![Star Born [Pax/Astra book2 of 2] - Andre Norton - cover artist - Ian Field-Richards | by Cadwalader Ringgold](http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48453906996_06d1f6ba44.jpg)
Star Born [Pax/Astra book2 of 2] - Andre Norton - cover artist - Ian Field-Richards
Andre Norton - Star Born - paperback - Cosmos Books - ISBN 978-0-8439-5914-7 - copyright 1957 by author - this edition published 2007
comments by CR:
The plot elements of this 1950's space adventure "Star Born" have been used, some would say abused, so many times it could be employed as a template for a course in Writing Your Own SF Novel. The genius of Andre Norton is her knack for taking a standard SF planetary adventure and infusing it with solid characters and so many unusual plot escapades you can't resist turning the page to see how it all turns out.
We start with exiles from a warring Earth founding a colony on Astra a habitual planet somewhere in outer space. The exiles find scattered throughout their immediate area of settlement-abandoned cities, remnants of a prior civilization apparently destroyed in an atomic war. A deep distrust of technology and fear of weapons caused the exiles to avoid visiting the cities of "Those Others" as the natives are called. In addition to developing city destroying weapons "Those Others" bred a race of mermen - folk who can live both on land and under water. The mermen revolted against "Those Others" and eventually form an alliance with the exiles. What starts out as an exploratory expedition by a pair of merman-exile youths turns into a quite entertain and exciting novel when "Those Others" team up with a new expedition from Earth to reclaim some of there ancient technology.
Norton usually wrote several novels using the same background and plot highpoints. "Star Born" (1957) was no exception. A prior novel, "The Stars are Ours" (1954) detailed the story of the exiles while on Earth and during their landing on Astra. Although book 2 "Star Born" leaves several plot points unresolved Norton never wrote any more books in this series.
Star Born [Pax/Astra book2 of 2] - Andre Norton - cover artist - Ian Field-Richards
Andre Norton - Star Born - paperback - Cosmos Books - ISBN 978-0-8439-5914-7 - copyright 1957 by author - this edition published 2007
comments by CR:
The plot elements of this 1950's space adventure "Star Born" have been used, some would say abused, so many times it could be employed as a template for a course in Writing Your Own SF Novel. The genius of Andre Norton is her knack for taking a standard SF planetary adventure and infusing it with solid characters and so many unusual plot escapades you can't resist turning the page to see how it all turns out.
We start with exiles from a warring Earth founding a colony on Astra a habitual planet somewhere in outer space. The exiles find scattered throughout their immediate area of settlement-abandoned cities, remnants of a prior civilization apparently destroyed in an atomic war. A deep distrust of technology and fear of weapons caused the exiles to avoid visiting the cities of "Those Others" as the natives are called. In addition to developing city destroying weapons "Those Others" bred a race of mermen - folk who can live both on land and under water. The mermen revolted against "Those Others" and eventually form an alliance with the exiles. What starts out as an exploratory expedition by a pair of merman-exile youths turns into a quite entertain and exciting novel when "Those Others" team up with a new expedition from Earth to reclaim some of there ancient technology.
Norton usually wrote several novels using the same background and plot highpoints. "Star Born" (1957) was no exception. A prior novel, "The Stars are Ours" (1954) detailed the story of the exiles while on Earth and during their landing on Astra. Although book 2 "Star Born" leaves several plot points unresolved Norton never wrote any more books in this series.