This book, the first Science Fiction I remember reading after Jules Verne, introduced me to the idea of parallel universes. The hero is a teenager, so this was a book I could identify with as a young person. It takes for granted space travel and living on the moon, two important ideas in other science fiction. It is a simple story, but well written

If you're expecting something in Devlin & Emmerich's universe, this won't be what you had in mind. Yes, there are long-lived aliens with many wonders from a dying world, who sought out a new home when their own world lay dying - but their lost homeworld was *Earth*. Yes, they found a primitive people struggling to survive - but they offered learning, not tyranny. Unfortunately, both the Star Lords and their now-resentful protegees feel it was a mistake - the Terrans don't want to lead the people of Gorth into their own old mistakes, and some of the Gorth leaders feel that the Star Lords have deliberately withheld their last secrets: their seemingly eternal lives and strange weapons. Now the ships at Terranna are preparing to space once more, this time seeking an empty world.

Kincar s'Rud, like so many of Norton's star characters, has lost everything - in his case, on the night of his grandfather's death. As the son of his grandfather's eldest daughter, he is the rightful heir - but the "s'Rud" branding him as the son of Rud, one of the aliens of the mysterious city of Terranna, turned his mother's people against him. Both his parents died years ago, and his mother's kin have cast him out, so he seeks Terranna, hoping to reach it before the last ships leave.

But as it happens, some of the Star Lords can't bear to leave their adopted home, so they came up with an alternate solution - a Star Gate, which travels not through space or back in time, but crosstime - to an alternate version of Gorth's history. (Combining the notions of crosstime travel and space travel is relatively rare in SF, oddly enough.) Those seeking the Gate include some of Rud's kin - his brother, for one - so Kincar s'Rud is welcome to join their search for a Gorth where intelligent life never arose, which they can settle with a clear conscience.

Their first attempt, while unsuccessful, brings them to a history they can't pass by - a world where the Star Lords came indeed, but to a Gorth with a far more advanced civilization - and to which they deliberately brought enslavement and misery. The feel of the story reminds me of Norton's later collaborations with Mercedes Lackey in creating _The Elvenbane_ and its sequels.

Can one group of Star Lords undo the evil done by another - especially when Gorth's people have good reason to distrust all of them? And if they can intervene, do they have the right to try?

This book collects two of Andre Norton's novellas in one package. Both have to do with planets where safaris are conducted for the pleasure of wealthy offworlders, and both leave the reader wanting more in terms of either explanation or detail.
The first, "Star Hunter" (1961), is the better of the two. In this one, the safari leader on the planet Jumala has cooked up a scheme whereby he can exact revenge on the space syndicate that has done him dirty. His scheme involves planting a young man on the planet with a set of conditioned memories, and passing the young man off as a lost heir. The scheme goes awry when unsuspected native life on the planet rises up and starts setting traps for the safari men. The story certainly moves quickly, and there is no dearth of action and monsters and color. But in the end, there is also no explanation for any of the mysteries we have witnessed--only a vague hinting at best--and this reader was left extremely disappointed. Rather than being left with that "wonder of space" and the mystery-of-the-cosmos feeling that Norton might have been trying to convey, all that most readers will be left with, I feel, is a sense of being gypped.
"Voodoo Planet" (1959), at 62 pages, might not even be considered a novella; more like a long short story. This tale constitutes the third installment of the Dane Thorson/Solar Queen series, and is a rather weak entry in this otherwise terrific bunch of books. Here, Dane, Captain Jellico, and Medic Tau are stranded on Khatka, a planet that had been settled many years ago by Africans after the Second Atomic War. Our boys fight off many alien creatures in the wilds of Khatka--the fight with the rock apes is a highlight of the story--and help conquer the evil witch doctor who is trying to overthrow the legitimate government. Magic is thrown about left and right with only a superficial, mumbo-jumbo explanation of how things are done; something about ancestral memories. When all is said and done, the reader has enjoyed the sequences with the alien monsters but is left shaking his/her head at the implausibility of the magical elements. What might have worked in a tale of the "Witch World" somehow doesn't fly in this tale of hard sci-fi survival.
And let's not even go into how Norton makes up words such as "discordinate," constantly uses the word "turgid" instead of "turbid" (as in "the water was turgid"), and constantly uses expressions such as [the other figure was] "still very still." Her early works certainly did lack polish, but even here, in some of her lesser early work, the Norton flair for telling an exciting tale with color and drive comes through.

