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Pax/Astra #2
Star Born
Far from the Terran colony's Homeport on the planet Astra, young Dalgard Nordis and his merman companion Sssuri are suddenly confronted by their old enemies, the alien Astrans. Within the ruins of the Astrans' former citadel the two discover that remnants of this nonhuman race, which had once ruled the entire planet, are struggling, to recover their lost knowledge and thus regain their power. Dalgard realizes that the safety of the Terrans is seriously threatened by this, and there is no hope of warning his people in time. When a space ship arrives from Terra, its crew ignorant of the existence of a Terran colony on the western continent across the sea, the aliens enlist the spacemen's aid. Of the members of the crew only young Raf Kurbi instinctively mistrusts the Astrans. Through a series of weird and exciting adventures among the ruins and in ancient underground tunnels, Raf eventually meets Dalgard and joins him in the fight against the aliens.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1957
275 people are currently reading
686 people want to read
About the author
Andre Norton
654 books1,348 followersAndre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
May 24, 2020
About five hundred years have passed since Dard Nordis and his fellow free-scientist colonists in The Stars Are Ours fled persecution from the Company of Pax, who were the new rulers of Earth, and established a colony on the planet Astra. Most of that time was spent in suspended animation during the trip.
Star Born opens three generations after the colonists arrive on Astra. Now Dalgard Nordis, Dard's descendent, sets out with his merman friend and knife brother, Sssuri, to explore an unfamiliar part of the planet to fulfill the challenge that will welcome him to manhood. The colony hasn't fared too well because sometime earlier a plague killed quite a few of the colonists. Now the colony numbers only about 250 people.
Dalgard's quest for manhood quickly changes to one for survival when he and Sssuri discover evidence that Those Others – the original inhabitants who enslaved the merpeople and destroyed themselves in a vicious war – are making a comeback. So Dalgard and Ssuri decide to find more evidence of their threat to both the colonists and their merpeople friends so they can warn everyone back home.
Meanwhile, two hundred years ago back on Earth, Pax was overthrown and replaced by the Federation of Free Men. The Federation had heard rumors of Free Scientists putting themselves and their families in suspended animation and fleeing to other planets in starships during the rule of Pax. After inventing a hyperdrive that will let them travel outside their solar system without suspended animation, the Federation began sending out starships to explore other planets and perhaps find the Free Scientists' descendants. Nine starships were sent out, one every year, but none have returned.
Raf Kurbi is part of the crew in the tenth starship that was sent out. They land on Astra but discover more than they expected when they come across Those Others. Impressed by Those Others' advanced technology, Raf and his fellow star travelers want to become friends with them.
But Those Others might have plans in mind that could threaten Delgard and the other colonists, the merpeople, and Raf and his fellow crew members.
I mostly read science fiction when I was in junior high and high school. Andre Norton was one of my favorite science fiction writers and Star Born was one of my favorite science fiction novels. Along with her The Stars Are Ours and a few other science fiction novels by other writers, Star Born has been sitting on my bookshelf as an ACE paperback for over fifty years. I reread it for old time's sake and to see if it stood the test of time. Norton's writing style is a bid antiquated now. But I really have to judge her style by the standards of the time back half century ago. I'll probably reread some more of her books that were my favorites.
By the way, Andre Norton's real name was Alice Mary Norton, who was a librarian. Andre Norton was her pseudonym because publishers were reluctant to take on female science fiction writers. I'm sure glad things have changed since then.)
Star Born opens three generations after the colonists arrive on Astra. Now Dalgard Nordis, Dard's descendent, sets out with his merman friend and knife brother, Sssuri, to explore an unfamiliar part of the planet to fulfill the challenge that will welcome him to manhood. The colony hasn't fared too well because sometime earlier a plague killed quite a few of the colonists. Now the colony numbers only about 250 people.
Dalgard's quest for manhood quickly changes to one for survival when he and Sssuri discover evidence that Those Others – the original inhabitants who enslaved the merpeople and destroyed themselves in a vicious war – are making a comeback. So Dalgard and Ssuri decide to find more evidence of their threat to both the colonists and their merpeople friends so they can warn everyone back home.
Meanwhile, two hundred years ago back on Earth, Pax was overthrown and replaced by the Federation of Free Men. The Federation had heard rumors of Free Scientists putting themselves and their families in suspended animation and fleeing to other planets in starships during the rule of Pax. After inventing a hyperdrive that will let them travel outside their solar system without suspended animation, the Federation began sending out starships to explore other planets and perhaps find the Free Scientists' descendants. Nine starships were sent out, one every year, but none have returned.
Raf Kurbi is part of the crew in the tenth starship that was sent out. They land on Astra but discover more than they expected when they come across Those Others. Impressed by Those Others' advanced technology, Raf and his fellow star travelers want to become friends with them.
But Those Others might have plans in mind that could threaten Delgard and the other colonists, the merpeople, and Raf and his fellow crew members.
I mostly read science fiction when I was in junior high and high school. Andre Norton was one of my favorite science fiction writers and Star Born was one of my favorite science fiction novels. Along with her The Stars Are Ours and a few other science fiction novels by other writers, Star Born has been sitting on my bookshelf as an ACE paperback for over fifty years. I reread it for old time's sake and to see if it stood the test of time. Norton's writing style is a bid antiquated now. But I really have to judge her style by the standards of the time back half century ago. I'll probably reread some more of her books that were my favorites.
By the way, Andre Norton's real name was Alice Mary Norton, who was a librarian. Andre Norton was her pseudonym because publishers were reluctant to take on female science fiction writers. I'm sure glad things have changed since then.)
May 4, 2010
From my little blog pulpaweek.blogspot.com
Right from the start 'Star Born' was an enjoyable read- chapter one has space refugees, stoic merpeople, giant lizards, an ancient evil civilization, and telepathic bunnies! Andre Norton is somewhat respected in Sci-Fi circles, so I did a little research on him. Well, it turns out 'Andre' was actually Alice Norton's pen name, and then later she legally changed her name from Alice to Andre. This lady wrote about 300 books, most which involved swords or lasers or laser swords in some fashion. I will definitely be picking up some other books by her.
