From Publishers Weekly
Though fantasy veteran Norton, who died earlier this year, receives first billing, New Zealander McConchie indicates in her acknowledgments that she, with her mentor's blessing, wrote this entertaining, if unspectacular, novel set in Norton's Witch World. When invaders destroy 10-year-old Lorcan's family and lands, he becomes the Keep Lord of Erondale. Five years later, the destitute lad has managed to master some weaponry and strikes out on his own. Due to hidden wealth entrusted to a faithful family retainer, he's no longer penniless, but he still needs all his resourcefulness and courage to survive. Meanwhile, Meive of Landale, a young beekeeper, loses her home and family to outlaws. Meive can communicate with her bees, who in the tale's most unusual twist are magical warrior bees led by the wise and powerful Bee-Goddess. Aided by the hymenopteran hivers, Lorcan and Meive set about freeing dalefolk from the tyranny of vile renegades and restoring Landale as a haven. Witch World fans will find this "collaboration" fits smoothly into the series.
(Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Lorcan, former heir to Erendale, must make a new life for himself after the wars with Alizon. While traveling, he falls into the hands of bandits, from whom he is rescued by Meive, a beekeeper and lady of power, who has lost her own kin. They work together to rebuild Meive's dale, aiming to create a haven for those who have lost land or kin and are willing to work for the common good. In this well-crafted fantasy set in the late Norton's Witch World, she and McConchie, her collaborator on two previous Witch World novels, have produced a seamless page-turner. Although the basic setting is familiar after more than 40 years' worth of Witch World stories, the book's quite convincing picture of a land without rulers or laws in the wake of disaster is more than a little timely.
Frieda MurrayCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
