Cover of Watchtower

Watchtower

core novel 1979 The Chronicles of Tornor

Record

First published1979
Original language EN
Work typenovel
Canon statuscore
Reader rating3.56 (1,060 ratings, collected 2026-08-26)
Page count220
First-edition ISBN9780399122729
Internal chronology1

Synopsis

Watchtower, published by Elizabeth A. Lynn in 1979, opens the Chronicles of Tornor in a land governed by warrior clans and centered on fortified keeps, the first of which, Tornor, gives the trilogy its name. The novel is notable within the fantasy genre for treating same-sex relationships among its characters as an unremarkable, sympathetically portrayed part of its cultural background rather than as a subject of drama in itself. Set against a backdrop of shifting power among the clans that hold Tornor and the surrounding lands, the story follows characters whose fates are bound to the keep's fortunes as old certainties about rank, loyalty, and martial tradition come under pressure from a changing world around them.

Where it sits

Notes

  • From the series record (The Chronicles of Tornor): A loosely connected trilogy set generations apart in the same world, exploring different societies and, notably for its time, matter-of-fact same-sex relationships among its protagonists.

Neighbouring works

Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.

  • Reading order, within the series The Chronicles of Tornor: position 1 of 3: next The Dancers of Arun (1979)

Sources

← The Chronicles of Tornor dossier · All universes

Part of the Library. Fields without an identified source are omitted, never guessed.