Synopses & Reviews
Grand new Beast Master adventure
Death-which-Comes-in-the-Night
More than thirty years ago in Beast Master and Lord of Thunder, Andre Norton created a memorable character, Hosteen Storm. A Native American soldier for Earth, he barely escaped his doomed home world when the Xic destroyed it. Armed with his soldier's skills, his ancestors' insights, and an uncanny ability to communicate mind-to-mind with animals, Storm is a hero unlike any other in science fiction.
Now, science fiction Grand Master Andre Norton has teamed up with Lyn McConchie to pit Storm against his most dangerous enemy yet: Death-which-Comes-in-the-Night.
It is silent. It leaves no tracks. The only evidence that remains is the perfectly cleaned bones of its victims. And it has developed a taste for humans.
No one has survived an attack yet, and the natives of Storm's adopted planet, Arzor, are moving in on human territory as they try to escape the silent scourge. The already high tensions between Humans and Natives soar, sparking a race against time as Storm attempts to solve the mystery of Death-which-comes-in-the-Night before Humans and Natives clash.
But he can't do it without help from Tani, a genetic engineer from the Ark, a ship traveling space with genetic material from across the galaxy, including the destroyed Earth. But Tani has been poisoned against Beast Masters by her mother. She must conquer her own unreasoning hatred, and awaken the powerful Beast Master in herself, before she and Storm can conquer Death-which-Comes-in-the-Night and uncover the great conspiracy that threatens not only Arzor, but all human-occupied planets.
Review
The Beast Master"Imaginative . . . skillfully written science fiction." --Booklist
"Exciting!" --Library Journal
"Fascinating . . . imaginative!" --Kirkus Reviews
"Exciting . . . Andre Norton has created an air of mystery and suspense which captivates and holds the reader until the final pages." --San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Neat, swift, and strongly detailed. Old fans will dance and howl for more."-
Kirkus Reviews" . . . Tani and her animal companions take on the Death by Night in an exciting climax that should leave fans eager for the next installment."-Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Finally, a new novel in Andre Norton's legendary Beast Master universe. The adventures of Beast Master Hosteen Storm, hero of Andre Norton's Beast Master and Lord of Thunder, have thrilled SF readers for decades. Now, in a terrific new adventure, we meet Tani, daughter of a heroic Beast Master who died to save a planet from the same Xik invaders who destroyed Storm's homeworld, Earth. Poisoned by her mother against other Beast Masters, Tani travels the galaxy on the Ark, with a mission to collect and disperse genetic material, some from the recently destroyed Earth. When the Ark makes a stop on Beast Master Storm's new home planet, Arzor, to deliver a mate for his dune cat, Tani and the crew encounter a terrifying force: Death-which-comes-in-the-Night. As the mysterious killer ravages the planet, killing human and beast alike, Tani must learn to not only trust and work with Storm, but to realize the Beast Master in herself. Only by joining her powers with Storm will she be able to untangle the mysterious threat, save the natives and humans of Arzor who have become her family...and uncover a conspiracy that endangers all human worlds.
Synopsis
The first new exciting Beast Master adventure in decades!Danger on Arzor
Beast Master Hosteen Storm has endured great perils to carve out a life for himself on Arzor, the colony planet he's called home since the destruction of Earth by the alien Xik. On a planet with alien life forms and untold secrets from it's pre-Human past, there are always dangers in the wild, especially the vast desert and rugged mountain region known as Big Blue.
But nobody has ever experienced a threat like the devastating scourge the natives call Death-Which-Comes-in-the-Night. Something is killing grazing animals . . . and has begun to attack humans as well, leaving nothing but the bones of its victims behind.
Hosteen, aided by his telepathically linked animals, knows that if he can't stop the killings Arzor will be decimated. His only ally is a young woman who has beast master ability, but was raised to mistrust others with such a power. At stake is the safety of all those on Arzor, and on other colony planets as well. Because Death-Which-Comes-in-the-Night is a scourge that if not stopped here, could spread . . .
About the Author
For well over a half century,
Andre Norton has been one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy authors in the world. Since her first SF novels were published in the 1940s, her adventure SF has enthralled readers young and old. With series such as
Time Traders, Solar Queen, Forerunner, Beast Master, Crosstime, and
Janus, as well as many stand-alone novels, her tales of action and adventure throughout the galaxy have drawn countless readers to science fiction.
Her fantasy, including the best-selling Witch World series, her "Magic" series, and many other unrelated novels, has been popular with readers for decades. Lauded as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, she is the recipient of a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention. Not only have her books been enormously popular; she also has inspired several generations of SF and fantasy writers, especially many talented women writers who have followed in her footsteps. In the past two decades she has worked with other writers on a number of novels. Most notable among these are collaborations with Mercedes Lackey, the Halfblood Chronicles, as well as collaborations with A.C. Crispin (in the Witch World series) and Sherwood Smith (in the Time Traders and Solar Queen series). An Ohio native, Ms. Norton lived for a number of years in Winter Park, Florida, and now makes her home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she continues to write, and presides over High Hallack, a writers' resource and retreat.
Lyn McConchie has been collaborating successfully with Andre Norton since the early 1990s, first via mail and more recently via e-mail, bridging the equator and most of the Earth's oceans to write rousing SF adventures together. Ms. McConchie lives in New Zealand.