Star Born is a book about race relations and the follies and misunderstandings associated with them. Kind of. A human ship lands on a planet, home to three races- mutated exiled humans who had come generation before to escape a dystopian style regime, the fur covered mermen who allied themselves with the exiles and predominantly communicate with their minds and an ancient race of slave masters who are pretty much evil to the bone. The newcomers make contact with the slave masters first, and are sickened by the way the evil bastards are trying to exterminate any mermen they see, primarily with flame throwers and shit. Once the slavers had ruled this planet, but a nuclear war had devastated their population, which is similar to what happened to the iron fisted regime on Earth. The mermen live in peace on the string of islands, living in fear of their once malevolent masters and alongside the near human telepath mutants of Homeport.
The chapters switch off between Delgard- one of the exiles and a 'knife brother' with one of the mermen, and Raf- a pilot for the newcomer humans who develops sympathy for the mermen early on.The root of this story is about race, as the four races have different ideologies and cannot come to a peaceful agreement with one another. This point is dulled by the slavemasters being an out and out evil race, but I suppose you can't expect a conflicted villain out of a pulp novel. Towards the end the already shaky alliance between the space explorer newcomers and the ancient aliens is broken, as it is obvious they are stockpiling weapons to kill off the sentient merpeople. There are some battles with spear throwing merpeople. There are ray guns. This is a pretty cool book for 1962.
Some people will have trouble getting past the typographical and grammatical errors- Star Born is chock full of sentences like ' He closed the hatch behind. Them.' and typos including 'Warrier.'. Personally, I found these errors to be a little charming, this isn't high brow literature after all. I rarely wish a book to be longer, but at just 180 pages and a fun setting, Star Born could have used a bit of padding. An enjoyable book for fans of the genre, but still not the classic I am searching for.
Right from the start 'Star Born' was an enjoyable read- chapter one has space refugees, stoic merpeople, giant lizards, an ancient evil civilization, and telepathic bunnies! Andre Norton is somewhat respected in Sci-Fi circles, so I did a little research on him. Well, it turns out 'Andre' was actually Alice Norton's pen name, and then later she legally changed her name from Alice to Andre. This lady wrote about 300 books, most which involved swords or lasers or laser swords in some fashion. I will definitely be picking up some other books by her.
Star Born is a book about race relations and the follies and misunderstandings associated with them. Kind of. A human ship lands on a planet, home to three races- mutated exiled humans who had come generation before to escape a dystopian style regime, the fur covered mermen who allied themselves with the exiles and predominantly communicate with their minds and an ancient race of slave masters who are pretty much evil to the bone. The newcomers make contact with the slave masters first, and are sickened by the way the evil bastards are trying to exterminate any mermen they see, primarily with flame throwers and shit. Once the slavers had ruled this planet, but a nuclear war had devastated their population, which is similar to what happened to the iron fisted regime on Earth. The mermen live in peace on the string of islands, living in fear of their once malevolent masters and alongside the near human telepath mutants of Homeport.
The chapters switch off between Delgard- one of the exiles and a 'knife brother' with one of the mermen, and Raf- a pilot for the newcomer humans who develops sympathy for the mermen early on.The root of this story is about race, as the four races have different ideologies and cannot come to a peaceful agreement with one another. This point is dulled by the slavemasters being an out and out evil race, but I suppose you can't expect a conflicted villain out of a pulp novel. Towards the end the already shaky alliance between the space explorer newcomers and the ancient aliens is broken, as it is obvious they are stockpiling weapons to kill off the sentient merpeople. There are some battles with spear throwing merpeople. There are ray guns. This is a pretty cool book for 1962.
Some people will have trouble getting past the typographical and grammatical errors- Star Born is chock full of sentences like ' He closed the hatch behind. Them.' and typos including 'Warrier.'. Personally, I found these errors to be a little charming, this isn't high brow literature after all. I rarely wish a book to be longer, but at just 180 pages and a fun setting, Star Born could have used a bit of padding. An enjoyable book for fans of the genre, but still not the classic I am searching for.
May 15, 2023
This held up surprisingly well 65 years after publication and 45 years after I had read it. I think I am going to downgrade it to 4 stars but it is a easy, quick read with some interesting concepts and without 1950s misogyny.
May 13, 2025
This is probably Andre Norton's best structured of her early science fiction novels. It was first published in 1957 and, although it is a sequel to The Stars are Ours, it reads perfectly well without a knowledge of that book.
Centuries earlier, when the Earth was under the control of a corrupt, totalitarian government that was dedicated to intolerance and which despised learning, technology and individuality, a small group of scientists was able to launch a colonization mission into space. In their absence the Earth collapsed into nuclear war and disaster until eventually society re-emerged with the Federation of Free Men - the novel was written for a male teenage audience - and gradually space travel was again achieved.
A mission is launched from Earth, in fact the tenth attempt, to go beyond our solar system using the newly invented hyperdrive – that's warp-drive in Star Trek terms. This one works and the crew end up on the planet Astra where there is evidence of an old civilization. That all sets up the more philosophical side of the story. It is still a very good, fast moving adventure with two young heroes and aliens both friendly and hostile, however, Andre Norton slips in a deeper, thought-provoking aspect.
Astra provides the Terrans with their first ever contact with sentient aliens. But with which group of aliens do they form an alliance? The humanoid people known only as Those Others: city builders, industrialised technocrats, prone to violence both self-destructive and senselessly savage against any living creatures they perceive as below them or the fur-covered, bipedal, aquatic, telepathic race of merpeople, not much above the neolithic in technology yet intelligent and thoughtful? That is the Terrans' dilemma, and then it is heightened by the discovery that those earlier space pioneers from Earth also landed on Astra and over the centuries have been adapting and mutating into their new environment.
