These are two books from the early 60's that were originally published as Juveniles (current category is known as Young Adult).

The Defiant Agents has not worn as well as the second book mainly because it is built around a Cold War inspired race between the US and Russia to colonize space. The thing that really saves this book from being dated though is Norton's distrust of all big government.

The US team was sent into space under Redax, a conditioning that returns their thought processes to that of their ancestors-- Apaches living in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Although they were volunteers for experimentation and exploration, they were not made fully aware of what they were going to be used for by their superiors. Consequently, when their space ships cracks up on entry the survivors. some thinking they are living in the past, some more aware of the present are confronted with a puzzle. They must figure out how to survive in an alien world where their neighbors are escapees from the Russian mind control project-- and the Russians want their people back.

Key Out of Time moves to the water world of Hawaikan. Ross Murdock, a character from the earlier books, is thrown into the past of this world when a storm blows up while they are setting up a time gate. The Russians are only mentioned in the beginning so the book feels less dated than Defiant Agents. The action here involves a struggle among the ancient people of Hawaikan to escape the influance of the mysterious aliens whose wrecked ship provided the technology that let the people of Earth reach into space.

These books are well worth reading. Individually I gave Defiant Agents a 4 and Key Out of Time a 5. The first one was pulled down by the Russian/US conflict that probably doesn't resonate with current attitude toward the Russians.

Andre Norton's TIME TRADERS is actually two of her books The Time Traders and Galactic Derelict, published 1958 and 1959, respectively. Though published over 40 years ago and times have changed it is an excellent read. This is the kind of writing that inspired us all to think of the future and what it could hold. Who knew the USA and Russia would become friends?

To gain perspective on when these novellas were released, Kennedy is President and Khrushchev is in power. The first moon walk has not occurred yet and the Mets winning the world Series is several year away when these two classic novellas were released. Both hold up well even with four decades of incredible gains by the scientific and technological communities, and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Some Cold War vestiges may seem outdated, yet nicely fit into the two story lines.

"The Defiant Agents". Travis Fox and crew land on planet Topaz where they must reach inside to their Apache heritage to battle a difficult climate and a Russian team of explorers who likewise dig deep into their Mongol heritage.

"Key Out of Time". Time Agent Ross Murdock needs to unite three radically different cultures and potential enemies into one force to repel the dangerous invading Baldies.

The anthology remains strong and actually shows how the great Andre Norton influenced future science fiction authors. Tales like these are why she remains one of the best loved writers of the twentieth century and now the twenty-first century.

Harriet Klausner

Andre Norton, the Grande Dame of Science Fantasy, the unparalled story teller, the most politically ignored science fiction writer has colleted together three of her most imaginative and thrilling tales. Long before the "Pop" culture and "New Wave" she was relating para-psycholobical and extra-terrestial concepts to the exploits of the most characterologically developed humans, aliens and animals. Her imagination is so expertly prsented thatt the reader will wonder whether the stories might nnot be real. Excitement on every page, from the first to the very last; an ability which few other authors have mastered. (And personally, she is a wonderfully kind and considerate woman.)

Warlock is a compilation of three novels -- Storm Over Warlock, Ordeal in Otherwhere, Forerunner Foray -- which have long been out a print in hardbound form, although frequently reprinted as paperbacks.

These novels have the signature characteristics of the early Norton stories: courageous young persons coping with adversity on their own. Her science fiction stories often added aliens and animals, telepathy and other psionic powers, the Thieves' Guild and the Patrol, and refugee survivors from interstellar wars, all of which are found in these novels.

Storm Over Warlock is the story of Shann Lantree, a contract laborer from the Dumps of Tyr, who is working on Warlock for the Terran Survey Corps. When Throgs attack the camp, he escapes with a pair of mutant wolverines. Later, he finds Ragnar Thorvald, the expedition leader, who had been away, but returned to Warlock only to be shot down by the Throgs. Lantree and Thorvald raid the Throg-occupied Survey camp for equipment and supplies and then head off to find the natives. The natives, however, do not want to be found and have a way of getting into people's head and making them do things against their will.

Ordeal in Otherwhere is about Charis Nordholm, a virtual slave of an illegal trader, Jagan. She has been acquired to act as liaison with the natives on Warlock, for the planet is a matriarchy. The female Wyverns are scaly and saurian, but have great psionic powers. They help Charis to escape from Jagan, provide her with a disk of power, and teach her some basic psionic skills, including telepathy and teleportation. On an impulse, she teleports to Jagan's camp site and finds it has been raided by an unknown force. She is discovered there by Shann Lantree, who is now a cadet in the Survey Corps. They pool their knowledge and decide that the male Wyverns, who have no psionic powers, are rising up against the matriarchy. Moreover, offworlder are using a psionic nullifier to block the matriarchs' power.

