Silent Tower

by Barbara Hambly

Book Overview

Here, Barbara Hambly has written a complex tale of dark magic, mystery, and deadly danger involving a woman computer programmer who struggles to help a condemned wizard save - or perhaps destroy? - two worlds.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345337646
• ISBN13: 9780345337641
• Release Date: November 1986
• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Length: 369 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Conflict Between Mages and Church

The Silent Tower (1986) is the first fantasy novel in the Windrose Chronicles trilogy. Elsewhere among the timelines, the Empire of Ferrych is advancing technologically while the influence of magic is slowly fading. The wizards of the Empire worship another god than the Sole God of the Church. Five centuries before, the Church raised up an army of their own mages and defeated the Council of Wizards at the Field of Stellith. Now the wizards live by an oath to never meddle in human affairs. In this novel, Salteris Solaris is the Archmage of the Empire. He is old, but powerful. He rules over a Council of Wizards of only seven other mages in Angelshand, the Imperial capital. Stonne Caris is the grandson of the Archmage. He is mageborn, but his talents are few and weak. So now he is a sworn sasennan of the Council. If he cannot serve with his magic, then he will serve with his sword. Antryg Windrose is allegedly the strongest wizard within the Empire. He was an apprentice of the Dark Mage and then of the Archmage. He has twice violated his oath by meddling in politics and is now imprisoned within the Silent Tower. There heavy wards to prevent him from making magic or sensing magic done without the walls. Joanna Sheraton is a programmer at the San Serano Aerospace Complex. She is being stalked by someone who emits the odors of woodsmoke, old wool and herbs. She is grabbed on the throat as she enters the main computer room in the wee hours of the morning and escapes only by striking the assailant with her trusty hammer. Despite extensive searches by Security, no evidence of the intruder is ever found. In this story, Caris is covering for his grandfather at the Silent Tower when he realizes that something is going on. He assumes that Antryg has lured his father into a trap and rushes into the workroom within the tower itself, only to see someone disappearing through the darkness of the Void. He throws himself after the dark figure and finds himself in another world. Antryg is also there, so Caris follows him, keeping to the shadows to avoid discovery. He also sees Joanna in the house full of drunken and stoned party goers. Later, he sees Antryg -- now shaven, shorn and wearing local clothing -- leaving the party to go toward a building up the hill. Joanna awakes to find herself within a locked stone room. She has her huge purse, with its assortment of tools, papers and other useful items, so she starts to remove the hinge pins from the door. But she notices that someone is outside releasing the bolt and she waits for the door to open. Then she attacks the intruder with her trusty hammer. This time, the attack doesn't work quite right. Everything she tries is countered. Then the man stops fighting with a dagger at his throat. Caris has taken Antryg and Joanna is now free to leave. Still, all three sense that something horrible is waiting outside the door. They quickly exit the room and turn away from the threat. When th

A classic --

It always astounds me to find out that Hambly fans aren't aware of or haven't gotten to the Windrose Chronicles. This is her best work by far, and some of the best fantasy out there, period.Our heroine, Joanna, finds herself transported across a terrifying Void from enchantment-free Los Angeles (circa the 1980s) to Ferryth, a medieval kingdom on another world, in the company of an actual wizard (Antryg Windrose) and hunted by sundry and all as she makes her way in a morass of treachery and a central mystery that reveals itself in snatches - like the periods of grey, hopeless misery that are affecting both worlds, and the shifting loyalties, inexplicable actions, and agendas of the other wizards, the hateful church witchfinders, the king, the prince regent, and the young warrior who swears that Antryg murdered his grandfather in cold blood and opened the Void for terrible reasons of his own.Any way she looks at it, Antryg is the only one who can send her home. And he seems to be the only person trying to solve the riddle of the larger pattern. Can he be trusted at all? And if Antryg isn't responsible for the horrors and her own abduction - who is?The characters are quirky, loveable, and all too human, and the unfolding plot keeps you on your toes. This is a great read - see The Silicon Mage for the rest of the tale!

A Really Solid, Good Read

A friend loaned me a copy of this book as an introduction to Barbara Hambly's books. His copy was really battered, and it wasn't his first, as he'd given away and worn to dust other copies. I've since done the same with this and the other two books in her Windrose stories, Silicon Mage and Dog Wizard. The characters live and breathe, and that's what makes this great, why I've read these many times and will do so again. I love books in general, but there are some books that I will never ever be "finished" reading, and this is one. I hope it comes back into print soon, but used is as good as new!

One of the bests reads ever!

This book is wonderful, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy or just a wonderful book. The whole series has wonderful, believable characters and an amazingly detailed world. The story goes beyond your normal run-of-the-mill "help-I've-been-transported-into-a-fantasy-world" and really makes it seem plausible. I've loaned this book out to all of my friends and made fans of them all. I don't necessarily rave for all of Barbara Hambly's work, but this series is an all-time favorite of mine.

Computers + wizardry = a gripping tale

Joanna, a shy computer programmer, finds herself being stalked as she works late at night. She's learned that someone has been processing vast amounts of data in secret, and now that someone wants her dead -- someone not of Earth. Then she's kidnapped and dumped in a strange world. Searching for a way back home, she reluctantly joins forces with Antryg Windrose, a wizard who may or may not be her stalker. He is obviously insane after having been confined in a tower that painfully prevented him from using his magic. Who wants her dead? And why would anyone in a world without electricity need a computer program