Wind in the Stone

Though this is the third book I've read by Norton, I do agree that it could have used a little help. It did start off slow and there were times when you were totally confused. However, Norton redeems herself as the book progress by the sheer imagination that exist inside of her. The characters were a little hard to understand at first. That's in part one of the book but in part two, they all seem to come together. Whereas I am a loyal fan to Norton, I would still read all of her books and feel lucky to be part of that crowd that knows good fiction when she's see it.

ok, i was very unhappy with what other people wrote. but i respect their opinions. i admit that it was very dense, and the names sometimes got confusing, but it is a really good book. at first i was intrigued by the simplicity of it's description on the back, (i needed summer reading and i love fantasy) so i bought this book.at first i had a lot of trouble, because it is a style that is hard to read, but i got used to it, and i really enjoyed the plot and the overall ending. i was very satisfied, so much so that after tearing apart my room and realizing i had lent my copy to an ex-best friend and never got it back, i am going to by a new one!!happy reading! and just try the book, it's really good once you get into it!

I have read the rest of the reviews impatiently .Wind in the Stone is a perfectly good book.True ,it begins slow ,true Norton did put some pointless stuff in it ,but overall it was good.At first I thought it would be horendous as the previously written book ,Scent of Magic,but it was fine.As I always do when I read one of Norton's best ,I enjoyed the creatures that Norton invented .Especially the Sasqua and the gobbes.Her villain is hateable ,her characters loveable,the plot enchanting .Here is the plot :Irasmus ,the evil magician assaults the valley with his gobbes.The Dark was driven out long ago by the Wind (in this book Wind is a powerful substance)but now it has returned .Irasmus brutally attacks a family with a woman with two twins,one boy one girl .Irasmus catches the boy but not the girl .The girl ,Falice flees into the wood with her Mother .Her Mother dies but she lives and is adopted by the Sasqua,the inhabitants of the wood .When she grows into a young woman ,the Wind tells her that she must overthrow Irasmus and free her brother.

The Valley has always been a blessed place touched by magic that leaves a serene, safe locale. That pleasant environment changes when the teaching Magi of the Place of Learning fails to comprehend the threat posed by the seemingly pathetic student, Irasmus. However, through trickery and theft, Irasmus soon becomes more powerful than his instructors and soon moves into the Tower in Styrmer. Irasmus has broken the convent of noninterference shared by all the magical forces to avoid a second deadly war. To enhance his powers, Irasmus insures that a Valley gal births a son for him. Irasmus raises the lad Fogar as his apprentice who will augment the evil sorcerer's strengths. Meanwhile, Irasmus tossed out Fogar's twin sister Falice, who is raised by the native Sasqua and the Wind as the hopeful counterbalance to her male relatives. America had not entered World War II when Andre Norton was already a highly regarded author. Now sixty years have gone by and the great writer shows she still is one of the shining lights in the fantasy genre. WIND IN THE STONE is a well written, entertaining, by the book (that is "Norton's anthology") tale that will please genre fans , especially those of this great talent. The characters are fully developed, but it's the non-human sentient beings that seem so genuine that turns this story into another triumphant tale by the lifetime achievement award winning wrier(SF and fantasy) Ms. Norton.