Nor was this to be the end of his sorrow. Yet the wisewoman stated that he would find joy in flowing gold.

After the destruction of Erondale by the Alizons, young Lancor fled with his weaponmaster to Palendale. There he worked at hunting game to feed the many refugees. Yet Lord Hogar's third son, Hogeth, became his enemy and Lancor fled the household as soon as he was able after reaching his majority.

Lancor joined the Dales army fighting the invaders, becoming a scout in the troop of Lord Salden under the false name of Farris of Eldale. He becomes friends with Aran of Tildale, a man of middling honesty, but always fair to his friends. The two scouts lead the Tildale troop to many battles, including the last one at Hagar Pass. There the troop hold back the Alizons fleeing from the last battle, but only four troopers survive.

Meive is a child of Landale, which is also called Honeycombe for its superb bees. At the age of ten, Meive is chosen by the queen bees as apprentice of Ithia, the wisewoman who speaks with the bees. She is trained somewhat by Ithia for the next two years and then moves into Ithia's cottage at the age of twelve for more advanced training. Her family asks for a two day delay so that they can throw a party for the departing daughter.

Landale is blessed by its remote location and hidden entrance. None of the invaders approach anywhere near the Dale. After the war, bandits attack Merrowdale, a larger valley nearby. Then these bandits attack Landale, with a former resident as their guide. Everyone in Landale is killed except Meive, who has been sent away with the beehives to a distant cave.

With the assistance of the queen bees, Meive lures the bandits into the cave and poisons them. Neeco, the traitor, doesn't drink the deadly mead, but he is stung many times by warrior bees and slowly dies of their stings. Meive relents after a time and gives him succor.

This novel tells of the meeting of Lancor and Meive and their plans to rebuild Honeycombe. They gradually accumulate warriors and other homeless people, all approved by the bees, and settle into the keep and cots of the dale. However, Hogeth still nurses a hatred for Lancor and even believes him to be a source of countless gold pieces. They soon become aware that he is hunting for Lancor.

Although Meive is a wisewoman, her powers differ from those of most wisewomen. Her powers will not fade if she has children. She hopes that her daughters will also become Wisewomen of Bees. She is almost certain that Lancor will be their father.

This is one of the last works influenced directly by Andre Norton. While McConchie wrote a shorter version of the story, she felt that it was an awkward length. So she sent it to Norton and received a reply that her work was only part of the story. With a new beginning and an extended ending, the early story became this published version. Norton had a short, but successful career as an editor in the 1950s and has apparently never lost that guiding touch.

Highly recommended for Norton and McConchie fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, subtle magic and unstated romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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. Some lords had no help their people by their finding a new place to call home.

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 is 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

Lorcan, a young child and youngest son to the Dale owner, has loved his land very much. However, one day Alizon invaders attacked his land. The Dale army was no match for the Alizon invaders, so they retreated into a cave/passage. After many onslaughts of the invaders, Lorcan's brothers and father dies in the fighting. Lorcan and the head-of-arms master are the only one who escape to another Dale. At the other Dale Lorcan hunts for money, and he gets trained by the head-of-arms there. At the appropiate age, he joins the fight, and they win the battle against the invaders. After the battle, Lorcan travels around the land searching for followers who want to be in his Dale, and with the money that his old Dale secretly left behind for him, he is confident that he can do so. On the way in his travels, he meets Meive, a magic woman, some women with various ages, and 5 blank shields. With these people will Lorcan ever rebuild his Dale?? Or will he have the scars of battle forever, and forever be a nomad?

This book was an amazing book. I loved the flow of the book, and it kept me reading, and wanting to read more. There is always some action about it, and it whisked me into an imaginary world, that could also seem real, since the characters did real things. The author gave just the right amount of detail for certain things, which made the book more interesting for me.

Reviewed by a student reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews
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I have to say, I'm becoming a major fan of Lyn McConchie. She's proven very adept at writing what I call "comfort novels", the engaging kind of fare I love to read on a snowy winter's evening, curled up under heaps of quilts and comforters while the snow falls and the wind howls across the eaves. Her latest title, "Silver May Tarnish", is such a book.

Given that Lyn has co-authored several other of my favorite Andre Norton titles, among them "Ciara's Song" and "The Duke's Ballad", she has gotten very comfortable working in Norton's world of Estcarp and Karsten. "Silver May Tarnish" is Lyn's first work set across the ocean to the west, in the land of High Hallack, more commonly known as "The Dales".

Long-time Norton fans will know that she first introduced the Dales in her book "The Year of the Unicorn" over 40 years ago. Under the influence of an extraterrestrial race called the Kolder, evil men from overseas called the Hounds of Alizon introduced futuristic super-weapons to the Dales. The results was great ruin throughout the land, as Alizon laid waste to innumerable dales, smashing mighty stone keeps like fragile teacups, scorching the land, and slaughtering innocents by the thousands. Eventually the Dalefolk were able to gain the upper hand and, at great cost, expel the invaders.