The two novellas herein do not form a novel when put together; they're both set in the Council / Confederation universe, but don't involve the same characters. Why they've been allowed to be out of print so long passes my understanding.

"Star Hunter" - Ras Hume was blacklisted as a star pilot, courtesy of the craziness of the drug addict who was 3rd owner of the Kogan-Bors-Wazalitz line, which left him with high-profile commendations (the records couldn't be wiped after the Patrol got them), a pension, and a plasta-flesh hand. In his new career as a member of the Out-Hunter's Guild, he's been able to console himself with exploring new planets to open for safaris for the rich. On the newly-discovered world of Jumala, he found (and didn't report) something that may let him extract some payback from the company that cost him his career - if he can bring together a scheme involving port-rat Vye Lansor and crime boss Milfors Wass.

Vye Lansor is really the focus of the story: one of the down-and-out youngsters who appear often in Norton's work. On the occasions when they manage to scramble out of the pits into which life has tossed them, they don't live happily ever after, but they manage to build a life for themselves - if they survive.

"Voodoo Planet" - Over the years, this has been the hardest to find of all the _Solar Queen_ stories, fitting into the narrow gap between the end of _Plague Ship_ and the beginning of _Postmarked the Stars_, when the Queen is being refitted to pick up her new contract as a mail ship between Xecho and Trewsworld. Only Captain Jellico, medic Tau, cargo apprentice Dane Thorson, and Sindbad (ship's cat) are aboard when a Chief Ranger from Khatka, Xecho's sister planet, comes calling.

Tau, as a hobby anthropologist specializing on 'magic', is fascinated by Khatka's people rather than its legendary hunting preserves. The original colonists broke out of a concentration camp in Africa during the Second Atomic War, then started a reverse-apartheid system. (That aspect of their culture appears to have been eliminated by the time this story opens, though.) Now somebody has dug deep into their cultural weaknesses, and is using 'magic' to psychologically drive key men in Khatkan politics to their deaths. Tau is asked to bring Jellico and Thorson along, and try to uncover whoever is behind this reign of sabotage and murder.

If planetary cultures of African origin interest you, try Norton's _Android at Arms_, which deals with another such planet at greater length and in more detail.

The story was relatively interesting, if a bit dry. The biggest problem I had with it was the lack of continuity with the rest of the series.

This book chronologically takes place a short time after Black Trillium. That would be fine if May and Norton had discussed it, but the lines of communication apparently failed.

If May knew how Norton was to conclude her story, she must have ignored it, because the character traits displayed by Kadiyah in Golden Trillium were not displayed by her in Blood Trillium.

Overall, I prefer the Kadiyah of Golden Trillium, to her through the eyes of May in Blood Trillium. I wish that something of that had been carried on.

The World of Three Moons did not seem the same world as that in the earlier works, or the later works. The appearance of the Sidonna didn't match the reference to them in the later works. It also did not have the strength of The Trillium due to the limited role of Haramis (maybe a paragraph), and the non-appearance of Anigel.

I do not think this is the best of Norton's work. If you are interested in the ongoing storyline of the World of Three Moons, you can safely ignore this book and miss none of that storyline. If you are an ANdre Norton fan, try to find it second hand.

I have to admit I've read better books than this. It was better than Black Trillium, which I found practically nauseating, but I read through Golden Trillium only because I kept thinking the plot would pick up a little. It never did-- at least not until the very end, where a novel's worth of conflict is squeezed into about two chapters.

If you managed to plow your way through Golden Trillium and/or Black Trillium, read Marion Zimmer Bradley's Lady of the Trillium--it's infinitely better. If you haven't read Golden Trillium yet, do yourself a favor and check it out of the library, so you won't feel cheated.