The adventure story centres on two young men: Raf Kurbi, the Terran newcomer and flitter pilot, and Dalgard Nordis, a young explorer and scout born on Astra and now more Astran than Terran. Raf follows his captain and senior officers and initially goes with Those Others, though he never fully trusts them. Dalgard, influenced by his merman friend Sssuri, understands the evil Those Others represent as a violent enemy that must be destroyed. They come together in the course of their wanderings and finally join forces.
It is a story in which there no final winner. Those Others take a hard blow but they are not defeated. The Terrans gather together again and take off to go home. The Astrans, whether Terran descendants, merpeople, hoppers, runners in the night, even snake-devils, have to get on with life only hoping that what they have done will make their lives safer.
Norton gets a little preachy towards the end as Raf tries to persuade Dalgard to get his people to return to Earth. She gives a brief account of the overthrow of the evil Pax dictatorship and the creation of a benevolent Federation – there are obvious similarities to the overthrow of the Nazis and the sort after overthrow of Communism being replaced by democracy and goodwill to all – don't forget the book was written not long after the end of the Second World War and the Korean War.
One thinks that Dalgard will give in and persuade everyone to leave Astra and move to the paradise Raf describes, yet he doesn't. He wants Raf to go back to his people, go home, and not tell anyone of the existence of the Astran Terrans; while he will return and keep the visit of the new Terrans a secret from his people. Perhaps there was something in Norton's mind, after all she had experienced from 1939 onwards, that made her believe that paradise should always be something to which one should aspire but never risk spoiling.
Centuries earlier, when the Earth was under the control of a corrupt, totalitarian government that was dedicated to intolerance and which despised learning, technology and individuality, a small group of scientists was able to launch a colonization mission into space. In their absence the Earth collapsed into nuclear war and disaster until eventually society re-emerged with the Federation of Free Men - the novel was written for a male teenage audience - and gradually space travel was again achieved.
A mission is launched from Earth, in fact the tenth attempt, to go beyond our solar system using the newly invented hyperdrive – that's warp-drive in Star Trek terms. This one works and the crew end up on the planet Astra where there is evidence of an old civilization. That all sets up the more philosophical side of the story. It is still a very good, fast moving adventure with two young heroes and aliens both friendly and hostile, however, Andre Norton slips in a deeper, thought-provoking aspect.
Astra provides the Terrans with their first ever contact with sentient aliens. But with which group of aliens do they form an alliance? The humanoid people known only as Those Others: city builders, industrialised technocrats, prone to violence both self-destructive and senselessly savage against any living creatures they perceive as below them or the fur-covered, bipedal, aquatic, telepathic race of merpeople, not much above the neolithic in technology yet intelligent and thoughtful? That is the Terrans' dilemma, and then it is heightened by the discovery that those earlier space pioneers from Earth also landed on Astra and over the centuries have been adapting and mutating into their new environment.
The adventure story centres on two young men: Raf Kurbi, the Terran newcomer and flitter pilot, and Dalgard Nordis, a young explorer and scout born on Astra and now more Astran than Terran. Raf follows his captain and senior officers and initially goes with Those Others, though he never fully trusts them. Dalgard, influenced by his merman friend Sssuri, understands the evil Those Others represent as a violent enemy that must be destroyed. They come together in the course of their wanderings and finally join forces.
It is a story in which there no final winner. Those Others take a hard blow but they are not defeated. The Terrans gather together again and take off to go home. The Astrans, whether Terran descendants, merpeople, hoppers, runners in the night, even snake-devils, have to get on with life only hoping that what they have done will make their lives safer.
Norton gets a little preachy towards the end as Raf tries to persuade Dalgard to get his people to return to Earth. She gives a brief account of the overthrow of the evil Pax dictatorship and the creation of a benevolent Federation – there are obvious similarities to the overthrow of the Nazis and the sort after overthrow of Communism being replaced by democracy and goodwill to all – don't forget the book was written not long after the end of the Second World War and the Korean War.
One thinks that Dalgard will give in and persuade everyone to leave Astra and move to the paradise Raf describes, yet he doesn't. He wants Raf to go back to his people, go home, and not tell anyone of the existence of the Astran Terrans; while he will return and keep the visit of the new Terrans a secret from his people. Perhaps there was something in Norton's mind, after all she had experienced from 1939 onwards, that made her believe that paradise should always be something to which one should aspire but never risk spoiling.
December 10, 2024
ENGLISH: This is the first time I've read this novel by Andre Norton. A ship from Earth, which has just emerged from a crushing dictatorship, arrives on an extrasolar planet. The newcomers find the planet populated by three intelligent species: the semi-aquatic merpeople; the descendants of an Earth expedition that arrived there several centuries before to escape the dictatorship; and "those others," a diabolical race that takes pleasure in causing harm and destroyed themselves in a terrible civil war, but is now recovering.
The novel is very well structured, with two independent parallel threads that converge at a certain point, and a very stable construction, since the 18 chapters have the same number of pages.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la primera vez que he leído esta novela de Andre Norton. A un planeta extrasolar llega una nave de la Tierra, que acaba de salir de una dictadura aplastante. Los recién llegados encuentran el planeta poblado por tres especies inteligentes: los sirénidos, semiacuáticos; los descendientes de una expedición terrestre que llegó allí siglos antes para escapar de la dictadura; y "esos otros", una raza diabólica que se complace en hacer daño y que se autodestruyó en una terrible guerra civil, pero ahora se está recuperando.
La novela está muy bien estructurada, con dos hilos independientes paralelos que en cierto punto convergen, y una construcción muy estable, pues los 18 capítulos tienen el mismo número de páginas.
The novel is very well structured, with two independent parallel threads that converge at a certain point, and a very stable construction, since the 18 chapters have the same number of pages.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la primera vez que he leído esta novela de Andre Norton. A un planeta extrasolar llega una nave de la Tierra, que acaba de salir de una dictadura aplastante. Los recién llegados encuentran el planeta poblado por tres especies inteligentes: los sirénidos, semiacuáticos; los descendientes de una expedición terrestre que llegó allí siglos antes para escapar de la dictadura; y "esos otros", una raza diabólica que se complace en hacer daño y que se autodestruyó en una terrible guerra civil, pero ahora se está recuperando.
