Knight or Knave (Book of the Oak) [Hardcover]

In this volume, Florian has become the King, succeeding his father, and, under pressure of his mother and various nobles of the court, has married Rannore, whom he has made pregnant. Ashen meets Queen Ysa and moves into Rendelsham Castle. Ysa sends a messenger to New Vold to inform Snorri know of her son's wedding, to let him that his son, Obern, is alive, and to invite him to visit her at a later date. In the unseasonable cold, the Bog-folk have taken to attacking New Vold for food.

Ashen has met a priest in the Great Fane of the Glowing, who informed Obern and herself of the history of Rendel. Meeting again in the fane, the priest, Esander, shows her a great library hidden deep under Rendelsham which contains many volumes of magical lore. As directed by Zazar, she does not yet attempt any of the magics, although she studies the lore diligently.

Snorri arrives in time for Florian's wedding and, after the ceremony, he tells Obern of the death of his wife, Naeve. Upon discovering that Ashen has been abducted, Obern mounts a rescue effort and then asks for her hand in marriage; his request is granted. After the wedding, Ashen meets the new emissary of the Nordens, Gaurin, son of Count Bjauden, who tells her that his father has never returned from his mission to Rendel and that she wears his father's bracelet, which she had found on a skeleton in some ruins within the boglands. He takes the bracelet, breathes on it -- which causes it to glow briefly -- and returns it, telling her to put it on and think of him if she is ever in need on anything. Obern and Ashen travel to New Vold, where she meets his son, Rohan.

In the northlands, ominous forces are gathering. The Foul One is preparing for the invasion of Rendel.

Some reviewers seem disappointed that this series is not like the Witch World or Time Traders series. Yet those series were intended as juveniles for the most part, whereas this series is for more mature readers. Those series were mostly focused on singleton or paired characters, whereas this series deals with a larger cast of interacting protagonists. Hints of this series can be seen in the tales of Escore, High Hallek, and the Dales, and especially in the Gryphon stories. Indeed, Shadow Hawk, one of Norton's earliest stories, is a tale of courtly intrigue.

Recommended for Norton and Miller fans and anyone who enjoys court intrigue in a fantasy setting.

The premise was promising, and I had high hopes after the first book that the characters would take on a life of their own, and pull me into their world. Sadly, that didn't happen. Norton and Miller can't seem to decide who their protaganist is, or even who major characters in the story are. Are we supposed to like or dislike the queen? We know Ashen is important, but why should we care about her? She is supremely uninteresting. Much time is spent explaining why characters do the things they do (a hallmark of poor writing) because no development has taken place that would allow the reader to infer motivations, or even personalities.

It's a shame. In the write hands, I do believe this could have been an interesting story, with characters who live and breathe, and make you care about what will happen to them next.

Evil continues to threaten in the north, but it doesn't really make an appearance until the end of the book. Ysa continues to drive any plot development but she is a relatively minor player in this novel and, as a result, the plot doesn't develop very much at all. Instead the characters run around, kill one another, and don't seem to learn a great deal from their mistakes.

I grew up with Andre Norton. TIME TRADERS and especially WITCH WORLD and THREE AGAINST WITCH WORLD are among my favorite novels. I'd love to see Norton return to her earlier form. Unfortunately, this isn't the book that does it. Since it's the second book in a 4 part series, I have my doubts on whether the series can be saved.

Check out the quotes on the back of the book. If you've ever read such lame praise anywhere else, I'd be surprised.

The novel is well written and I found the universe Norton and Miller have created to be intriguing and full of potential. Unfortunately, they have yet to deliver.