I liked this book a lot, I think It can easily be one of the best of the saga, the fact that Kadiya was the only triplet in the story troubled me a little but a part from that it was great!

Like other reviewers I hoped to get more out of the sequel after reading Shadow of Albion, and I like Edghill. But the paperback, even with fewer footnotes, was hard going.
The threads never came together satisfactorily and the plot was ridiculous. I don't mind christianity vs satanism in a book butin this one it made the characters extremely one-dimensional and just didn't gel with the magic mixed with voodoo.
How is Sarah supposed to prevent the People's decimation with or without the Sahoya's help? Why is the chief's son courting her? What exactly did the Grail do? The book raised loads of questions and answered none--the authors would have done better taking out most of these plot devices.
I'll read other books by both authors--just not the ones they co-author.

Is it a bad sign that I just finished this book the night before last, and now I'm hard-pressed to remember much of the plot?

This book's predecessor, _Shadow of Albion_, was fun in a light sort of way, with the promise of sequels that would delve deeper into the faery magic at which it hints. I should have gotten my first clue about _Leopard in Exile_ when I looked at the cover art. Thomas Canty's drawings are lovely as always, but this illustration looks like it's supposed to be a rough preliminary sketch, compared to the sublime cover of _Albion_. Even the typefaces are clunkier. But I tried not to judge the book by its cover.

Inside, though, I found little of interest. I had hoped that the characters, who were kind of cardboard in _Albion_, would get fleshed out now that we're getting to know them better. Nope, still cardboard. It's even worse in this one because people are going around moping about how much they love their husband/wife and yet the relationship has not been developed in the story. Why do they love each other? Because the authors say so, I guess. And to add more frustration, the authors seem to be under the impression that a good plot can be obtained simply by continually landing the characters in danger. (It reminds me of a 70s bodice-ripper I read years ago, in which the heroine got raped, then shipwrecked on a tropical island, THEN kidnapped by pirates, THEN trapped in an opium den... You get the idea.) Dropping the characters into one problem after another works pretty well if we KNOW the characters and CARE what happens to them, but since they're still 2-D, the constant action keeps us from learning any more about them. It's just crisis after crisis after crisis, and seldom a conversation. Not to mention, the magic doesn't get explained! Sarah went to the New World to fulfill a promise to the Fair Folk, but then they were absent for the first nine-tenths of the book, then showed up just long enough to give Sarah some vague aid against the villain, then disappeared again, without any explanation.

I don't know if I'll read the third Carolus Rex book. I know both Norton and Edghill are capable of better books than this. Let's hope they remember that.

I wasn't really intending to review this book, but I kept writing one as I read it, so:

Negatives:
1. The footnotes were QUITE condescending. Fortunately they were dropped after the first chapter in the paperback version, or this book would have quickly become wall-thumping material.

2. The characters are painfully flat. Wessex is a character out of a cut-rate Regency romance; I would have accepted him that way if the book WAS a Regency romance, but this is Andre Norton. Many of the characters have only one or two major traits and grow boring quickly (read: Robie, the Sahoya, etc.).

3. The plot was clunkly and terrible. Also the opening scene of d'Charenton was disgusting beyond need. I really don't feel it was necessary to peg him as "evil," most people have heard of the Marquis de Sade. (Or if we haven't I'm sure Edghill would be happy to tell us about him).

The postitive:
1. If you skim through certain bits of the novel, the pacing is quite fast. I mostly found myself wishing that the book was over and that they would not write another, but I find that my wishes will not be granted--they intend to write a third.

I honestly meant to give this book three stars, but now that I think over it, it is a two star book. I really hope the third doesn't actually get put out. I COULD have read a cheap Regency and been just as satisfied with the result, maybe even more so because the clunky plot devices would be thankfully absent. There are much better books that combine the topics of the Regency and magic, and any reader would do well to pick up one of these instead.

