The story was a good one. It didn't hold me as quite a lot of her works have, but it is entertaining and fun to read and if you are a fan of her works, as I am, you will enjoy this one as well.

I must say that I absolutely loved this book. I found Faree's "growth" and learning experiences to be quite enthralling. I was particularly impressed with his reaction to the wing scraps.... Quite intriguing. The character interaction was well written. The imagery was very convincing. I felt as if I were in another world while reading this book.

This book is not in any way original, or very thought provoking for that manner. But this is bulk sci-fi at its best. It takes a story that has been written at least a dozen times, and remakes it in a way that is very readable and entertaining. The main characters are from a tribe of superwarriors who have to fight much stronger and better equipt enemies. While this is a plot that has been made several times, and by better authors, this books works like most saturday action movies that Hollywood creates. It's not that thought provoking and you know what is going to happen but it is still good entertainment for a rainy day.

Andre Norton as long been one of my favorite authors and one can but hope that there will be more of these books coming.

Brothers and Sisters of Shadow unite to fight evil and greed in the complex instellar reaches.

This was the very first science fiction book I read in my life, at age 10 or 11 or so. I still have it and pull it out every few years to get some easy to read classic sci fi, and a feeling of nostalgia. Nice simple, straightforward story.

Terrans of the future may only leave planet as mercenaries for contract on other planets. Archs primitive weapons or Mechs modern weapons Swordsman third class Kana finds himself on a planet on such a mission with the Arch Legion only to find themselves fighting against a rebel legion of Mechs where the fate of the whole human race hanging on the outcome. classic Norton

Star Guard is the second novel in the Central Control series, but the first in internal chronology. When Terrans learned to travel the space lanes, Central Control assigned them to a special role that suited their aggressive temperament and also provided a safety valve for all other belligerents among the great confederacy. The Terrans became the mercenaries of the Galaxy. Arch Hordes served on the relatively primitive worlds and Mech Legions served on the relatively advanced worlds. However, even the Mechs weapons were less advanced than those available to the Galactic Patrol. Three hundred years passed before any challenge arose to this system.

In this novel, Kana Karr, newly graduated Arch Swordsman Third Class, comes to Prime to receive his first assignment. Waiting in the hiring hall, he hears rumors of lost legions and refused assignments. Then, a senior Combatant, accompanied by a Galactic Agent, announces that the troubles on Nevers have been fully investigated, with the assistance of Central Control, and certified that the defeat there was due to local problems and that the rumors concerning this episode are not to be repeated by any of the Corps. Naturally, this stirs up even more rumors.

Shortly thereafter, Karr is offered a position with Yorke's Horde and accepts the assignment. He is told to report to Dock Five at seventeen hours, so he goes to the transients' mess to eat. While there, he hears still more rumors. Then he goes to an information booth to learn the languages of Fronn, the planet where he is to serve, as well as any other facts available. When he returns the record-pak, he notices that a Mech scoops it up before the return belt can load it back into the machine.

On the journey to Fronn, he bunks with Trig Hansu, a very experienced Swordtan. In fact, all the men headed to Yorke's Horde, except himself, are very experienced and, when they reach Secundus, he only finds two other S-Threes in the Horde. Although most of the man seem to be amiable, the other S-Threes warn him to avoid Zapan Bogate. However, when they reach Fronn, Bogate and one of his buddies, Sim, decides to crowd Karr a little. When Karr chops a clutching hand, Sim slaps him in formal challenge. Karr, however, has the choice of weapons and chooses bat sticks. Although Sim proves to be an expert swordsman, he is confused by the relative lightness of the stick. Furthermore, he uses it as a rapier, but Karr waits until he can draw it across Sim's forearm, so that the pain forces Sim to drop the stick, thereby conceding the duel. Of course, Sim is furious, but the other veterans rather respect Karr for using his knowledge of the planet in this manner.