Forerunner Foray is about Ziantha, a sensitive from the Dipple who has been trained by the Thieves' Guild. She finds a compelling object during a foray into the treasure trove of High Lord Jacundus and develops a psychic tie with it. Her mistress, Yasa, a Salarika, and Ogan, a renegade parapsychologist, discover that the object is of Forerunner origin and is highly charged with psychic energy. They organize an expedition to discover its origins. On Wayfarer, they discover that the object has come from the tomb of Turan. Using her mind seach abilities, Ziantha guides them to the tomb, but is overwhelmed by the memories in the object. She awakes in the body of Vintra, war-captive of Turan, and Turan is occupied by someone else's mind.

Forerunner Foray is not about Warlock, per se, but reminders of Warlock and the Wyverns pop up throughout the novel. These stories were written during one of the most productive periods of Andre Norton's career. During this time, she wrote the first 12 Witch World stories, the first 4 Time Traders stories, the Magic series for younger children and many others. She also co-edited the Gates To Tomorrow anthology for young people. Although still ignored by the critics, she began to attract wider notice among the fans, not only for her juveniles, but also for her adult fantasies.

Warlock is recommended for all Andre Norton fans and anyone who likes stories about young people, and their animal friends, successfully coping with a hostile environment and even more hostile sentients.

The first book is Storm Over Warlock. The lead character, Shann Lantee, is the lowest ranking member of a survey team. When the team is attacked he escapes with two trained wolverines into the wilderness that is Warlock where he discovers the race of Wyvern who excel in illusions.

Ordeal in Otherwhere was Andre Norton's first juvenile where the the lead character was female. I understand her publisher was dubious about the idea. He shouldn't have been-- there was a population of readers who was ready to share the adventures of her heroine.

Brought to Warlock as a slave to communicate with the Wyvern who will not deal with men, Charis Nordholme finds herself stranded. However, there is more than surviving in a low tech world to worry about. The Wyverns, the warlock natives, are undergoing social unrest and a questioning of their matriarchal values as the Wyvern males attempt to throw off the control of the Wyvern matriachs.

One of Norton's enduring themes-- the ills of polarization of a society and the strength to be found in pulling together rather than pulling against one another, is worked out in these two books. The Wyverns, because of inequities in their society. have opened the door to greedy offworld interests, who definitely do not have the good of the Wvyerns at heart.

Forerunner Foray only has a tangential connection to the first two novels. It was published about ten years later, but it is still an entertaining book about Ziantho, an employee of the Thieve's Guild, who during a covert raid stumbles onto a Forerunner gem which she is mysteriously drawn to, as she is drawn to the esper, Ris Lantree, who "hears" her first attempt to discover the secret of the gem by mental power.

The gem is a focus of power belonging to a long dead race and they find themselves fleeing across space and time as they follow the history of the gem back to it's beginning. Altogether a darker book, but well worth reading.

Story about some important people of different races kidnapped and possibly replaced by androids for some unknown purpose. After a power failure they find a way to escape only to realize that as much as 50 years have passed and they dont seem to have aged which brings up the question that maybe they are the androids. Prince Andas with the help of Yolos a Salariki tries to undo what has been done only to find them selves transported to a Parallel home world devastated by some uknown power where Prince Andas finds himself as there only hope. Classic Andre Norton .

This book is set in the Psychocrat universe - those mad-scientist dictators whose experiments in human behavior used worlds as laboratories (see Norton's _Ice Crown_ for an example). In _Android at Arms_, the Mengians, heirs of the Psychocrats, have snatched about a dozen VIPs from their homeworlds over a period of years, always on the brink of momentous events - e.g. important trade negotiations, designations of heirs. Each victim was replaced by a ringer - an android duplicate. Now a gigantic electrical storm has disabled the security of the prison where they've been held (in some cases, for many years). None remember their capture or imprisonment, having been held in suspended animation and subjected to hypnocasters.

Or have they?

Which are the androids, and which are the originals? How can you tell, when the androids were crafted to be *perfect* duplicates?