As other reviewers have reported, this book is not up to Andre Norton's standards. Its characters are somewhat sketchy (especially the latecomer character "Marcala,"...). Zazar seems intriguing; there are hints about her past, but little attention is paid to her in the text. The emotional focus of the book is clearly on Ashen Deathdaughter, so I was disappointed that so much of the book was spent examining other characters -- Ysa, the Queen, for example, gets chapter upon chapter of page-time, though her character seems forced and stiff.

The physical environs and cultures described in the book are somewhat better treated. It seems clear that the kingdom of Rendel is meant to resemble medieval French culture, with its intricate politics and emphasis on grace and beauty. The "Sea-rovers" are rather less convincing as Viking analogues, but nonetheless rather interesting. The Bog-culture I thought poorly handled, particularly the habit of the Bog folk to speak in ungrammatical "ugh ugh me savage, kill you good" fashion. It goes beyond the point of adding regional flavor and well into the realm of caricature.

The book's single biggest flaw was its pacing. It took an AGONIZINGLY long time for all of the disparate characters to meet one another. If you think of Ashen, Obern, and Ysa as the three main characters, I'd say about two thirds of the book passed before any one of them met any one of the others.

That said, the series might have potential. Now that each of these characters has been introduced, in the next book the authors can roll up their sleeves and get down to some actual story with all the elements that have been set up. This first book seems to me to be mainly a way of setting the stage for things to come, though it certainly could have been better done in about half the space.

I mentioned above that this book is not up to Andre Norton's standards... Notice that the book is *co-authored.* I think most of the actual book was written by Sasha Miller, and that Norton served primarily for oversight and advice.

I am somewhat doubtful of Ms. Miller's abilities based on this book; but you have to start somewhere, so I would be willing to buy and read one or two more books of hers before rendering a final judgement.

I love Andre Norton. When I discovered SF, it was Norton who turned me on. Her collaboration with Sasha Miller hasn't diminished her ability to string together a fascinating world. The land of Oak, Ash, Yew, and Rowan has the potential to be as interesting as Witch World.

In this initial book in the series, however, we are treated to Ashen who never really takes the novel into her own hands. Instead, she reacts. Reacts to Zazar, the witch-woman who raises her, to the Bog people among whom she is raised, and to the man who captures her. Prince Florian (Ashen's half-brother) is not much of a character either. All he is is greedy. Although the Sea Raiders are set up as good-guys, their cold-blooded attack on the bog people put me off.

I liked Queen Ysa. Alone among the characters in TO THE KING A DAUGHTER, she knows what she wants and sets about getting it. The fact that Ashen is in her way means little to her--and why should it? Ysa believes she is doing what is right for the kingdom and there is every evidence that she is right. At least she is making decisions and moving the book forward.

The writing and the setting are too compelling not to look forward to the next book in this series. Although I had troubles with the novel, I still found it hard to put it down. Just don't expect a WITCH WORLD.

To the King a Daughter is the first volume in the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash and Rowan trilogy. This new fantasy series describes the history of Rendel during the period after the strike of the great thunder-star has freed the Great Foulness. Once there were four great powers in the world -- Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan -- but time and war have reduced these powers to shadows of their former glory. The King of Oak is a drunken lout, the Queen of Yew is a magical schemer, and Ash and Rowan are nearly dead.

In this novel, a woman pregnant with the King's daughter, and Ash's heir, flees to the Bale Bog, there to give birth and die. The newborn is named Ashen Deathdaughter by Zazar, the Wysen-wyf who delivers her. Ashen is raised as Zazar's apprentice, doing lessons and chores and running through the boglands. Since she is an Outlander, the bog-folk would, by custom, have tossed her into the nearest bog, but Zazar protects her. As she grows older, the young men are somewhat ambivalent about her, both attracted and repelled.

The soldiers of the Yew who have followed Ashen's mother's party believe that the pregnant woman has been lost in the mire, which would surely please the Queen, for now there would be no others to dispute her son's right to the throne. Of course, the young prince is only concerned at this time with bargaining for a pony of his own and, as he grows older, he learns that visits to his ill father are worth plum pudding for desert. So like his father, Queen Ysa thinks, but there is still time to train him to loftier pursuits.