After a week of intensive drill to shake out any lingering effects of the space travel, they move out with their employer. As Karr is marching on point, they overtake a caravan of Venturi and he notices that one of the figures walks differently. His team reports his suspicions and keeps the caravan under observation until a troop of Llor cavalry flushes the suspicious wayfarer from the caravan, straight toward them. The troopers lasso the fugitive, but he sits up and fires a flamer at them. Immediately, the Combatants fire at the shooter. The robed figure proves to be a Llor, who had no business possessing a flamer, which are reserved for the Patrol. After seven Fronn days, they meet the forces of the enemy and are called to parlay, but the enemy ambush their employer and capture his men. When the Combatants talk to the enemy leader, they are told that the Terran way does not apply to Fronn.

Now that their employer is dead, they head to an auxiliary starport in the hills to get off world. The port is Venturi, but these natives soon leave to go back to their islands, leaving the building to the Terrans. They are forced indoors by a cariolis storm, but find an unusual sight after the storm: a wrecked crawler with a Vegan onboard and boxes of flamers as cargo. Then they find a downed Patrol ship in a rocky valley with bodies in Patrol uniforms laid out as for inspection.

This novel is an early Norton SF work. It has some of the signature images, including the Zacathans who crop up everywhere in the authors SF. However, in many ways it more resembles The Stars Are Ours, with Central Control as the repressive force. Nevertheless, it ends on a note of hope.

Recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys alien planets and peoples as well as competent young people coping with disaster.

"Are All the Giants Dead?" is a very fun story peppered with clever in-jokes for those who love fairy tales.
Young James, who is more interested in science fiction than fairy tales, is wisked away in his sleep by Mildred, an ethereal storyteller who takes him off to a magical kingdom. This place turns out to be the land of "happily ever after" where all the legendary heroes and heroines of the past live in leisure and contentment long after their stories have ended. James, though, finds one or two stories left unresolved, and so his adventure begins.
Mary Norton's prose is crisp and well paced, and her characters are very well drawn. The story, however, may have turned out more memorable had the plot become a bit more involved. The villian of the story, for instance, is glimpsed only briefly at the tale's end.
And of course Brian Froud's 8-10 black and white illustrations are fantastic.

This is a neat little dream-narrative but I would describe it as more for adults than children. It's a gentle dream fantasy which plays with the 'rules' of the classic fairy-tale genre. You really have to be a serious fairy-tale fan to get the jokes. Brian Froud's illustrations are a treat, as always.

This wonderful book was written in 1975 by Mary Norton (1903-92), the author of the incomparable Borrowers stories. It tells the story of James, whose dream takes him to a distant land, where he meets many of the characters of old folktales, such as Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jack-the-Giant-Slayer and Jack-of-the-Beanstalk. But, they are all old now, and past adventures. But, when the daughter of Beauty and the Beast (Boofy and Beau to their friends) needs help, James rises to the occasion. Although he's usually a fan of Science fiction, James must maneuver himself and the girl through this magical wonderland, in search of a magical frog, and answering the question, "Are all the giants dead?"

This is a very nice, gently entertaining story. It is gentle enough for quite young readers, and sure to please. I must say that what I liked most about this book is the illustrations created by the great Brian Froud. My children and I loved this book, and we highly recommend it to you.

I am a professional woman and much too cool to carry a book with this cover in my briefcase. However, I was interested in the further adventures of the Solar Queen so found myself carrying it with me everywhere - cover be danged.

Better than Redline the Stars, the alien habitat is well conceived, truly different, and yet a place I would love to visit. The aliens themselves are 3-dimensional. That is not to say they could not have been more complex, but I never got the feeling we were simply on another Earth.

The story was also more complex, unfolding over the course of several weeks. This allows time for the development of a few more of the many crewmembers and the a better sense of what it means to be a free trader.

I liked this book. Another fun read but not too challenging. What I did not like were the inconsistencies from the previous book to this one. What happened to their wealth? The promise of their cargo? Their good reputation? That was not credibly explained. And the romance...such potential that was wrapped up in a few pages at the end like an afterthought. Better to tease it into the next book.