La novela está muy bien estructurada, con dos hilos independientes paralelos que en cierto punto convergen, y una construcción muy estable, pues los 18 capítulos tienen el mismo número de páginas.
July 22, 2013
This story is about the human descendants who left Earth in Andre Norton's prior story, The Stars Are Ours. In the time since the refugee humans colonized Astra, tension has grown from the devolved natives of a once great empire that originally populated the planet.
A space exploration ship from Earth arrives at Astra, unaware of the secret human colony or the growing antipathy toward all humans from the planet's original descendants. The newly arrived humans provide valuable technology to the aliens, not knowing that the ultimate goal would be death for all humans, space born and Earth born.
Another of Andre Norton's masterpieces, Star Born uses vivid imagery, strong characterization and a simple plot to weave a fast-paced tale for the wildly creative mind. One of my favorites from Ms. Norton.
A space exploration ship from Earth arrives at Astra, unaware of the secret human colony or the growing antipathy toward all humans from the planet's original descendants. The newly arrived humans provide valuable technology to the aliens, not knowing that the ultimate goal would be death for all humans, space born and Earth born.
Another of Andre Norton's masterpieces, Star Born uses vivid imagery, strong characterization and a simple plot to weave a fast-paced tale for the wildly creative mind. One of my favorites from Ms. Norton.
April 24, 2012
This was a really fun book. Light reading and interesting plot. I'd love to read a sequel of both the main characters to see how the experiences of this book affect them in the next. :)
August 26, 2012
An author with an extraordinary mind to bring science fiction to the common man. We are living in that world now, well not all of it. I love re-reading these novels of the 40s and 50s.
July 15, 2017
Reading Andre Norton (1912-2005) is like comfort food for the brain. She was one of my favorite authors as a kid--but, as she was a prolific author, there are many books of hers I have not read, such as this one, from 1957. Some might think much of her work--from the 50s and 60s- is dated and is also geared to a young readership. But she concentrates on engaging characters and good storytelling, so I don't find her to be either dated or only of interest for young adults! "Star Born" in may ways is standard Norton. You have a planet that at one time in the distant past had an advanced civilization which then fell into ruin. Delgard is a member of a human colony on the planet and is trying to learn more about the fallen civilization. He befriends a "merman" whom he is able to link with telepathically. He is able to learn that there is a remnant of the once-advanced aliens still on the planet and that the mermen regard them as a threat. What Delgard does not know is that an Earth expedition has landed on the planet and is making contact with those aliens.....
February 9, 2016
Short and sweet, two separate plot lines that converge late into the novel but to great effect. Apparently this is a sequel to an earlier book but there's nothing on the cover of this edition to indicate this. In any case, it reads fine as a stand-alone novel and I didn't feel particularly confused or lost. Written in the late 50's, a strong emphasis on social and cultural aspects of alien life rather than on technology means it doesn't feel as dated as some of its contemporaries. And I have to shamefully admit that even though quite familiar with the name of Andre Norton in the SF field I had no idea it was a woman writer before picking this up.
January 18, 2020
To be frank, it’s a teen category read and you cannot break such reads easily because of the curiosity which has been drilled down by the author. Without giving any spoilers, I wish this would have been set in another way.. a narrative where past meets the future. But after finishing, I think that narrative has been achieved though not in literary frames but in philosophical ones. I am pretty sure this will never have a sequel but I wonder what it will be like. Overall, job done well.
April 22, 2020
I quite enjoyed this book! I’m not typically a huge sci-fi reader, though I do enjoy it on occasion. This book was very well written, the characters were enjoyable, the world and plot was very interesting, and the description was perfect!
January 9, 2012
Star Born is the exciting sequel to The Star Are Ours. After a nuclear was, a small band of Free Scientists breaks free of the Dark Age being imposed on the shattered Earth by Pax. In a sleeper starship some fity humans escape across space to a world they name Astra to disappear from the pages of human history. They find freedom, but not paradise, on a world that also has fallen from war. The remnants of two native species, the peaceful mer-folk, and the survivors of “Those Others” a xenophobic race with high technology sporadically battle on Astra. The human colonists seek only to live in peace but of necessity align with the mer-folk.
Star Born begins with Dalgard, a descendant of Dard Norris, the protagonist of the first book. He travels with Sssuri, his “knife brother” of the mer-folk. Dalgard is on his first journey of exploration, a rite of passage he must endure in order to become a full adult member of his tribe. The Free Scientists retain their desire to explore Astra though their technology has disappeared in the four generations that the Terrans have lived on Astra. Dalgard bears a knife and bow and more resemblance to a Native American than to the original spacers. Yet he carries the scientific method with him and while technology has been impossible to preserve knowledge has remained. The Terrans are not regressing but developing in different ways. The Mer-people who appear to have been genetically engineered and developed by those others from an animal species are limited telepaths. Each generation of humans has been better able to communicate with the mind touch, extending it to the animals of Astra as well.
Centuries pass and back on Earth Pax falls, and is replaced by a democratic government. Hyperdrive is discovered and Earth launches its first starships. One of these, the RS10 ( a rather unimaginative name I felt) carries with it Raf Kurbi, young loner, the pilot of the flitter a small atmospheric craft for exploring whatever new world they find.
Dalgard having his ancestors wanderlust and curiosity is heading toward one of the deserted bases of “Those Others” while the humanoid Others are similar in appearance to humans, their minds are so alien that contemplations of their color-coded communications have driven humans near mad. The science of Those Others has been put aside by the colonists and ignored by the mer-folk whose hatred of their former masters knows no limit.
Dalgard and Sussurri head for the base only to find that it is deserted no longer. Those Others have returned in a globe airship to loot their old labs for weapons and devices. Over their heads comes the RS10 landing at this critical moment in Astra’s history. Against the odds, RS10 comes down on Astra but its landing is very different from the landing of the original Free Scientist Colony ship. They land on the continent of Those Others, meeting them almost immediately. The natives and the humans are wary of each other, none more so then Raf, whose distrust of the aliens is immediate and visceral. Unfortunately it is perceived as mere prejudice by his captain, a sin in the new society that fought free of Pax, and he is initially disregarded.