In the far north, the only city of the Sea-Rovers has been destroyed by the tsunami following the thunder-star strike. The surviving ships rendezvous with their High Chief, Snorri, in the land of the Nordens, but then sail on to establish a new city on some hospitable shore; to repay the kindness shown them, the Sea-Rovers transport a Norden emissary, Count Bjauden, to Rendel. Unfortunately, after near three years of battles, the Sea-Rovers are driven out of their new lands by a enemy from the northern ice regions and they have to flee again, this time to the Ashenhold in Rendel. Snorri's son, Obern, is sent ahead to scout and to find a safe harbor.

In Rendel, Queen Ysa spins her webs and, after she gains the four great rings of Oak, Yew, Ash and Rowan, uses their magic to forward her plots. She has virtual control of everyone in Rendel...except her own son. Indeed, the young Prince, out of spite, commissions one of the house servants to assassinate Count Bjauden and leave his body in a ruined city in the Bog.

This series is based on an archetype in many religions, the weavers of lifelines, who have been known in various times and places as the Fates, the Norns, Brigit, and other names. Certain trees are significant to most of the Western European religions, but the mythos of the Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan is specific to the old religions of the British Isles and France, particularly to what is now known as Wicca. Thus, the background of this story is drawn from the mythology of Pre-Christian Europe that has figured so prominently in other Norton stories. However, the story overlays this religious context on the architecture, dress, customs and mores of Western Europe of about the 14th century CE, yet with neither the influence of Rome nor the competition between England and France.

Sasha Miller has previously contributed a story to Norton's On the Wings of Magic anthology in The Turning series of Witch World related writings. She has also written Ladylord, a fantasy novel similar in plot, but not treatment, to Moore's Jirel of Joiry. Insofar as I am aware, this is the first novel that she has co-authored with Norton.

Recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys war, magic and feudal politics in a fantasy setting.

The first chapter is fast paced and exciting; probably written by Norton, who left the rest of the book to the junior author. The remainder of the book drags on and on, with no character development, no interesting fantasy evironment, no action, and really nothing to recommend it.

I picked this book up because I had enjoyed Norton's writing in the past. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed by the book. The plot was interesting--if unoriginal--and the book had some cute parts to it. However, the writing style was juvenile at best. The book often seemed more like a plot summary than a novel, so that the authors were able to skim through the events of several decades in 244 pages. The book was told from the point of view of several characters over the span of about 40 years, giving the book a disjointed tone. None of the characters was ever really developed, and most of the villains were incredibly shallow. The ending was anticlimactic and inconclusive. The authors often left out even incredibly basic descriptions, so that I often didn't know what characters looked like. All in all, I had the impression that the authors didn't like the book very much and were trying to get through it as quickly as possible. If they had filled it out properly, or made it into two full novels, it might have been worth the paper it was printed on. The book might be appropriate for adolescent readers, but adult readers might want to look for something a little bit better.

Oh yes, exactly! I, I suppose in contrast to those prior in reviews, LOVED this book incredibly. While I DO wish that Cee's story was expanded upon (towards the end it seemed a little rushed) I still can't wait for a sequel! I'm now reading the "Chronicles of Witchworld," and wish most desperately I could find a sequel on the story of Ciara's granddaughter.

... This book, "A Crown Disowned," suffers from too many plot discontinuities, bad characterization, very cardboard, wooden dialogue, and manages to do something I never had done in all the years I've read books -- made me want to throw a book Andre Norton has contributed to across the room.

Let me try and explain. Basically, in the previous two books, Ashen was a sympathetic character (although toward the end of book two, she started becoming less sympathetic, as she did not like her stepson's girlfriend). However, in this book, Ashen seems rather pointless. The action doesn't really revolve around her -- it revolves around Queen Ysa, who at best is a tragic heroine. Ashen's romance, which was one of the focal points of the first two books, is an afterthought here, and her daughter's romance with the young boy-king seemed tacked-on hurriedly.

