The Magic Sequence Volume One

Book excerpt: Young people are transported to historical and magical adventures in three fantasies by the author of the Witch World series and “a superb storyteller” (The New York Times). In the six stand-alone novels that comprise her Magic Sequence series, Andre Norton, a “pioneer” in sci-fi and fantasy, conjures the perfect alchemy of enchanting fantasy and poignant human drama as ordinary kids travel through a variety of portals into historical and magical realms (Anne McCaffrey). In the first three novels collected here, the young heroes are transported to the days of King Arthur, the time of the American Civil War, and the supernatural world of Native American myth. As always, “Andre Norton can be relied upon to convert her magic formulas into adroit entertainment” (Kirkus Reviews). Steel Magic: On a picnic in the Hudson Valley, Sara Lowry and her brothers Greg and Eric discover a medieval castle, where suddenly they’re enveloped by a gray mist and emerge in the time of King Arthur. To save Avalon, they must recover three magic talismans—Arthur’s sword, Excalibur; Merlin’s ring; and the horn of Huon—or remain forever trapped in the distant past. Octagon Magic: There are lots of scary stories about the strange eight-sided house in Lorrie’s neighborhood. Does a witch live there? Is it haunted? But when Lorrie meets the mysterious lady of the house, she’s granted access to explore. In one room, she finds a rocking horse and an exact miniature of the big house. When Laurie climbs on the rocking horse, she is transported into the eight-sided dollhouse and the past, where she meets people who once found this home a refuge. Fur Magic: When his father is called to active duty in Vietnam, Cory Alder leaves Florida to live on his adopted Native American uncle’s Idaho ranch. There, an encounter with an old Nez Perce Medicine Man called Black Elk catapults Cory into an alternate universe where animals live in tribes, hunt, and go on the warpath. Transformed into a spirit animal—a beaver named Yellow Shell—he soon finds himself in the middle of a war between humans and beasts with supernatural powers.