Three Hands for Scorpio [Hardcover]

"Three Hands for Scorpio" is the last fantasy of Lifetime Grand Master of Fantasy, Andre Norton, who passed away on March 17, 2005 after a long and extremely fruitful career. Her first novel, "The Prince Commands" was published in 1934, and this, her last, in 2005. Her magically detailed world-building skills and upright, against-all-odds characters will be sorely missed. Tor rushed a copy of this book into print, so that the 93-year-old author could see it before she died. It is the last manuscript she penned alone, and it is said that she was especially proud of it.

("Return to Quag Keep," a sequel to Norton's "Quag Keep" (1979), will be released as a collaboration in January, 2006.)

"Three Hands for Scorpio" has much in common with Norton's famed Witch World novels, in that it features triplets who are able to mind meld, and each of whom possesses a unique supernatural talent. There are also two distant, but powerful parents and an exotic setting which happens not to be Witch World, but another troubled border land, whose inhabitants are constantly at war. The setting might remind you of the Anglo-Scottish border before the accession of the Stuarts, except that the true battle is fought between the Light and the Dark, with an assist from the mundane world's princes and clan chieftains

Clan Scorpys nurtures three daughters worthy of its proud name, who came into the warring borderland in a single birthing. "Having no son to 'shield his back,' as the country saying goes" the triplets' father taught them horsemanship and the use of weapons. Their mother tutored them in magic. Tamara, Sabina, and Drucilla must use all the skills they can muster when they are kidnapped by a particularly obnoxious band of reivers in the pay of the Starkadder clan. They are abused almost to the point of death, then left for dead in an underworld called the Dismals when the outlaws learn that the Scorpys clansmen are hot on their trail.

The Dismals is a strange, psychedelic version of the upper world with huge spider-like creatures and things resembling praying mantises the size of a horse. The triplets are rescued by an enigmatic man named Zolan who aids them, then attacks them psychically. They repel and almost kill him, then in turn save his life. They believe his attack was some sort of test.

We long-time Norton fans know that Zolan can't be a true creature of the dark because his best friend is a cougar-sized cat named Climber.

There are many more testings and near-death adventures in the dark caverns of the Dismals, then the triplets and Zolan regain the outer world, only to find that Evil has preceded them to the borderlands, and the King himself has been captured.

This is another completely populated mythology, Dark versus Light, by the one of the most underrated fantasy writers of our time. If "Three Hands for Scorpio" cannot quite be cherished as Norton's best fantasy, it will indeed be cherished as her final fantasy.

Three Hands for Scorpio (2005) is a standalone Fantasy novel set in an alternate reality much like the 16th century border region of England and Scotland. South of the border is Alsonia, a nation with a monarchy and extensive peerage. North is Gurlyon, a nation of clans allegedly ruled by a king.

Raiders frequently crossed this border region in either direction to take cattle and other plunder from the other side. Moreover, reivers -- outlaws and breakswords -- attack crofts and small keeps on both sides. Neither Alsonians nor Gurlys have been able to control their own people in this regard, much less the reivers.

This is the tale of three sisters -- Tamora, Sabrina and Drucilla -- born in the same birthing to Altha, the Countess of Verset. Their father was Desmond Scorpy, Earl of Verset, and they were born on the same day as his famous victory at Erseway. They were born with the Talent, receiving their Gifts from their mother, and were well trained in these Gifts by their mother and Wise-wife Duty.

In this novel, Earl Scorpy has worked, in his capacity as High Warden, toward a general truce along the border and Clan Chief Starkadder is coming to Grosper to accompany the Earl to truce talks at Losstrait. With Starkadder will come his second son and an emissary of the King of Gurlyon.

Alsonians have heard rumors of social changes within Gurlyon. Women were previously allowed a degree of autonomy, but now have been forced into dependent relationships with male Gurlys. Some women have been harshly punished for minor infractions. The King's emissary is a Chosen -- a Gurly priest -- who has publicly whipped a woman who didn't clear out of his path fast enough.

The sisters are arrayed with their parents to welcome Starkadder and his company to Grosper. This reception is marred by the rudeness of some members of the Starkadder party. When Clan Chief Starkadder introduces the king's observer, Udo Chosen, the Gurly priest questions whether any gathered there are unbelievers and sneers at the answer. Later, at the feast given for the Starkadder guests, the second son addresses Tam as a bedwarmer; she gives him a cutting reply and the sisters depart for their rooms.

