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50 In 2013 #4: The Stars are Ours
Feb. 7th, 2013 03:33 pmThe Stars are Ours, by Andre Norton
Sometimes I get a hankering for old-fashioned space opera- when I do, I generally turn to Andre Norton. This is a bit different from her other space opera novels, in that there's relatively little space travel- only between two planets. It's what happens on those planets that's the important thing.
The book is divided into two parts: after a major disaster blamed on scientists, a repressive anti-science regime called Pax has come into power. As the brother of a hidden scientist, Dard Nordiss has to watch out for those who would condemn them for the slightest suspicion of scientist sympathies. Forced to flee by a peacekeeper raid, Dard and his sister make his way to a hidden enclave of scientists, who are planning to flee earth by using a cold-sleep starship. First though, Pax has found the scientists' lair and is planning to wipe them out for good.
In the second part of the book, after a several hundred year flight, Dard is awakened in time to witness the landing on a new planet. Fortunately this one appears to be a garden world, with plenty of water and breathable air. The rest of the book consists of the new colonists exploring this world, and finding out that the planet was inhabited by a race that evidently blew themselves to extinction. They explore an ancient city, deal with various natural threats, and in the end, make contact with a native race that was once the slaves of the masters of the planet. Who may still be around....
This is a pretty straight-forward bit of storytelling. there are no psychological depths to be plumbed character development is limited, and the only great truth dealt with is that dictatorships arise and fall. Likewise the dialogue is a bit awkward and old fashioned. All of which can be related tyo the fact that Ms. Norton was writing for an old-school SF audience. On the other hand, it has some pretty decent moments of suspense, and the exploration of the new planet, with it's similarities and differences to earth, is interesting. All in all, this is a pretty decent and fast reading entertainment.
Sometimes I get a hankering for old-fashioned space opera- when I do, I generally turn to Andre Norton. This is a bit different from her other space opera novels, in that there's relatively little space travel- only between two planets. It's what happens on those planets that's the important thing.
The book is divided into two parts: after a major disaster blamed on scientists, a repressive anti-science regime called Pax has come into power. As the brother of a hidden scientist, Dard Nordiss has to watch out for those who would condemn them for the slightest suspicion of scientist sympathies. Forced to flee by a peacekeeper raid, Dard and his sister make his way to a hidden enclave of scientists, who are planning to flee earth by using a cold-sleep starship. First though, Pax has found the scientists' lair and is planning to wipe them out for good.
In the second part of the book, after a several hundred year flight, Dard is awakened in time to witness the landing on a new planet. Fortunately this one appears to be a garden world, with plenty of water and breathable air. The rest of the book consists of the new colonists exploring this world, and finding out that the planet was inhabited by a race that evidently blew themselves to extinction. They explore an ancient city, deal with various natural threats, and in the end, make contact with a native race that was once the slaves of the masters of the planet. Who may still be around....
This is a pretty straight-forward bit of storytelling. there are no psychological depths to be plumbed character development is limited, and the only great truth dealt with is that dictatorships arise and fall. Likewise the dialogue is a bit awkward and old fashioned. All of which can be related tyo the fact that Ms. Norton was writing for an old-school SF audience. On the other hand, it has some pretty decent moments of suspense, and the exploration of the new planet, with it's similarities and differences to earth, is interesting. All in all, this is a pretty decent and fast reading entertainment.