Those Others however cannot conceal, even it occurred to them to do so, their true nature, imperious, xenophobic and contemptuous of all life not their own. While the humans travel with Those Others learning some of their astonishing technology and visiting their ruins, they are horrified to watch an attack by the globe ship on a group of furred mer-folk. The humans are unsure if the mer-folk are animals or people but the chilling brutality begins to tell on them.
Meanwhile Dalgard is stalking the expedition of “Those Others”and Sussurri has returned to warn the colony and the tribe. Dalgard is captured by Those Others, who are alarmed and astonished to find a human in alliance with the mer-folk. While they are confused by his appearance, they are viscerally disgusted by his friendship with their slave race/ Dalgard is taken to the arena in the depleted city of “Those Others” to be thrown to dinosaur-like beasts with a merman prisoner.
Dalgard has been using his limited telepathic powers to call for help. He is shocked when he contacts not a mer-person or a colonist but Raf. The young pilot, the embers of his distrust of Those Others now fanned to bright flame, intervenes to free the pair bringing an open break with the Starship and Those Others.
Raf and Dalgard find a mer-folk tribe nearby preparing for a hopeless attack. But with Raf’s weapons and explosives perhaps it is no longer so hopeless. It all turns on Raf. If the Globeship and its warehouse of weapons and recovered treasures are destroyed then it may be that the rise of Those Others, degenerate and few in number can be checked.
Raf and Dalgard face to choices, to support each other in a way that the visiting starship had no wish to participate in. And beyond that lies a greater choice, RS10 has not come to stay. Dalgard fears that reestablishing a tie with Earth will end the evolution of the Terrans into Astrans. Must they follow the same path of science and technology as the Earthmen or should they continue on the path that they are on. Two young men, two choices and a world in the balance.
Read it and find out.
Pros, Andre Norton’s clear writing and engaging characters, usually young people seeking to find their way in life, becoming the adults who will lead in their worlds. Colorful descriptions even in the smaller details make the ruined cities and countryside of this new world very vivid.
Cons- The YA and Boy’s Own quality gives the book a slightly dated feel as does Forbidden Planet’s all while make crew of the C57D. An update of this would make one of the leads female for a more interesting story. The RS10 is probably the least developed part of the book and the starship crew sometimes seems both a bit cluless and underdeveloped.
For all its shortcomings there is really nothing wrong with the charming tale of otherworld and its unexpected friendship between these too little more than boys.
December 22, 2023
A meditation on some of the conflicts inevitable in humanity's galactic diaspora and a slightly different take on the traditional Prime Directive narrative. I haven't read Norton before, but for 1957 her writing is vibrant even if the plot doesn't go anywhere fast.
It's a more internal story than many of its contemporaries, and many of its internal conflicts continue to be difficult questions today: can we work with people whose motivations we don't understand? What happens when the lines between oppressor and oppressed are blurred? When is it better not to know something? It would be a stretch to say that any of these questions are actually tackled, here, but they are at least touched on in an engaging way.
It's a more internal story than many of its contemporaries, and many of its internal conflicts continue to be difficult questions today: can we work with people whose motivations we don't understand? What happens when the lines between oppressor and oppressed are blurred? When is it better not to know something? It would be a stretch to say that any of these questions are actually tackled, here, but they are at least touched on in an engaging way.
February 12, 2019
I don't think I've ever an Andre Norton book before, but I'm sure familiar with her name and those awesome covers on the Ace editions. Norton and Ace were ubiquitous in the science fiction sections of the libraries I haunted as a kid, even though I was more interested in checking out Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E Howard at the time.
I picked this up at a used bookstore on a whim and loved it. It's not a classic that I'm going to re-read over and over, but it's exactly what I was looking for: fast-paced science fiction adventure in an imaginative setting and with insightful social commentary. I'll be looking for more Norton next time I'm at the store.
I picked this up at a used bookstore on a whim and loved it. It's not a classic that I'm going to re-read over and over, but it's exactly what I was looking for: fast-paced science fiction adventure in an imaginative setting and with insightful social commentary. I'll be looking for more Norton next time I'm at the store.
August 23, 2022
In this science fiction novel, there are three factions: the original colonists, the enslavers, and an expeditionary force from Earth. The author does a fantastic job of describing the shifting alliances so that while the factions are not aware of the others' movements, the audience is able to clearly follow the action.
September 27, 2017
Excellent and typical Andre Norton story. If you enjoy her other stories, you'll enjoy this one.
June 4, 2012
"What of our children—the second and third generations born on this new world? They will have no memories of Terra's green hills and blue seas. Will they be Terrans—or something else?"
—Tas Kordov, Record of the First Years
Starborn follows two young men, as their adventures cross paths in enemy territory. The first young man, Dalgard, is of Terran origin, but is more like a new species of human on another planet. His coming-of-age quest becomes a fight to save his people and their allies’ way of life. Raf, a flitter pilot who was conscripted for deep space exploration, has come to this planet to seek other life, never expecting to find the old Terran colonists.
Together and alternately they explore what it means to be human, what allegiances one has to a home-planet, and what it means to be a free man.
Really this is one of my favorite Norton’s from her earlier years. It seemed to drag a bit in the beginning, and I felt as though there were some unresolved character issues (like why Raff so intrinsically distrusted the rest of his crew eve after being on a ship for months with them), and ideas she could have expanded on (how did Pax come apart back on Terra?), but all those would have turned this into a much longer book, and it is what it is, which is pulp scifi. The ending, which I enjoyed so much, really made up for any other issue I would have had with it. I really enjoyed the characters of Dalgard and Sssuri,
February 12, 2020
This was the sequel to _The Stars Are Ours!_ though I agree with another review I read, it isn’t really necessary to have read the first volume in the series. I think this is true for two reasons; one, what you need to know in terms of worldbuilding is provided in _Star Born_ and two, with something like 500 years having passed, all the characters from _The Stars Are Ours!_ are long since deceased.