We follow Andas, heir presumptive to the throne of Inyanga, a world settled many centuries ago during one of the first "outspreads" from Earth. By chance, Inyanga is closer to the prison planet than any other captive's homeworld, so the escapees head for sanctuary - only to find that even more time has passed than they thought, and that captivity hasn't united them.

Andas, having formed a friendship with Yolyos, a Salariki fellow prisoner, takes Yolyos into the secret ways of Inyanga's Triple Towers, the sprawling palace complex from which the Emperor rules a world - a city within a city. They venture even into the Flower Courts of the women - where death 'stalks more ruthlessly than the Emperor's dungeons.'

Inyanga's culture is drawn from African elements, rather than the more usual European-based fantasy. Exploring the culture and the political problems faced by Andas will keep you entertained as the prisoners try to cope with the Mengians' riddle - what is the nature of a man?

If you can't tell which is the android and which is the man - does the difference really matter?

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.

Andre Norton's books from the fifties and early sixties with a cold war background have not worn as well as her far future stories. I do not want to suggest though that she had a simplistic "us" versus "them" attitude.

In this near future book the US is in a race with the Russians to use alien technology scavenged from crashed spaceships to colonize planets outside our solar system. Because they feel that they are in dange of losing this race, men working for the United States government have decided to use a group of volunteers from the Apache tribe as subjects in an experiment without their knowledge. By use of the Redax, the volunteers will be made to think and act as Apaches of the 18th and 19th centuries would respond. It is hoped this would help them better adapt to life on a primative planet.

However, the spaceship they are traveling in crashes on the planet of Topaz. Travis Fox escapes with a group of the surviving volunteers. In exploring the planet he learns that they are not the only group on the planet. The Russians using their own version of the Redax have Mongol nomads as their subjects.

There is a definite feeling in this book that governments, each with their own goal would use whatever means are available to achieve that goal, no matter how it might affect the individual. This is occasionally mistaken for a paranoia about technology, but in reality it is a distrust of human altruism.

This is a good adventure story-- and the crashed alien ships yielding technology is going to be even more familiar to the X-file generation than it was to the original reader in 1963.

All I really wanted was to tell the shop the publisher details because they were not known in the initial search I did. The defiant agents published by Ace Books USA The Berkley Publishing Group. 200 Madison Avenue.New York. N.Y.10016 , my copy was the Eighth Printing in November 1984. I enjoyed the whole series, even lacking book number one The Time Traders

This is Norton for the younger reader-- about 5th grade to 9th grade. Four boys descended from four different cultures but all now living in the same neighborhood in the United States, assemble a puzzle that lets each of them have an adventure based on the dragon of each culture. In dealing with these dragons each boy learns an important lesson about cooperation and tolerance.

While the young adult reader may find this book a tad simplistic compared to Norton's adventure stories, this book can be a perfect way to introduce a reader at the appropriate level to the many worlds of Andre Norton.

Sig Dortmund, Ras (a.k.a. George Brown, but his older brother has persuaded him not to answer to that), Artie Jones, and Kim Stevens are the only boys in their age group who catch the bus outside the abandoned house on the extra-long run from the new development to their school. Each is lonely for one reason or another, but each keeps to himself. Until one by one, they sneak into the old archeologist's abandoned house, searching for hidden treasure. The only interesting thing is a 4-piece dragon puzzle, lying abandoned on a table. One by one, each assembles one quarter of the puzzle, and relives the history of that particular dragon, learning things that allow them to work together as a team in the end.

"Fafnir (Sig Clawhand)" - Sig Clawhand's deformed hand made him an outcast at Mimir Master-Smith's forge, where he lived and worked as a potboy. Only Sigurd King's-Son, working at the forge on the strength of Mimir's Foresight, has ever befriended him, and never called him 'Clawhand'. Thus it is that when Sigurd ventures forth against the dragon Fafnir, Sig fares forth as his faithful shadow.

"Sirrush-Lau (Prince Sherkarer)" - The lau, the demon-monster of the swamplands, brought ill luck to Napata upon its capture - the city was taken by the Babylonians, who took the lau back to Babylon as tribute. Sherkarer, a junior prince of the royal house of Napata and now a slave, is the only survivor of the original hunting party, so he has been taken along as the expert on the care and feeding of the lau (called sirrush by the Babylonians). But the Babylonian priests have made a wager concerning sirrush-lau with one of the king's advisors, and Sherkarer's only hope is to humble his pride and work with this strange enemy of the priesthood - a man called Daniel...