Since very childhood I enjoyed Andre Norton's books. Her have always been my favourites. Now I've read her lalest 2 novels - written together with other authors. And was disappointed when I saw that there has appeared a woman in the list of characters. There were no female characters in the previous novels of the Solar Queen series, and that was the reason it was so popular. She was really ahead of her time shaking the stereotype of these female cuties in every sf novel. A. Norton should have kept to this line when writing her new novels. Thanks God there are no bed scenes in them! And thanks God again that this god-knows-what Rael marries yhe old captain at last, and not one of the young characters.

I was surprised to have enjoyed this book so much, even though it was a science fiction with a cheesy cover. Sherwood Smith is great, he needs to send his material to publishers right NOW!

the treatise is a masterpiece in every sense of the word, but the Nortons have done a disservice to the academic community with this edition. their editorial section, which comprises a solid third of this edition, is extremely subpar. i've even heard that many Hume scholars have demanded that Oxford recall the critical text that was published as a companion to this edition. the oxford edition of the enquiry's is just fine, but i would recommend the sellby-bigges edition of the treatise instead of this one.

This book is like Sigmund Freud's books. You must get a commentary book to read this, or it wont make sense and sounds like pure latin. But if you buy a commentary book, 5 stars!

I have had this book for about a year now and I would say it is still the most helpful I have found for reading Humes' Treatise. Everything is explained well and completely, but it is the depth that impresses me, not only are the concepts explained with clarity, but in places where a point relates to an earlier concept it is noted down to the paragraph of where it appeared. Also when another philosophers view is similar or conflicts with Humes own view it is noted. The annotations in the back of the book alone by their helpfulness would give this book 5 stars, but the introduction is about as close as I have seen to a complete summary of Humes book without having to buy another book entirely. Overall the author has a good understanding of the text and can relate it to the student.

This book was wonderful. It took me about 3 or 4 months to find a paperback though. I had already read Elvenblood and was hooked. Somewhere along the line after I found it, I heard talk of a third book in the series.. Is this true? If you know, E-mail me at Lizard174@aol.com.. Back on the subject, I loved this book, and all Ms. Norton's books that I own. She and Mercedes Lackey are two of the most talented writers whose work I have read over and over again.

Usually serial books do not interest me; I feel like the second and thereafter books are exactly like the first. However, this did not happen when I read the Elvenbane and Elvenblood. The two were wonderful, and I would recommend them to all that I know

Elvenbane was the first book i read by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey. My mother has collected Andre Norton books for years and one day I decided to read Elvenbane. It was during the summer and Elvenbane is the very first book that has had me striving for more. Each time I had to put the book down i would rush through everything else just so I could get back to the book. When the book ended I wanted more and was very glad ^_^ to find out that there was a second book ElvenBlood and I got started on it right away. Now im waiting for the third book to come out. When I was told there was a third book I jumped out demanding to know when! "Elvenborn" I don't think i can wait until April. There is even a book after Elvenborn. Elvenbred. The Characters and events made me laugh, become frustrated, and made every other emotion come through. Just what a good piece of literature is supposed to do and show how great the authors are. So I strongly recommend this book to those wondering if they should read it.

The selection of poems in this anthology, although it includes many of the great poems of English literature, is very poor. About a third of the book is devoted to relatively mediocre 20th century poetry, written by poets practically unknown now, who will be completely forgotten 50 years from now. The book could be much lighter and hopefully less expensive if it included fewer of these poems, which are not really appropriate in a book intended as a survey of English poetry (that is, poetry in English, of course). There must be better anthologies.

Another annoying thing is that the editors have given glosses to explain the simplest concepts and terms. These glosses interrupt one's reading of a poem, and for people who do not know the words explained, a dictionary would be much more useful.

It's hard to assign an appropriate number of stars to a book like this, since of course many of the poems are great ones. However, as an anthology of poetry this book fails in many respects.