Plus, there's no real sense of how time is passing in this book. There seem to be very few time referents, which is extremely strange. I thought it was probably due to poor editing or the rush to get this book to the printers, as I couldn't understand why else it'd happen.

The big confrontation loses all steam once the big bad Flavielle is gone, and considering she's taken out more by incompetence than anything, that's a major waste of resources. Personally, I'd rather have seen someone deliberately succeed in taking her out, rather than the drugged, half-feverish way it's done in this book.

Basically, I didn't care about any of the characters at the end of this book, and I was glad the book was over (even though I'd really looked forward to it, and had enjoyed the first two books of the series). Like I said, it's probably one of the worst books I've read in a long time, and I regret paying hardcover price for it.

If I could give this less than one star, I would, despite my high respect for Ms. Norton and her stature in the field.

A Crown Disowned is the third novel in the Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan and the last in the trilogy. The previous volume ended with King Peres on the throne, Ashen married to Gaurin, Rohan knighted, Anamara mad and lost in the Bog, and the dowager Ysa learning that the long awaited invasion from the north has begun.

This novel begins with a meeting between Rohan and the Bog headman Tusser in the remains of the city of Galinth. While debating the fine points of alliance, they are interrupted by a group of men, hired by the dowager Ysa, who are trying to burn up the Bog. After fighting off the Outlanders, they discover Anamara in the ruins and take her to Zazar for healing.

Despite the severity of the situation, the dowager clings to her plots and magic. Throughout most of the book, she tries to control everybody. One of the funniest places in the book is when the dowager Ysa is told that Rannore has married Lathrom, the former Sergeant. Of course, Ysa is scandalized that Rannore has married well below her station and is frustrated to learn that her son, King Peres, has knighted Lathrom and has granted him lands and properties.

Meanwhile, Ashen studies the magic tome found by Esander, Zazar prepares for a summons, and the Foul One uses Flavielle to set up a trap. In the north, the armies of the Rendelians, Nordorn, Sea-Rovers and Bog-folk fight Ice Dragons, Frydans and renegade humans. The Unnatural cold is as deadly as the enemy.

The ultimate confrontation is not obvious, but is satisfying, and the aftermath is even more so. Recommended for all fans of Andre Norton and Sasha Miller as well as anyone who likes adventure fantasy with a touch of romance.

The human, inhuman and ice dragon armies of the Great One march south causing havoc to an already besieged Rendelsham and the other southern lands already struggling with hostile frozen precipitation. To survive the onslaught, the four great houses of the south must unite in an alliance against the seemingly invincible Great One. However, a key player, dowager Queen Ysa, appears in denial as she continues to divide rather than unite by pushing the rivalries between the houses.

However, even Ysa ultimately realizes the danger though it may prove to late when the Ice Dragons begin spewing out frozen waste at its southern targets. Rohan and his Sea Rovers with their ships try to unite with the Nodors and the Bog-folk in an uneasy alliance. Unbeknownst to the desperate southern alliance is the Great One's most loyal servant is a sorceress who has seduced Rendelsham's High Marshal into leading Rohan and his allies into a trap. If they escape, they still must find a way to defeat the Great One's superior armies, unconquerable ice dragons, and ultimately yield magic that none seem to possess to crush the Great One.

The third Cycle of Oak, Yew, Ash, and Rowan novel, A CROWN DISOWNED is an exciting sword and sorcery tale though the story line provides little new from the previous two novels of this entertaining series. The fantasy contains numerous subplots focusing on war, intrigue, and betrayal, albeit the typical fare for an S&S novel. Still the cast engages the reader especially the enchanting magic gathering the myriad of fans of Andre Norton and Sasha Miller into the fold of a fine finale.

Harriet Klausner

Set like _Catseye_ in Norton's Council/Confederation universe, _Eye of the Monster_'s title is also drawn from a character's efforts to understand an alien perspective, but the story is set on the jungle planet Ishkur rather than a human colony world. Furthermore, unlike Troy Horan of _Catseye_, Rees Naper needs to understand the people of Ishkur not because they're potential allies, but because they're potential enemies.