"Pendragon (Artos, son of Marius)" - Artos, the Pendragon, is the only thing standing between the realm and a long fall into barbarism, in these latter days after the fall of Rome, but he faces rebellion. Young Artos, the son of one of the Pendragon's faithful supporters, chances to learn of a conspiracy, and acts as a messenger to try to warn the king in time.

"Shui Men Lung - Slumbering Dragon (Chin Mu-Ti)" - The Emperor's canny old advisor might have looked half-asleep, but he was about as safe as the slumbering dragon he was called. When a general under his command rashly stakes his head as a wager on the success of a risky campaign, the old 'dragon' must salvage the situation.

I first read this book when I was in my early teens and would read virtually anything with a "sci-fi" or "fantasy" prefix. I became far pickier now :) Forerunner is set in one of two main worlds of Norton's, the same one where the Solar Queen traces the sky and It (or EEt, not sure of english spelling :) ) roams the uncharted stars. Like most of Andre's stories, this one is character driven, other things being secondary, while still masterfully executed. It is not too exciting, but I will recommend it to any Sci Fi or Norton fan, along woth many of her earlier books.

Don't confuse this book with _Forerunner Foray_ (public libraries sometimes mix them up). They're not part of the same series, in that they don't deal with the same characters or locales - just the same universe.

"Forerunner", in this setting, is a term used to refer to ancient artifacts of extinct species ('ancient' can be millions, or billions, of years). Forerunner artifacts may be gemstones, tumbled ruins - or massive automated installations, no telling, since there's no one 'Forerunner' civilization; it's just a catch-all term indicating both great age and alien culture. In this universe, archeologists compete not only with legitimate government agencies over custody of their finds, but with the Guild, that shadowy, loose organization of the Galaxy's criminals.

On the backwater, low-tech world where this story begins (if one can speak of real beginnings where roots run so deep), Kuxortal, favored by its location, draws not only on the sea trade and the trade of the continent drained by the river Kux, but the ships of the offworlders. While Kuxortal doesn't offer goods to attract the great combines who take the cream of interstellar trade, that in itself appeals to other elements - ships run by men who want a port where they can warehouse and exchange goods without awkward formalities like customs inspectors (as long as they pay due respect, and other proper dues, to the Guild Lords who run the city).

But the Guild Lords' palaces in the high reaches of Kuxortal are not the whole city - a city so old that its origins are lost in time, where any space vacated by the collapse or destruction of a building is speedily filled again, gradually raising the city ever higher above the river and the shore. In the depths, lie the Burrows - the basements, tunnels, and so on left by long built-over ruins, occupied by the lowest rung of the city's social ladder, scavengers who can only trade their pickings at the humblest of markets, who compete fiercely for any hope of a better life.

Odd things turn up in the burrows: lore that would surprise the lords, artifacts, and people - people sometimes resulting from such a mix of races that it seems that new species might almost be born from this cauldron - or even old ones from embers of an age long past. One such oddity is the foundling Simsa, of unknown parentage - whose startling silver-white hair is usually covered or darkened to match her blue-black skin, with weapons never seen until it's too late. (The edition illustrated by Barbi Johnson captures her appearance quite faithfully.)

So it is that after the death of her mentor Ferwar - the old crone who was both respected and feared as one who dealt in cures and old artifacts, with a fearsome command of curses - Simsa acts not just defend her place among the Burrowers, but to try to finagle her way into the upper city (or at least into a better grade of slum). The choicest of the artifacts left by Ferwar may, if traded to some offworlder, finance the venture.
Unfortunately, the man who stops to bargain with her isn't an ordinary crewman, but a scholar seeking not only Forerunner traces, but his brother, who vanished here seeking the same thing. Simsa, like everyone else, remembers the mad outlander who spat in the face of luck by venturing out into the desert.

Alas, even streetwise Simsa can't distance herself from Thom fast enough to escape the attention of the Guild Lords - those canny men who either wouldn't believe such a tall tale (and thus use 'interrogation' to find the real story) or who would seize any treasure for themselves and remove the witnesses. Like it or not, joining Thom in his search looks like the only way out...

Of all the books I've read by Norton, this is one of my favorites. I currently have five copies and have worn out three copies.

The book is very simply written, but gives the reader vivid mental imagery. The reader becomes involved with the story.

This is the one book I wish Andre Norton had written a sequal to. Maybe someone else will get the word to her and we can be treated.

LOVE THIS BOOK!!! If you're an Andre Norton fan, and you haven't read this book, you havent tasted Norton.