First of all, nearly half of the book consists of relatively mediocre 20th century poetry. The book could be cut in two at the middle, and the first half sold as a meagre anthology of poetry up to the 20th century, and the second as a comprehensive collection of 20 century poems. The 20th century is one of the worst in terms of the poetry it gave to the world. Many of the poets in the second half are practically unknown now, and will have been entirely forgotten fifty years from now. Although the book dutifully includes many of the great poems of English literature and is therefore not entirely useless, the selection is otherwise a very curious one for a book intended as a general survey of English poetry. A large percentage of the poems in this book could be cut out and it would be as good as it is now, only a great deal lighter and hopefully cheaper.

Another irritating thing is the footnotes. The editors seem to have assumed that they need to define and explain the simplest terms and concepts. For example, on page 215, they give a gloss for the word "clod," defining it as "Lumps of earth or clay." That's all very well, but "clod," a common English word, does not require explanation. It's distracting to the reader that knows it to have his attention called to the footnote. One's reading of the poem is thereby interrupted. Anyone who does not know the meaning of "clod" could perfectly well turn to a dictionary.

Are you remotely interested in poetry then you should buy The Norton Anthology of Poetry by Margaret Ferguson(Editor), et al. This book is a wonderfull presentation into world of poetry and presents a wast array of poets, i.e., everyhting Anna Laeitta Barbauld to William Shakespeare. Being a fan of the older style of poetry, e.g., William Shakespeare, John Milton and Geofrey Chaucer, I was happy to see that these parts had the space that they righly deserve. The index is very well developed and it was an excellent idea to pu each poem under the name of poet since otherwise finding a particular poem would have ben almost impossible. The font selected is very easy to read. The only downside is the quality of the paper; being almost 2000 pages long in paperback the quality of the paper is so-so and next time I will buy it in hardcover.

This book is based on the original 1818 version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but is geared toward the reader who wants a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of this work of fiction and the writings of Mary Shelley, her husband Percy Shelley, Lord Byron and Dr. John William Polidori, Byron's friend. The reader will find abundant annotations which help to explain the context in which it was written. A map is provided which helps to locate many of the settings described in the book. It also includes a section of reactions to various versions that have been published. Twelve contemporary authors have submitted essays which supply a variety of perspectives on Frankenstein. The book offers an authoritative text, contextual and source materials, and a wide range of interpretations in addition to a bibliography of other works on the topics.

If you think you know Frankenstein because you have seen the classic 1930's Hollywood movie, then you really don't know Frankenstein. The short novel upon which the movie is loosely based (so loosely as to be almost a different story)is a morality tale on the creation of life and the obligations of the creator and the created. Mary Shelley was only twenty when she wrote the novel, begun when a house party attended by the poet Byron and Shelley's husband, the poet Percy Shelley decided to swap "ghost" stories one evening. Only Mary Shelley completed her story and this is the 1818 text presented in this book.
One main objection I have about this book (and the only reason that kept it from getting 5 stars) is basically the plot itself. If you think that a tight plausible plot is needed, then this is not the book for you. There are too many holes and too many times I found myself asking, Why would the character do this? But if you read for language and philosophical thought, then Frankenstein is a perfect short read. The monster is very erudite and able to express his emotions perfectly. Why was he created and how can he endure if all he receives is the scorn and hatred of those around him? What is the obligation of the creator-to please his creation or keep him from doing harm to others? This is the true core of the story and the contrasting feelings between Victor Frankenstein, the creator and the monster fill the pages.
While not a difficult read, it is one that is totally unexpected if you have no prior knowledge of the novel's difference with the movie. While the movie is rightfully a classic, the book delves more into the spiritual and emotional realms of creation and its affect on all. I would highly recommend this book for those who are intrigued by the beauty of language and thought. J

Mary Shelley's early 1818 text of Frankenstein is free of the revisions she made when she became an older woman, wearier of the world. This novel is not the horror story Hollywood has told us in Boris Karloff's portrayal of the Frankenstein monster, Kenneth Brannaugh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (a disturbing departure from the text) and the satire Young Frankenstein. The horrors Shelley comments on in the book include the dangers of man playing God and then not taking responsibility for his creation by abandoning it.