The story is a decent somewhat pulpish adventure story with a mixture of post-apocalyptic and Golden Age sense of wonder style science fiction, with both action scenes and a genuine exploration of new things by the various characters. Like a lot of genre fiction from that era, there isn’t a lot of time spent in terms of introspective thought, as mostly it is about action in the here and now as it were, though the end is surprisingly philosophical (maybe a tad unbelievable for the character waxing philosophically but it wasn’t a big problem for me). I felt the book stayed very true to the feel of setting, the alien world known as Astra, as well as the overall history of the setting both on Astra and back on Earth, though unlike the previous book there is a much smaller cast of characters.
The book has two plotlines, both of which, sorry if this is a mild, semi-spoiler, eventually merge. One follows a Terran colonist on Astra, descendent of those who settled Astra in _The Stars Are Ours!_, a young man by the name of Dalgard Nordis. We meet him going on some sort of walkabout/rumspringa, something people from his Terran settlement of Homeport do when they become adults (just the men?; I wasn’t clear). Setting forth by boat, the goal is to survive on their own for a bit and to add a little bit more to the map Homeport has of Astra. As made clear a few times, the original high-tech weaponry the colonists had brought from Earth has long since stopped working, though Dalgard is quite proficient with a bow and a sword and is quite fit.
Also he is not alone, as though people on these quests are not allowed to be accompanied by another Terran, if they have a knife brother merman (the other sentient race on Astra; they don’t look like mythical mermaids but are bipedal, furred, telepathic, and can live as easily below the waves as on land) though, they can have this person accompany them. In this case we get Sssuri, knife brother, best friend, guide, confidant, and fighting companion to Dalgard.
The quest, at first looking like a fun camping/fishing/hunting/sailing trip, becomes very early on in the book about investigating a strange light and a sense of unease that Sssuri picks up from the local fauna (decades before the movie _Avatar_, the mermen can speak telepathically to one degree or another with most of the local fauna). There is some danger afoot. Is it Those Others, the warlike, ultimately self-destructive race that built the ruined, abandoned cities we saw in the first novel, the ones that once enslaved the mermen and are still centuries later feared and hated by the peaceful semi-aquatic folk?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, we meet a number of Those Others, who are afoot, and they are every bit the dangerous beings the merman feared, but it isn’t just Those Others that the telepathic animal network sensed. The other plotline follows one of a member of the starship RS 10, sent to explore the outer reaches from an Earth that two hundred years ago overthrew the Pax (the totalitarian, anti-technology, anti-science empire from the first novel, one still feared by the people of Homeport, though of course the colonists don’t know that Pax’s reign ended). This ship, sent by the Federation of Free Men, was tasked with simple exploration, with the plotline glimpsed from the viewpoint of a flitter pilot by the name of Raf Kurbi (a flitter is basically a sort of armed flying car). His story quickly links up with a group of Those Others, though early on the reader sees how distrustful Raf is of these aliens (and we find for good reason).
I liked the expansion of the world building from the first novel and getting to see more of Astra, particularly learning more about the mermen, finally seeing Those Others, seeing more of the ruined cities in detail, and seeing and learning about some of the alien fauna (night runners, hoppers, moth birds, and snake-devils among others). I liked the idea of a telepathic linkage with a lot of the fauna and how the mermen have different wavelengths or frequencies as it were of telepathy, with one frequency for intraspecies communication, another for speaking with Terrans, and one for dealing with the much simpler minds of hoppers and other creatures. I also liked the exploration of some of the developing differences between the colonists and those newly arrived from Earth.
I found it odd to juxtapose an enlightened merman/colonist philosophy of coexistence with the local fauna…unless they were predators (i.e. snake-devils), which then were seen (and were) voracious, mindless eating machines best killed on sight. It made for some exciting action sequences and the cover of the edition I read and also seemed believable for the time when the book was written (when wolves, coyotes, and other predators had to be “controlled”), but it is a little disappointing. Some of the descriptions of the ruins were quite good but sometimes I got a little lost in the descriptions, though that may have been a little bit because of the unfamiliarity with them from either Dalgard’s or Raf’s points of view. There were a surprising number of typos and missing words, something I noticed another reviewer noted. It was never enough to be a problem but I did notice them. I thought Those Others could have been a little better explored, but what we got to see and learn of them made sense given the viewpoints we had. There were no female characters other than the passing mention of a few female Those Others or mermen seen on occasion (no female with a speaking part); added to all the use of the word men or man this definitely seemed a book written in the 1950s (it wasn’t misogynistic or sexist though; more like say a prison or submarine story, a plausible setting or situation that simply lacked women).
I liked it; it was a fast read. I could stand to read another story set on this world.
The story is a decent somewhat pulpish adventure story with a mixture of post-apocalyptic and Golden Age sense of wonder style science fiction, with both action scenes and a genuine exploration of new things by the various characters. Like a lot of genre fiction from that era, there isn’t a lot of time spent in terms of introspective thought, as mostly it is about action in the here and now as it were, though the end is surprisingly philosophical (maybe a tad unbelievable for the character waxing philosophically but it wasn’t a big problem for me). I felt the book stayed very true to the feel of setting, the alien world known as Astra, as well as the overall history of the setting both on Astra and back on Earth, though unlike the previous book there is a much smaller cast of characters.
The book has two plotlines, both of which, sorry if this is a mild, semi-spoiler, eventually merge. One follows a Terran colonist on Astra, descendent of those who settled Astra in _The Stars Are Ours!_, a young man by the name of Dalgard Nordis. We meet him going on some sort of walkabout/rumspringa, something people from his Terran settlement of Homeport do when they become adults (just the men?; I wasn’t clear). Setting forth by boat, the goal is to survive on their own for a bit and to add a little bit more to the map Homeport has of Astra. As made clear a few times, the original high-tech weaponry the colonists had brought from Earth has long since stopped working, though Dalgard is quite proficient with a bow and a sword and is quite fit.
