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!

I grew up reading Andre Norton. And the adventures of the Solar Queen were always a favorite. Once again the intrepid crew must overcome the obstacles in their pursuit of profitable trade, from pirates and aliens to a strange telepathic link developing between the main characters. Olds fans will enjoy it -- still some of the best young adult sf. This is not "great" sf, but it is a fine rainy afternoon read, and what more can anyone want.

This is a sequel to the novel, "Derelict for Trade." It makes substantial references back to the previous book, and the reader should probably read the books in the order they were written. The story is interesting as the crews of the North Star and Solar Queen attempt to exploit the mineral resources on the planet Hesprid IV. It turns out not to be a milk run as they encounter wretched weather, unexpected XTs, stranded miners, and pirates. The question is whether they can come out of the venture with a profit. The story is well developed and generally well written. The authors have an annoying habit of sometimes switching back and forth between using characters' first names and using their last names - potentially confusing if a reader has not developed a rapport with the characters.

Yes, another Solar Queen adventure. Again Andre Norton has surpassed the average writer's abilities to write a great book. Sherwood Smith was the reason why I bought this book, he needs to get more books out in print, NOW!

For those who have read and enjoyed the early Time Trader books (The Time Traders, Galactic Derelict, The Defiant Agents, and Key Out of Time), this book will be an enjoyable extension, with just enough difference in emphasis to remind the reader that this is no longer Ms. Norton writing alone.

After some (somewhat slow) preliminaries that help re-establish this series into a somewhat more modern time frame of post-Cold War, the story picks up the loose ends left by Galactic Derelict, with a new expedition to the final destination of that book. Although their ostensible mission is to find the missing members of an earlier Russian exploration team, the book quickly turns to unraveling the mystery of how and why all the current time denizens of the planet appear to be devolved representatives of earlier highly civilized species.

The is the best aspect of this book, as in working out the mystery, there are some fascinating portrayals of multiple different species working within an overall society that may be the ultimate in enforced harmony. There is far more emphasis here on the real sciences of the cultural, anthropological, linguistic and biological variety than was present in the original books, and the basic plot provides for quite a bit of suspense and surprise, invigorating this tale with page-turning expectations. The mind-twisting consequences of time travel are reasonably worked out here, although without really answering the basic paradox inherent in time travel capabilities.

What isn't quite as good is the basic characterizations, usually one of Norton's stronger points. Ross Murdock and Gordon Ashe don't quite seem to be the people they were in the earlier books, and most of the Russian contingent seem very sketchily drawn. Murdock's relationship with his new wife Eveleen seems very artificial. However, Saba, a new character for this book, is very competently drawn, and she pretty much carries the book.

Stylistically, this book tends to more complex vocabulary and sentence structure than Ms. Norton normally uses, which I have to attribute to her collaborator. This added complexity seems to help add some muscle and a believable tone to the story.

A competent tale and a worthy new entry to the Time Trader series, a series that helped establish Norton as one of the premier writers in the SF field long before women writers became fashionable.

--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

Time Agents Ross Murdoch and Eveleen Riorden are enjoying their honeymoon at the home of fellow agent Gordon Ashe in Safe Harbor, Maine when the emergency call came. The next day a helicopter arrives to take them back to the Project Star Center.

When the newlyweds arrive at the home base, they are introduced to Colonel Zinaida Vasilyeva of the rival Russians. Zinaida explains that a scientific team jumped back in time on the planet Yilayil and vanished. A combined American-Russian team will be sent back to land one century past the date the Russian scientists leaped. Ross, Eveleen, Ashe, and the Russian are to learn what happened and whether the malevolent Baldies are involved in radically changing this planet.

Andre Norton & Sherwood Smith continue to revive Ms. Norton's classic science fiction series. The duo successfully "modernized" the Solar Queen novels and now turns to the Time Traders books. ECHOES OF TIME is an entertaining tale that stays with the essence of the original series, but updates the Cold War rivalry into a more nineties perspective. Though needed, this technique slows the tale down a bit until the time travelers begin their journey into the past as the plot turns into a science fiction mystery. At that point in time, the novel turns into an exciting adventure that will electrify fans of the grandmaster Ms. Norton and have new readers search for some of the original tales.

Harriet Klausner

Around scifi conventions I've heard FIREHAND referred to as so godawful it's the perfect example of why not to buy a collaboration, and after looking at its cliche romance, its pointless plot and stupid villains, I had to agree, so I avoided these collaborations until I was given this one.

I really like how the authors have upgraded the fifties science of the old ones, and given the characters some complexity. Even the bad contributions from Griffin were included and given some life. I hope there will be more.

Definitely the worst of the Voyage series. What is depicted on the cover and in the book description has very little to do with the actual story, so I was extremely disapointed. You tend to hate Brad, and when he comes to his big "realization" you don't care. Raven Queen and Islands in the Sky had the same tone and feel of the original book, but this one is "blah" and boring. I wouldn't recommend it.

This is a fun read reminiscent of the Chronicles of Narnia, though not as richly developed. Still, the story is appealing for its straitforward message and enjoyable setting.

I respectfully disagree with the librarian who compares this book the the Harry Potter series. While the Potter books are excellent, not every fantasy written since is an attempt to "jump on the fantasy bandwagon". I would hate to see all new young adult fantasy labeled as copy cats, which is what happened to adult fantasy for years after Tolkein.

This is a fun series, and worth checking out.

This third story in the Voyage of the Basset series is the best yet. The tone is the surest of the three, evoking a kind of late Victorian fairy-tale feel. The book works best if the reader is familiar with Christensen's original Voyage of the Basset, which explains the importance of the necklace, and the magical world into which the Basset sails.

The two children are surprisingly complex for so brief a tale. For once the protagonists are not fighting against Impossible Evil, but against their own weaknesses.

But it's not didactic. Humor and wonder and glimpses of myth from other cultures, instead of the usual Celtic or Greek, make it a must for children's collections.