This regency/alternate earth collaboration by Norton and Edghill, which looks to be the first of a series, is a winner! Is it perfect? No. The last half of the book is a bit rushed and the use of magic is uneven. Even so, I believed in the characters; their dilemmas are real and not easily resolved. The dialogue is appropriate to the setting and I loved Sarah taking over the rifle and shooting down the French troops, to the amazement of her so-reluctant husband - right before they fly away in a hot-air balloon! This is a merry-go-round of a book with pretensions to be a carousel.

Playing in an alternate earth is always fun: lots of name dropping occurs as real historical figures turn up in new walks of life. Beau Brummell finally finds his proper niche as a valet, while John Adams still loves his wife! This book deserves a sequel - there's lots of room for more intrigue, romance and magic in this world - or in an alternate Carolinian earth! I'm looking forward to our English Prince meeting his Danish bride; Wessex and Sarah consummating their marriage (I don't believe they got that far at the end of this book) and Wessex getting over the "honor" and spying question...Let's enjoy all the benefits of a Regency/Scarlett Pimpernel romance and alternate history scifi whirlygig next time.

The regency romance is in a state of decline except for some huge talents who are managing to breathe new life into it. This literary form was begun by Jane Austen with "Pride & Prejudice." Carla Kelly is one of the huge talents making this genre worth pursing and the second can be found on the sci-fi-fantasy book aisle with authors Andre Norton (a woman) and Rosemary Edghill. Edghill was formerly known as a romance writer whereas Norton has always been in sci-fi-fantasy. This duo creates an alternate regency world that is absolutely fascinating. In this world, there is never a Revolutionary War, the Indians are not abused in America, slavery is abolished because of England's opposition to it and England remains in power and control. This all came about because the English throne never passes to the German line but remains with the Stuarts in this alternate regency world. This world also allows sorcerers and magicians and makes that a big part of accepted life. Two love stories are played out against this new world. One is between colonial Sarah with the English Duke of Wessex and the other is between Louis, the lost King of France (dauphin) and Mariel. Some readers felt that "Leopard in Exile," the sequel to this book, was not as good. I think the story only got better as we moved into the second book. If you need rejuvenation in the wide world of the regency romance, you will find it here.

And now, as the Monty Python intro says, for something completely different.

I have just finished 'The Shadow of Albion' by Andre Norton and Rosemary Edghill (TOR) and I am absolutely enchanted. I hope there is going to be a sequel. It's an alternative world fantasy set in a world where the Stuarts retained the throne of England, there was no American Revolt and where there are still vestiges of the Arts Magickal. The year is 1805 and Bonaparte threatens to engulf the world. England stands against him.

The young Lady Sarah Roxbury is dying due to her own folly and with a important task unfinished. She summons from our mundane world her double, Sarah Cunningham, to take her place and finish what needs to be done, including marriage to the Duke of Wessex, a secret agent in the service of the Stuart throne.

The authors obviously had a lovely time with this book. Beau Brummell in this world is a valet to the young, impetuous Prince James Stuart, heir to the throne of England. There's a nod to "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in the pseudonym of Citizen Orczy used by the Duke in one of his trips across France-- "The Scarlet Pimpernel" was written by Baroness Orczy, and one of the members of a dinner party given by Madame de Stael in the prison town of Verdun is 'a Belgian Devine named Poirot'. Let us know forget another dinner guest, Sir John Adams from the northern colonies of America who misses his wife Abby very much!

Add the missing Dauphin, the wonderfully villainous Marquis de Sade, a missing Danish Princess, a dungeon and loads of hair raising escapes.

No sex, but some strong emotion. Unfortunately it's not in paperback yet but if you like alternative world fantasy with a nice ironic touch I cannot recommend this book too highly