The Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan

Series · 5 books · 2000-2008

By Sasha Miller, Andre Norton

Books in series

To the King a Daughter

2000

To the King a Daughter begins the cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and the four powers of the world who have been warring for centuries. The Clan of Ash is slowly dying, their totem tree in the sacred square withering away to nothing. There is a prophecy that a daughter of Ash will rise again, but none have survived the mass killings, thereby rendering the prophecy unfillable. But deep in the swamps, in the care of the witch-healer all need and all fear, there is a young girl-woman who can not be the witch's daughter; a girl who, in fact, by virtue of her beauty and elegance and simmering power, can only be a Daughter of Ash, the one who will rise to fulfill the prophecy—and the destiny of her birthright.

Knight or Knave

2001

Times are changing in Rendelsham. The old King is dead, and the foolish Prince Florian has assumed the throne. Florian's mother, Queen Ysa of the House of Oak, still controls the land from behind the scences, but her job grows more difficult every day. Her unworthy, headstrong son is harder to control than her husband was, and she must spend more time than ever masking her own movements. Her husband's illegitimate daughter Ashen, heir to the nearly dead House of Ash, still causes trouble by her very existence, and must never be given an opening to the throne. The barbarian Sea-Rover clan presents problems from the edge of the Bog, Ysa's newest magical ally has been exposed as a traitor, and nothing is going as Ysa had planned. And still the unknown yet encroaching threat from the North continues to grow. Through births and deaths, marriages and duels, love and betrayal, magic and force, the four Houses of Rendelsham can only survive by the strength of their unity—but is unity possible in such a court of intrigue as this one?

A Crown Disowned

2002

A Crown Disowned is the third volume of the cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan that began with To the King a Daughter and continued in Knight or Knave. The earth shakes and splits as the forces from the North draw nearer. The Ice Dragon Riders are speaking to the land, and more fire mountains awaken in the Bog. Rohan seeks to join forces with Tusser, leader of the Bog-folk, as Queen Ysa raises an army to clear the Bog. War draws closer until even the Queen cannot deny it any longer. Raids from the north increase, and, for the first time, the Riders of the Ice Dragons appear. It is time for the Queen to give up her game of pitting one faction against another. Four great armies are assembled to march under the same banner. Though they do not represent the Four Trees, they nevertheless see this as a good omen. Many good men from all four armies fall in battle, yet the Great Foulness is still at large. Is the combined might of the four powers enough to free the land from evil?

Dragon Blade

The Book of the Rowan

2005

Over a year has passed since the defeat of the Great Foulness, and the ravaged earth has begun to heal. Lost for generations, the signet rings of the Four Great Houses—-Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan—-have been restored to their rightful heirs. And Ashen NordornQueen, mistress of the Land of Ever Snow, looks forward to a life of peace and happiness with her beloved husband and their newborn son—-only to learn that an ancient evil still threatens all that she holds dear. The Mother Ice Dragon, the fearsome progenitor of her deadly breed, has awakened from slumber to menace the world anew. Legend holds that only the Dragon Blade, forged from the scales of her vanquished mate, can slay the deadly female dragon, but the Dragon Blade has been lost for ages. As Ashen embarks on a perilous quest to find the mystic sword, she leaves her castle and homeland in the care of her closest friends, including Rannore, Lady of the Rowan, who soon faces danger of a different sort.... Dragon Blade continues the saga begun in To the King a Daughter and continued in Knight or Knave and A Crown Disowned.

The Knight of the Red Beard

2008

Having rebuilt the NordornLand from rubble, Ashen and Gaurin rule justly and fairly over a reinvigorated land. Beloved by their kingdom, they now turn their attention to the next generation of Nordorn royalty. Responsible Bjaudin, heir to the throne, focuses on his studies and Hegrin, Queen of Rendel, rears her own growing brood. But the youngest siblings, Elin and Mikkel, seem destined to alter the future of the NordornLand—for better or for worse. Thirteen-year-old Elin craves power, and believes her new alliance with the evil Ysa may help her achieve it. Eleven-year-old Mikkel stows away on a Sea-Rover ship, hoping for a brief adventure. But when the ship is attacked, Mikkel is taken prisoner, and soon his bonds to the NordornLand are the last thing on his mind. Through births and deaths, celebration and wars, Ashen and Gaurin have worked tirelessly to bring peace and prosperity to their kingdom. But it appears that this era of peace may be at its end. This final installment of the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan brings the series to a thrilling climax worthy of these fascinating characters.

Authors

Sasha Miller

Author · 5 books

Sasha Miller is the pseudonym of American fantasy writer Georgia Myrle Miller. She has also written under the names Georgia Sallaska, Myrle Benedict, and G.S. Madden. She is a member of the Authors Guild and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). In addition to her work as a writer, Sasha is active in helping others learn how to write. She has run writing workshops and worked professionally as a free-lance editor. Sasha is a native of Oklahoma and is married to Ben W. Miller. She currently resides with her husband and their cat in northeast Texas.

Andre Norton

Author · 174 books

Alice Mary Norton always had an affinity to the humanities. She started writing in her teens, inspired by a charismatic high school teacher. First contacts with the publishing world led her, as many other contemporary female writers targeting a male-dominated market, to choose a literary pseudonym. In 1934 she legally changed her name to Andre Alice. She also used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as pseudonyms. Andre Norton published her first novel in 1934, and was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) association in 1983. Norton was twice nominated for the Hugo Award, in 1964 for the novel Witch World and in 1967 for the novelette "Wizard's World." She was nominated three times for the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, winning the award in 1998. Norton won a number of other genre awards, and regularly had works appear in the Locus annual "best of year" polls. On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, K. D. Wentworth, and Catherine Asaro.