Chronicles of Tornor 3: The Northern Girl (Paperback)

~ Elizabeth A. Lynn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The final book in the Chronicles of Tornor (after World Fantasy Award- winning Watchtower and The Dancers of Arun) takes readers back to Arun, where decades of peace and a ban on edged weapons in the great city of Kendra-on-the-Delta have seen the famed cheari warriors fade into legend. For 17-year-old Sorren, bondservant to city councilor Arré Med, the wanderlust of youth is fed by the need to learn whether the strange tower she sees in her dreams is a real place. When Sorren learns of her namesake, the Lady of Tornor Tower of northern legends, Sorren determines to go north and find Tornor when her bond expires in a year. Sorren is surrounded by others who hunger for new challenges, from her lover's adolescent son, Ricard, to the unhappy drunkard Kadra-no-Ilezia, who longs to sail away and chart new lands. Likewise Arré's younger brother, Isak, long relegated to the background while his sister handled the Med's civic and business responsibilities, is determined to carve out a role in the city's power structure--even at the cost of breaking ancient law. While his scheme forms the core of the plot, at the real heart of this book is the simple idea that peace alone is not enough for happiness. Sorren charts her course into the future along with the rest of Arun, searching for the wonder that makes life worth living. This is a thoughtful fantasy novel which effectively mixes intrigue and adventure with dreams, thwarted hopes, and renewed possibilities. --Charlene Brusso

Product Description

This novel of a young servant girl who finds the warrior within herself--and radically alters the peaceful-but-oppressive world in which she lives--is the final volume in Elizabeth Lynn's World Fantasy Award-winning trilogy.

"A marvelous blend of fantasy and realism." --Marion Zimmer Bradley

"Astonishing." --Theodore Sturgeon

"A fine ear for the right word and a fine eye for action." --Vonda McIntyre

"Unusual, powerful and beautiful." --John Varley

"A book of depth and vigor and surprises." --Robert Silverberg

"Her women have dignity and strength." --Marge Piercy

"An adventure story for humanists and feminists." --Joanna Russ

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Product Details

• Paperback: 470 pages
• Publisher: Ace Trade (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441007279
• ISBN-13: 978-0441007271
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,020,821 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading stuff for the warm season, May 10, 2000

By	Dr. Sam More "white_dragon" (Germany, Europe) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Down in the Delta, the martial arts and the power of the Red Clan have declined but have also been incorporated partially into general culture. Contrary to the first books of the Tonor series Northern Girl focuses on a female protagonist, but gives also ample space to male characters. The book tells the story of a young girl whose emerging telephatic gifts might eventually lead her far away from every home she knows. While she struggels with the question wheather she should stay or leave and thus loose her lover, who is captian of the guard of her "employer", she is caught in midst of a dangerous political intrigue.

Northern girl revisits the lands of the first two books and closes the circle as Tonor Keep was once founded by a renegrade smith from her southern city. The warm atmosphere of an almost utopian society where men and women can live and love each other freely and without any barrier to create families (including numerous children) in various gay, lesbian and even sometimes straight familiy arrangements is cleverly balanced with action.

This and the detailed descriptions of both characters, the world and the landscape make "Northern Girl" a pleasant summer read, I have read this book numerous times and am glad to ree it reprinted again.

It is a book I can highly recommend to any lower of martial art and utopian fantasy or any age.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars not as good as the other two in this universe, November 7, 2000

By	"silo1013" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

I didn't find The Northern Girl as entertaining as the other two in this universe [Watchtower; The Dancers of Arun]; In fact, I didn't find myself much interested in anything until the very end of the book. She continues with her familiar themes: the flexibility of human love and sexual attraction, and the necessity of force to bring and maintain peace. It's as competently written as the other two, though the pacing seems much slower [and it could be that I simply wasn't as interested in the story]. I'm not sorry I read it, but I don't think I'll ever re-read it.

A note: It's not necessary to read the first two books to understand this one; all of them can be read out-of-turn.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Different The Second Time Around, October 13, 2008

By	Grizel - See all my reviews

I first read this book many years ago. I liked it; I saw it as a fun fantasy with an unusual structure.

Pushing 50, I recently re-read it, and a much richer story revealed itself. This book describes Sorren's transition to adulthood. In the first part of the story, we learn that although she is an orphan, Sorren is at the center of a group of unrelated adults. These adults may be allies, in conflict or unknown to one another, but they all love this girl. Each of them provides her with some type of resource: material goods, knowledge, a skill, insight or even just a bad example.

In the second part of the story, she goes off to follow her dreams. In the process, she uses each of their gifts, even the ones she doesn't know she has been given. She eventually becomes an adult they would be proud of.

Sorren's progress mirrors the changes occuring in the land she lives in. This book shows how one generation's motivations (especially love) impact the next in ways they could never have imagined and will certainly never know.