Afterward, the sisters stay in their rooms while the Starkadders are visiting and come out only after the guests and their parents leave for the truce talks. When an unusual peddler appears at the gate, the sisters stay out of his sight, but send others to observe and question him. That night, a sleep spell ensorcels the entire household at Grosper and the sisters are kidnapped from their beds.

Bina awakens during the abduction, but is unable to move, speak or even mind-touch with her sisters. Later, she is mind-called by Tam and passes on her knowledge, but both fall asleep again. Then Cilla wakes for a while. Tam is awake again when the reiver Maclan gives his name and loads them on a platform to lower them down into the Dismals.

In this story, Tam, Bina and Cilla are stranded in caverns far below the surface. These caverns are inhabited by oversized insects, snakes and other animals. Yet there they meet Climber, a cat-like creature who frees and then befriends Tam. He leads them to Zolan, a human male somewhat older than themselves. While Zolan provides them with food, water and clothing, he acts strangely and the sisters never really know whether they should trust him.

Zolan also has Talent of a dissimilar kind; he can mind-call and can lend them Power for their Gifts, but his other Talents differ from theirs. Some creatures within the Dismals also have Talents of various sorts. One powerful Adept seems to be Zolan's master.

This story is much like Exiles Of the Stars in that alien creatures have taken over the bodies of other humans. The human Adepts know how to accomplish this, but have been taught that such acts are forbidden since they are self-destructive and lead to the dark. Upon learning that a Gurly hermit has been possessed in this manner by an alien and his body used to turn others to the dark, the sisters are obligated to oppose all who follow this creature.

This novel is very typical of the author's works, portraying gifted but relatively weak principals confronted by more powerful enemies. The sisters have lesser Gifts than their mother or Duty, but they grow stronger as they struggle against a hostile environment. Yet their Gifts never become as strong as some of their adversaries. They must depend more upon knowledge, cunning and comrades than Talent to win through their various trials.

This work was written from the point of view of all three sisters, with frequent changes between the narrators. This style is a bit cumbersome, especially if the reader is trying to keep track of whom did what. I kept having to turn back a few pages to learn who was the current narrator (announced before every change of viewpoint). It was the verbal equivalent of visually tracking the identical triplets; at least Tam, the warrior one, finally cut her hair and wore trousers!

This is not the author's best story, yet it is still compelling. While it may be a lesser Norton, even her worst tale reads better than many stories by other authors. She puts a little of her special magic into every tale.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of adversity and magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Three young women share a magical bond. Daughters of a borderland lord and his enchantress-wife, Drucilla, Sabina, and Tamara learn their magics while the nation north of their own is torn in dissention. The true king of that northern land vanished as a boy and now a priest seems to have taken control, his harsh religion spreading fear and distrust through the country. The young women's father wants to preserve the peace and rides out to a peace meeting--which is when the enemy strikes, kidnapping the three.

Thrown into a magical land, the three discover a handsome but strange man, his tiger-sized pet cat, and a host of forgotten world-type entities--giant bugs, weird fliers, and huge snakes. The man, Zolan, claims that there is no route free of 'the dismals,' yet they know they must return to their own land--in order to save their family. Although they do not trust Zolan (and immediately suspect he is the missing King), the three, along with Zolan and the climber the cat, struggle to find their way through the Dismals and back to the normal land. Once there, though, they must face an alien power so ancient and vast it seems there can be no possible victory.

THREE HANDS FOR SCORPIO is author Andre Norton's last novel written before her recent death and her first novel in a long time written without a collaborator. In many respects, THREE HANDS is vintage Norton. The tightly coupled triplets recall the three siblings in THREE AGAINST WITCH WORLD. The suspicious but powerful Zolan is also reminiscent of earlier Norton. And Norton's setting recalls the ever-fascinating border between England and Scotland--where cattle raids and war kept life interesting for centuries.

For me, THREE HANDS lacked much of the compelling emotional impact of earlier Norton, however. The three sisters were too similar--to the point where I never really knew which point of view I was sharing. It is sad to see the decline in talents of one of the great authors of the past century--and a joy when occasional sentences and paragraphs shine with Norton's earlier talent. THREE HANDS falls short of Norton's earlier work but it's certainly worth the read.