It is a distressing, all-too-common feature of the evening news that lands wracked by total war can take generations to recover. Even when the enemy has gone, anarchy reigns: heartless "wolfshead" bandits wander through the lands, bereft of property, craft and kin, eager only to destroy and make everyone else suffer as well. They have no thought for the future; they care only about satisfying their lusts for food, drink and women, no matter the cost.

But some handle such adversity more nobly, such as the chief protagonists of "Silver May Tarnish". Lorcan of Erondale was only a boy when Alizon invaded, destroying everything and everyone he loved. He became a warrior and fought the enemy to the bitter end. Then he set out to find a new home, with thoughts of healing the land rather than further harming it. Of like mind is Meive, sole survivor of the massacre of Landale. She, however, does not leave her ancestral home, popularly known as "Honeycoombe", because of a special gift she has: a great rapport with honeybees, including a special giant sort of "winged warriors" with inch-long stingers who can handle invaders with frightful aplomb.

It is inevitable that at some point Lorcan and Meive will meet up. They share a special kinship, both with each other and with the chief villain of the novel, Hogeth of Paltendale. Will Lorcan and Meive achieve their dreams of bringing life once more to Honeycoombe? Or will evil ones like Hogeth tear all their hard work down, leading to yet another mass slaughter and endless woe?

As Andre Norton did in some of her own Dale novels, Lyn takes turns writing from the viewpoint of both protagonists: a few chapters at a time with Lorcan, then a few with Meive. Sometimes the storyline overlaps, as when Meive early on rescues Lorcan from bandits, and we get to read the account from both viewpoints.

One of the things I appreciate about Lyn's work is her characterizations; she writes with warmth about sympathetic, believable people whom the reader comes to view as friends. We mourn when certain ones are killed off, and rejoice when things go well for others.

An interesting side note: as "Ciara's Song" and "The Duke's Ballad" both refer to songs within the story, so too "Silver May Tarnish" refers to "a sword song" found at the start of the book, as well as a ballad printed on page 235 of the paperback edition. In all cases, the songs help to set the tone of the stories, and are a nice touch. I can even hear the music.

I don't know if Lyn plans on writing any sequels to "Silver May Tarnish", but I'll eagerly read any that come along. Andre Norton's death in 2005, after an incredibly long and productive career, left a definite void: no one will ever be able to write science fiction and fantasy like she did, over more than 70 years spanning eight decades. But Lyn McConchie has found her own voice, and the worlds Andre created live on.

I love Andre Norton's books, especially the witch world series, however this one is disappointing. Very little contribution by Andre. The author tries to show the hero's experiences and thoughts and then shows the heroine's side. This causes a disruption in the flow of the story and increases the drag. Andre's books are "magical"; this one isn't. Have noticed this problem whenever she would c0-write a book. I own all her books, but will be giving this one to the library.

Silver May Tarnish is another collaboration between Lynn McConchie and Andre Norton. From what I understand, Ms. McConchie wrote a large volume set in Andre Norton's Witch World, and when Ms. Norton read it, she recommended that it be split up into three novels and gave permission for them to be published as part of the Witch World series.

That was a good move, as both _Silver May Tarnish_ and _The Duke's Ballad_ have been good, entertaining books. While they don't plumb depths that some modern fantasy novels try to reach, they are certainly addictive. The endings in both are a bit too neat, but some of that is because the protagonists do a good job of planning ahead and the villians in either book are, while plenty evil, not as powerful or competent as one often encounters in grand fantasy. This is by no means a criticism; to the contrary, I think it lends a surprising note of realism to the books. Good, competent people who have gone through rough times but have gained experience from it are placed in a difficult spot, and find a clever way to prevail against evil but humanly flawed villians.

The magic used in both novels is not overwhelmingly powerful or menacing, but more hearth-side magic. This also helps add to the air of realism of these books, as if the characters could have come from our own family, friends, neighbors, or enemies. There is certainly a place for this kind of "everyday," approachable fantasy in a market dominated by complex, epic tales where both the heroes and villians wield earth-shattering powers.

This is very much in the WitchWorld Tradition. It goes very well with the series.

This is my favorite of all the Witch World books written by Lyn McConchie. I wore my paperback copy out. I hope the hardback version lasts longer. I was a bit puzzled by the referances to the "warmer north" in this story as the North is usually colder. Then I read that McConchie comes from New Zealand. I suppose it is different there because of the latitude. I hope she continues to write stories in WW now that Andre Norton is dead.

Sometimes when two authors get together to write a book based in a world created by one author the story line gets corrupted from the original. In this case it not only didn't happen, a better world was created. Norton and McConchie not only wrote a seamless story but rounded out the world originally created by Norton. Also the back and forth story line from one lead character to the other was very believeable. The stories told by the man and woman sounded believeable since some items were omited from the character's version of the story already told by the other. This ommision corresponds with the viewpoints of men and women about happenings in their lives. This is a great story and I highly recommend it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the book. Written by Lyn McConchie, I should have expected it. Anything in conjunction with grand master Andre Norton should be good. I have read just about everything she ever wrote. I am still grieving that she is gone.

The alternating view points of the protagonists is not one of my favorites to read. However, Lyn pulled it off very well. My compliments. Darn good read.