Once the magnificent garden of the goddess Lyr, the land called the Ryrt lies blackened and desolate, destroyed by an ancient and cunning depravity. It is here that the beautiful child Alnosha came—to awaken, to learn… and to hone her astonishing ability to divine by touch. Now years have passed, and another has made his way to this terrible ruined place – an embittered high-born youth fleeing the bloodthirsty servants of a false god. And though he mistrusts Alnosha’s powers, the fugitive Kryn is inexplicably drawn to the reluctant young heroine. For he has been chosen to serve as her sword and champion – to accompany her into the malevolent heart of an all-consuming darkness on a perilous quest for light.

The Industrial Monster has descended upon Varslaad, devouring all the arable land in its path. By royal decree, the displaced must venture into the treacherous woodland domain of a strange and secret race. The King's lottery has determined that Twilla, young, orphaned apprentice of a renowned wisewoman, must marry—for only the wedded can survive the terrible fate awaiting those who penetrate the primeval forest. Altered by a talisman of great power, she escapes her unwanted lot—joining a commander's tragically blinded son on a remarkable journey from peril to peril. For they are the chosen who must rescue the vanquished of an ancient war of magicks. . . and shape the destiny of a bloody, disputed land.

An orphaned child and captive scullery maid, young Willadene possesses an uncanny ability to sense and understand the magical odors that pervade her world. It is this remarkable talent—or curse—that carries her far from the fetid kitchen into an apprenticeship with a revered herbalist and ultimately to the highest circle of the Ducal court. But there is depravity lurking within the castle's walls, inspiring brazen treacheries and usurpations—and a foul abduction as unthinkable as it is unexpected. Something horribly strange and forbidden has struck at the dawn of a new day of corruption and terror. And an innocent girl finds the heightened sense that has been her fortune is now drawing her down into a maelstrom of evil.

Once the Wind united the Valley with the Forest, enveloping them in the strongest of magics which protected the land and banished the threatening Darkness. And there was peace for many centuries...Until the Dark returned.A mage, seeking to enslave the Valley and destroy the Forest, has brutally sundered a family. A mother has fled into the woods with her infant girl-child, while the depraved sorcerer holds the babe's twin—a boy—captive in a black tower. The mother dies but the girl survives. Adopted by the strange denizens of the Forest—safe from the mage's malevolent influence—she grows to young womanhood, cultivating a cherished skill that has been denied the others of her kind: the ability to truly hear the sounds of her world. But her future will be fraught with trial and terror, for only she can smash the chains that shackle the Balley and its inhabitants. It is her destiny to confront sorcerer and demon minions, and to oppose the one she must conquer and free: the magician's protege and her most powerful adversary. Her bane and blood. Her brother.

"The Green Ones favored me this day." Thus begins A Taste of Magic, the latest magical world creation by Andre Norton. Wisteria is magically attuned to the world around her. Her senses relish the tastes of magic that the wonders of nature offer. But the peacefulness of her backwoods existence is shattered when her village is attacked by the raiding force of the bellicose Lord Purvis, who leaves only this twenty-something magic wielder and an adolescent lass as the inadvertent survivors. Wisteria has pledged herself to a mission. Now she and her young ward must brave the wilds beyond their home in pursuit of the ravager who destroyed everyone near and dear to their hearts. The woman with the taste of magic now has a taste for vengeance, and the blood oath she has pledged must be satisfied with the life of Lord Purvis.