The Ishkurians are intelligent reptiles, like crocodiles who walk upright, although "Croc" is what one of the mission kids calls "a degrade name". (The term "politically incorrect" didn't exist in 1962, when this novel was first published.) They're introduced so as to put distance between them and the audience; in fact, the notable thing on the morning the story opens is that none of them are around, or else the mission director wouldn't be brewing coffee - the smell makes Ishkurians queasy, and humans reciprocate with distaste for Ishkurian scent. The mission's eerie silence is broken by radio reports of the Patrol's ongoing withdrawal from Ishkur, giving fair warning to any offworld personnel who wish to leave as well.

Oddly enough, Rees' communication problems begin much nearer home. When his father, a Survey officer, was killed in the line of duty some years ago, Rees' uncle, Dr. Milo Naper, removed him from cadet school. As a mission man, Naper disapproves of the military mindset of the Services - Survey and the Patrol among them. He's quite vocal in expressing his good-riddance attitude toward the Patrol's departure, confident that relations with the Ishkurians will proceed much more smoothly once free of such ignorant clods. After all, Milo's worked on Ishkur for more than 20 years, and he *knows* some of the people reported - falsely, surely - as being involved in acts of aggression against offworlders. Rees still has the heart of a scout's son, taking the Patrol's warnings of a potential native uprising seriously.

Many offworlders have already left, not wishing to rely on Ishkurian goodwill - even some of Naper's own mission staff, including Vickery, the hunter Rees assists now that he's grown and earning his way. The few remaining offworlders have received personal assurances of friendship, particularly the Salariki trader Sakfor of the neighbouring trade outpost. (Salariki are prudent folk, after all.)

None of it was enough. Checking up on Vickery's animals (accompanied by tagalong Gordy, whose parents are colleagues of Rees' uncle), Rees finds the mutilated body of Vickery's pet nighthound. Being closer to their compound than to the mission, and knowing that Sakfor has his family with him, Rees moves fast to deliver a warning - but not fast enough. The smoke of the burning of Sakfor's trade goods is the least of the horror of the massacre taking place there. After acting to rescue any Salariki survivors - Gordy's needed to persuade Zannah, a little girl, out of hiding - Rees moves on to the main action of the story: trying to reach and evacuate the mission, followed by the survivors' efforts to reach safety - if any is to be had.

_Eye of the Monster_ lacks the depth and texture of some more famous pursuit-across-country Norton stories. Analyzing why _Eye of the Monster_ doesn't leave as strong an impression with me as most Norton stories do, I considered 3 of the pursuit-sequences in the novel _Witch World_ (Alizon, Verlaine, and Karsten) that I *do* find satisfactory. What _Eye of the Monster_ lacks is a deeper context beyond the desperate journey toward safety, such as the unfolding of a new world (as at the beginning of _Witch World_) or the overall situation beyond the problems of this particular group (the Kolder War in _Witch World_).

Rees' people - and through his eyes, readers - aren't learning about a new world; they've lived on Ishkur for some time. We see less of Rees' efforts to think like an Ishkurian than the title would lead one to expect, though to be fair he and his companions have more immediate problems for much of the story. I feel that we see and learn more of the Salariki of Sargol than of the people of Ishkur. Even the reasons behind the uprising aren't fully explored. Neither are those behind the Patrol's withdrawal, unless the reader is meant to infer that the Ishkur uprising occurred just before the Council/Confederation war broke out.

On the flip side, one of the strong points of _Eye of the Monster_ is that the story features the feline Salariki in major roles right alongside humans. (_Plague Ship_ is still *the* book to read for a window on Sargol; the fugitives here are in too much trouble to provide deep insight into their respective cultures.) Another point is that Rees isn't a galactic hero; he makes well-intentioned mistakes, for instance, in coping with young Gordy that have serious consequences.

Worth reading, but could have been a stronger book.

