Synopsis: The novel's hero is Diskan Fentress, mutant son of a high-ranking military official who, feeling out of place in a life that requires a certain bearing and poise (he's pitifully overgrown and clumsy), steals a spaceship and runs off to an uncharted world called Mimir to begin a new life. Norton makes the theft of the spaceship ludicrously easy (it amounts to a variation on stealing dad's keys). But clearly Diskan is not the brightest bulb on the tree, either. Crash landing in a frozen, alien wasteland, with barely enough provisions to survive, Diskan soon encounters strange indigenes called the brothers-in-fur. Their ancestors, we learn, inhabited a once-magnificent city named Xcothal, the ruins of which poor Diskan soon finds himself led to. There he meets another human, a girl named Julha Than, and a wounded alien called a Zacathan. He learns that the ruins of Xcothal contain a treasure being sought by a band of outlaws called the Jacks. (from an online review)Review: A pillar of the early Sci-Fi writers (and female authors in the genre) – Andre Norton wrote 50+ books, with a particular flair for the pulpy adventure-based sci-fi and fantasy novels popular during the early days of those genres.
This one is no different. The main character, an outcast on
his own planet, runs away and travels to a planet his father once visited.
Here, he travels across the inhospitable waste towards a city, drawn to it by
strange dreams and even strangers meetings of the local natives.
There are the general laser pistols, strange native
mysteries, dastardly off-planet robbers, the pretty, terrified, girl in need of
rescue, and the enigmatic non-humans. As vintage sci-fi goes, this is an
excellent example. But for modern eyes, it will seem dated. It’s fast-paced,
with a strange ending, and the general drama of an adventure novel.
As with Norton’s other book, this is a fun and pulpy read.
Bookmarks: 3 of 5
Awards: None
ISBN: N/A
Year Published: 1965
Date Finished: 9-17-2018
Pages: 154
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