I own the TOR copy of this book and have read it a few times. It doesn't rank with my all-time favorites of Nortons, but is is well written and it does keep your attention throughout. It would be a good read for any fan and I recommend it.

The stories in this book are fascinating. It delves into the lives of many strange and colorful people. There are interesting and fanciful tales of adventure. It is a non stop look into the way many different authors weave their tales.

Adams, Robert: "Prologue" - This overview of the fair at Ithkar outlines its evolution from a simple religious festival, honoring the first appearance of the Three Lordly Ones in their Divine Egg, to a weeks-long fair. The temple makes good money, providing well-kept, well-policed fairgrounds.

Carter, Lin: "The Goblinry of Ais" - Lady Ais is a great beauty, whose fame has spread far over the years. But now she's interested in something more dangerous than politics...

Cherryh, C.J. "To Take a Thief" Sphix, like the small sly animal that's his namesake, is a 'good' thief: he never takes anything whose loss'll hurt the victim. But no one can ever keep to one level of evil...

Clayton, Jo: "Jezeri and Her Beast Go to the Fair and Find More Excitement Than They Want" When Jezeri's family took in Old 'Un, Tanu (a tiny little thing, whose like had never before been seen), crept out of his gear and won Jezeri's heart. Unfortunately, someone at the fair appears to know more about Tanu than Jezeri does...

Llywelyn, Morgan: "Fletcher Found" - The narrator, a "cuckoo's chick" among the mountain forge-folk, has in his loneliness become convinced that he's a foundling of those beings from another world, the Three Lordly Ones.

Mathews, Patricia: "Well Met in Ithkar" Master jeweller Corielle is reestablishing herself after what she can only now call 'the fortunes of war'. She'll never forget the voice of the man who ordered the beating that blinded her, even years later at Ithkar fair. But how can she formally identify him by voice alone?

Mayhar, Ardath: "Esmene's Eyes" Esmene's magnificent embroidery is magical - when she pours her very life into it. Despite her illness (she's slowly dying of internal injuries), she answers the priests' summons the fair, to wield her talents one last time.

Norton, Andre: "Swamp Dweller" Kara is one of the Quatka, animal trainers whose companions are Second-Kin to them, cherished and communicated with. Even the ugly, abused reptile Kara found in a beast seller's cage at the fair deserves consideration. But Kara feels that he has hidden potential...If you like this story, try Norton's _Moon of Three Rings_.

Sampson, Judith: "Qazia and a Ferret-Fetch" The evil wizard Chond is more than a match for any hero, and his ferret-fetch familiar will never let a prisoner escape. But when blind Hoel fetches up at the Joyous Goblet in Ithkar, tavernmistress Qazia won't let her guest be dragged away. (The ferret-fetch, by the way, is an interesting character in his own right.)

Schlobin, Roger C.: "For Lovers Only" Brother Jerome "the Huncher" piously wears a hair shirt - concealing his thefts from the temple treasury. He was driven half-crazy (and into the monastery) when his lover dumped him *very* brutally for a richer man, and he's financing a suitable revenge.

Schutz, J.W. "Dragon's Horn" - Tonya's father left only debts and the Enchanted Doll Show. While the dolls move by enchantment, they need human voices; Tonya hires strangers to fill out the parts of Dragon and King, while Lord Caum licks his chops, waiting to enslave Tonya if she can't pay off the debt after the fair...

Schwartz, Susan: "Homecoming" Andriu fled his novitiate at the Temple of the Three Lordly Ones fifteen years ago. As a dream-singer, able to shape reality with his songs, he's been in and out of scrapes for years. Now suffering from lung-fever, he's come home. But someone has far worse trouble than he; Vassilka needs an exorcism for an unborn child...

Springer, Nancy: "The Prince out of the Past" Even spirits are drawn to Ithkar Fair.

Waters, Elisabeth: "Cold Spell" Eirthe the candlemaker refused a Thotharn priest's request to make candles in the likeness of wealthy merchants. He retaliated by cold-cursing her: her candles will no longer burn. But she can't prove he's running a protection racket, so how can she make a living?

A good required text for a Freshman English Composition class. A wide variety of selections that bring up a lot of ideas for in-class discussion or composition.

Truly an anthology for readers and writers, this book encourages students to think more critically about the world around them. It calls on a variety of timely themes and genres to satisfy numerous interests and tastes in literature. It also provides many helpful rhetorical strategies for arguing about literature. Freshman writing instructors should give Making Literature Matter a look; it will not disappoint.