Andre Norton had already published more than forty novels when "Eye of the Monster" was released in 1962. This was well before Arnold Schwarznegger won his first Mr. Junior Europe title and went on to greater glory in his first film, "Hercules Goes to New York" (1970). However, Ms. Norton must have someone like him in mind to play the role of her hero, Rees Naper in "Eye of the Monster."

Rees goes crashing through Ishkurian jungles à la Arnold in "The Predator," blasting the alien 'Crocs' who went on a killing rampage of their own:

"Then the warning hit him; the musky, nauseatingly strong odor of Crocs in a killing rage. It could be that some were near now, or it could be the lingering reminder of a recent visit, or attack.

"Crouching low, he began to move towards the lab. On the office threshold he halted. A croc lay dead at his feet.

"The body pinned by darts to the desk inside was his uncle."

The author gives us a tense, thrill-a-minute tale as her hero rescues two children and a woman from what was left of a missionary camp and a trading station. However, "Eye of the Monster" is very atypical Norton, even though one of the children and the woman happen to be Salariki---the feline aliens first introduced in "Plague Ship (1956)." I think the author must have set herself the task of writing a pure "Bullard of the Space Patrol" SF thriller before immersing herself in the mysticism and magic of her 'Witch World' fantasies.

Andre Norton (born Alice Mary Norton) was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and the Nebula Grand Master Award, so you will still enjoy a well-crafted thriller in "Eye of the Monster." However Rees Naper is a more muscular, blaster-happy hero than her usual run of intuitive, plucky, sometimes handicapped main characters. I will even venture to guess that she got tired of Naper, since this book ends rather abruptly.

We never do learn why the Crocs went on a rampage or how they managed to steal and operate their advanced technology weapons. However, Naper and his band of survivors manage to escape the gristly fate of their former companions and kin.

I found myself bursting into laughter thoughout this book. I know some people may like the dialogue, but it really ruined the entire mood, if there was one, for me. If you want one word to describe the dialogue, it's 'inane'.

I borrowed this book from a friend who said it was pretty good (of course, she reads dictionaries for fun) and began reading. It seemed okay at first, albeit a bit boring. The further I got in this book, the more I wondered if this was some author's idea of a practical joke. The plot was crazy - there was very little of it and the little that existed was confusing and/or cliched. The characters are so wooden you could build a bridge out of 'em (sorry, random Monty Python quote).

Oh, and one of them is named Rhys. I loathe that name.

I would love to give you some examples of just how laughable this book really sounds, but I gave the book back looong ago. It's the only one I've actually returned to her within the same week I borrowed it, which tells you something. In fact, the only reason I finished it at all was that I was incredibly bored and that dialogue was hysterical.

All right, I'll stop harping on the dialogue.

The monster itself, which is not a monster after all, is thrown in there so randomly that I was left scratching my head (metaphorically) and staring at the book in surprise when I finished. Much of the plot seemed random, when I could follow it. I love fantasy, but books like these make me start to question my faith in the genre.

In closing, I hope the rest of the series is better than this...although I doubt it could be worse. If you're ever depressed and want something to cheer (or crack) you up, just pick up this book. They should rename it "How Not To Write A Fantasy Story".

This book is about an apprentice to the embroiderer Dame Araglas named Sarita and a ranger named Rhys and their adventure in Var-the-Outer.

This book is boring. It has a wonderful IDEA for the plot but Norton over-embellished and as a result, you find yourself reading about dark dank halls and the numerous sub-plots. It's as if the main plot finally figured out it wasn't being paid attention to and it ran away from it's abusing master.

Most reviews of this book were to say the least bad. I however enjoyed it. it was what I like to call brain candy. YOu don't have to think hard to read it. You just enjoy it. If you like Andre Norton's works, this is not her best effort, but it is a fun and quick read to pique further interest into scifi/fantasy reading for someone just starting to develop a taste for it. BTW, I wouldn't reccommend this for a guy. This was definitely a chick book.

I think that anyone who says that this book isn't good is a true lover of fantasy. The plot was great and well-developed, the characters strong and the scenery fantastic. It was the first book I've read by Norton and I am now a great fan of hers! I know a good book when I read it and this was definitely one of them!