Also he is not alone, as though people on these quests are not allowed to be accompanied by another Terran, if they have a knife brother merman (the other sentient race on Astra; they don’t look like mythical mermaids but are bipedal, furred, telepathic, and can live as easily below the waves as on land) though, they can have this person accompany them. In this case we get Sssuri, knife brother, best friend, guide, confidant, and fighting companion to Dalgard.
The quest, at first looking like a fun camping/fishing/hunting/sailing trip, becomes very early on in the book about investigating a strange light and a sense of unease that Sssuri picks up from the local fauna (decades before the movie _Avatar_, the mermen can speak telepathically to one degree or another with most of the local fauna). There is some danger afoot. Is it Those Others, the warlike, ultimately self-destructive race that built the ruined, abandoned cities we saw in the first novel, the ones that once enslaved the mermen and are still centuries later feared and hated by the peaceful semi-aquatic folk?
The answer is yes and no. Yes, we meet a number of Those Others, who are afoot, and they are every bit the dangerous beings the merman feared, but it isn’t just Those Others that the telepathic animal network sensed. The other plotline follows one of a member of the starship RS 10, sent to explore the outer reaches from an Earth that two hundred years ago overthrew the Pax (the totalitarian, anti-technology, anti-science empire from the first novel, one still feared by the people of Homeport, though of course the colonists don’t know that Pax’s reign ended). This ship, sent by the Federation of Free Men, was tasked with simple exploration, with the plotline glimpsed from the viewpoint of a flitter pilot by the name of Raf Kurbi (a flitter is basically a sort of armed flying car). His story quickly links up with a group of Those Others, though early on the reader sees how distrustful Raf is of these aliens (and we find for good reason).
I liked the expansion of the world building from the first novel and getting to see more of Astra, particularly learning more about the mermen, finally seeing Those Others, seeing more of the ruined cities in detail, and seeing and learning about some of the alien fauna (night runners, hoppers, moth birds, and snake-devils among others). I liked the idea of a telepathic linkage with a lot of the fauna and how the mermen have different wavelengths or frequencies as it were of telepathy, with one frequency for intraspecies communication, another for speaking with Terrans, and one for dealing with the much simpler minds of hoppers and other creatures. I also liked the exploration of some of the developing differences between the colonists and those newly arrived from Earth.
I found it odd to juxtapose an enlightened merman/colonist philosophy of coexistence with the local fauna…unless they were predators (i.e. snake-devils), which then were seen (and were) voracious, mindless eating machines best killed on sight. It made for some exciting action sequences and the cover of the edition I read and also seemed believable for the time when the book was written (when wolves, coyotes, and other predators had to be “controlled”), but it is a little disappointing. Some of the descriptions of the ruins were quite good but sometimes I got a little lost in the descriptions, though that may have been a little bit because of the unfamiliarity with them from either Dalgard’s or Raf’s points of view. There were a surprising number of typos and missing words, something I noticed another reviewer noted. It was never enough to be a problem but I did notice them. I thought Those Others could have been a little better explored, but what we got to see and learn of them made sense given the viewpoints we had. There were no female characters other than the passing mention of a few female Those Others or mermen seen on occasion (no female with a speaking part); added to all the use of the word men or man this definitely seemed a book written in the 1950s (it wasn’t misogynistic or sexist though; more like say a prison or submarine story, a plausible setting or situation that simply lacked women).
I liked it; it was a fast read. I could stand to read another story set on this world.
October 11, 2013
This story reads like a 1950’s B-rated movie. This is probably caused from an absence of science and an excess of fiction, which was often the norm for that era. Another eccentric trait of the times and this novel is that characters from the future seem to regress with weapons and clothes to an almost medieval time. Although Andre Norton (pseudonym for Alice Mary Norton) is a prolific and renowned science fiction writer, in my opinion, this isn’t her best work. I found it one dimensional, unimaginative and (at times) a little too much to swallow. The planet Astra is a nidus for undesirable beings and leaves the reader with the thought of why bother? The lack of romance or any other human quality doesn’t help the story or characterizations, making it a pastiche of trite rhetoric. With this all said, this and all works previous and contemporary create the base for all modern science fiction which would receive a more positive mark from me. Star Born by Andre Norton isn’t for everyone but could probably be highly praised by a chosen few.
May 27, 2013
The second book in the Andre Norton collection I threw onto my Kindle, and I enjoyed this one much more than the first. On the surface a similar story about a young man going out on his own (with on again, off again companions), but the story line in this one was far more interesting. They had about four different species interacting in different ways, and a bit of intrigue tossed in for good measure- who can Raf trust? Who can the merman trust? Who can anyone trust? Oh God, is the Pax back?
This was good, old fashioned, scenery chewing Sci Fi. I miss that kind of stuff, and this hit the spot for me. Nothing revolutionary, but very enjoyable for fans of old school sci fi.
Now on to book 3!
This was good, old fashioned, scenery chewing Sci Fi. I miss that kind of stuff, and this hit the spot for me. Nothing revolutionary, but very enjoyable for fans of old school sci fi.
Now on to book 3!
September 12, 2017
Quite a fun read. Full of adventure and challenges. This is the kind of stuff that made Science Fiction such a blast early on. I highly recommend the book.
February 28, 2013
Exploratory ship from Earth lands on planet where, centuries before, an earlier colony of human refugees had landed and allied itself with telepathic amphibians against the planet's degenerate and vicious former masters. This one is reminiscent of a Barsoom tale, what with the warring semihuman sentient species and nonsentient predators. I can appreciate how well crafted Norton's tales are now, more than when I first read them as a tween/teen, and though the technology has definitely not aged well the rest has.
November 5, 2013
Highly enjoyable. True classic Sci-Fi, with the story dependent on human (and some non-human)nature, rather than devices or technology - thus making this a timeless book. Confronting moral dilemmas and responding to human fundamentals are the true base of this story. While there is a good closing to the story, be forewarned that it is not a bundling of all of the loose ends. Instead, like good sci-fi, it makes you want more with its "what could/shall be".
