cover image Tales of the Witch World

Tales of the Witch World

. Tor Books, $18.95 (3pp) ISBN 978-0-312-94475-9

Almost 25 years after Norton created her much-loved Witch World series, she has invited 16 other writers to use that background. Her own contribution, a typically darkly imagined fragment, is followed by Robert Bloch's droll rewriting of the same story from another character's point of view. The other colorful, clearly told stories include Wilanne Belden's moving account of a strange child's survival in war and wilderness, Charles de Lint's tale of a wondrous white road, Ardath Mayhar's narrative of a young boy coming to terms with his ""witch borne'' powers and Elizabeth Scarborough's fable of a warrior meeting a new challenge: a baby needing a foster mother. This collection is a welcome exception to the tedium of most shared-world anthologies. (September 26)