August 10, 2021
Fantasy listening 🔰
Alexa reads to me due eye damage and issues from shingles.
Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller adventure novella by Andre Norton with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set on a futuristic world 🌎with travelers meeting local people. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍readers of fantasy. Enjoy the adventure of reading 📚2021😐
Alexa reads to me due eye damage and issues from shingles.
Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller adventure novella by Andre Norton with interesting will developed characters. The story line is set on a futuristic world 🌎with travelers meeting local people. I would recommend this novella and author to 👍readers of fantasy. Enjoy the adventure of reading 📚2021😐
October 21, 2011
Andre Norton is one of my famous golden age sci-fi authors. Star Born is also a favorite of her early works, depicting a far away planet's struggle to recover their civilization after a terrible war. They are unexpectedly aided by the arrival of a Terran exploration party searching for new inhabitable worlds.
August 16, 2016
Chalk this one up to good idea, not so great execution. Having two separate but converging plotlines is nice, and the whole idea of primitive vs modern humans and aliens is interesting; but there's really not much character development to really care about here, there's very little immersion in the world. I don't know if this is typical of Andre Norton or just typical of books of this era.
January 21, 2009
Good solid story-based, character-focused sci-fi (as opposed to "hard" sci-fi). Written in 1957, it still holds up today. A rather quick read. Nothing momentous here, but worth it. I've not read any of her other books so I can't compare, but now I'm intrigued.
July 24, 2019
Like 'Storm Over Warlock', this is another book with Andre mixing sci-fi and fantasy. This time its the turn of mermen to be mixing it with the alien invaders/visitors/settlers to their planet. And once again, Andre carries this off brilliantly, wonderfully written, classic sci-fi.
Quite thought provoking, in that it dips its toe into the early ideas of the Star Trek prime directive. Should we interfere, should we get involved? But if we, in the future, launch ourselves into the cosmos and into other people's societies, then haven't we already broken that prime directive? Simply putting ourselves into space is interfering with whatever is already out there, yet here we go spewing our space junk in every direction in arrogance and ignorance not even caring what effects we may have.
There's part of this harkens back to 'Childhood's End' and the proclamation that the stars are not for humans, and that Homo sapiens would become extinct upon the Earth and never reach beyond because we simply aren't suitable and capable to do so mentally.
Maybe it's too late to realise and accept that just because we can do something physically does not mean that we should do it. But off goes science and progress charging into the future without any care or consideration for the spiritual progress that is needed to temper our greed and wants.
Let's be honest, we aren't charging into space for the well being of our species, we're charging into space due to xenophobic paranoia that some other country will get there and exploit it first. The space race has never been a marvel of human development, but a charge fuelled by fear, greed and paranoia to beat other's to the prize and plant a stupid flag before someone else can in order to claim that little bit of the infinite cosmos for our own little inbred sub-set of Homo sapiens. This is not a good way to introduce our species to the cosmos. Homo sapiens are so ****ing crass!
Available as a single book or in the collection, 'Visions of Distant Shores'.
Quite thought provoking, in that it dips its toe into the early ideas of the Star Trek prime directive. Should we interfere, should we get involved? But if we, in the future, launch ourselves into the cosmos and into other people's societies, then haven't we already broken that prime directive? Simply putting ourselves into space is interfering with whatever is already out there, yet here we go spewing our space junk in every direction in arrogance and ignorance not even caring what effects we may have.
There's part of this harkens back to 'Childhood's End' and the proclamation that the stars are not for humans, and that Homo sapiens would become extinct upon the Earth and never reach beyond because we simply aren't suitable and capable to do so mentally.
Maybe it's too late to realise and accept that just because we can do something physically does not mean that we should do it. But off goes science and progress charging into the future without any care or consideration for the spiritual progress that is needed to temper our greed and wants.
Let's be honest, we aren't charging into space for the well being of our species, we're charging into space due to xenophobic paranoia that some other country will get there and exploit it first. The space race has never been a marvel of human development, but a charge fuelled by fear, greed and paranoia to beat other's to the prize and plant a stupid flag before someone else can in order to claim that little bit of the infinite cosmos for our own little inbred sub-set of Homo sapiens. This is not a good way to introduce our species to the cosmos. Homo sapiens are so ****ing crass!
Available as a single book or in the collection, 'Visions of Distant Shores'.
January 9, 2021
For they were not the first masters of Astra, nor were they the masters now. There were the ruins left by Those Others, the race who had populated this planet until their own wars had completed their downfall. And the mermen, with their traditions of slavery and dark beginnings in the experimental pens of the older race, continued to insist that across the sea—on the unknown western continent—Those Others still held onto the remnants of a degenerate civilization.
Refugees from a future totalitarian Earth have escaped to “Astra”, a world where there are already at least two intelligent lifeforms. One, “Those Others”, once enslaved the otter-like merpeople. “Those Others” have almost died out, and the refugees ally themselves with the merpeople. And occasionally, on rites of manhood, explore the ruins of the merpeople’s dying enemies.
Dalgard (refugee) and Ssuri (his merperson knife-brother) discover that the enemies may not be dying out after all, and are preparing to re-enslave the rest of the planet.
Meanwhile, the totalitarian Earth government has given way to a new government that is absolutely, totally, not totalitarian—and yet it instills fear in its denizens. An expedition to Astra allies themselves with the merpeople’s enemies because everyone in the expedition is afraid to appear prejudiced against “Those Others”.
“You don’t like these people, Kurbi?”
The pilot replied with the truth. “I don’t feel easy with them, sir. Not that they’ve shown any unfriendliness. Maybe it’s because they’re alien—”
He had said the wrong thing and knew it immediately.
“That sounds like prejudice, Kurbi!” Hobart’s voice carried the snap of a reprimand.
Nowadays a man would better be condemned for murder than for prejudice against another—it was the unforgivable crime. And in that unconsidered answer Raf had rendered unreliable in the eyes of authority any future report on the aliens which he might be forced to make.
Monsters abound in this adventure story, but the greatest monsters are in our own minds.
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