Part of Series
A crippled child seeking courage and identity. An exiled sorceress seeking redemption. A spaceman in an alien’s body, seeking justice: Three quests joined together beneath a moon of three rings. Orphaned, deformed, Farree was a beastmerchant’s slave in a spaceport slum. Suddenly he and his only friend, a venomous hunting pet, Toggor the smux, were released by two strangers: Lady Maelen, the Moon Singer, a psychic, body-stealing sorceress; and Lord-One Krip Vorlund, a telepathic ex-Free Trader. With their encouragement, Farree began to learn self-respect as his limited mental rapport with animals grew into a full mind-touch. But Farree’s freedom brought new perils: Maelen and Krip had earlier stopped the intergalactic Thieves’ Guild from looting Forerunner artifacts, and the pirates had marked them for death. On planet and in space, the three and their beasts repeatedly fought off Guild attacks, as their course led to the planet Yiktor—Maelen’s homeworld, from which she had been exiled by her people, the Thassa mindmasters. But now she had to return: a secret Guild plot centered on Yiktor, the pirates had perfected a mind shield, and the non-technological Thassa might not be able to stop the plundering of their world. Thus, with Farree, Krip and Maelen each helping and protecting the others, the triple quests began. One would lead to success; one to disaster, destruction and terrifying devastation. And one would lead to an incredible transformation, to the emergence of a being whose beauty, grace and power had never before been seen in the galaxy; and to a great—and possibly unsolvable—mystery…
Author
Alice Mary Norton always had an affinity to the humanities. She started writing in her teens, inspired by a charismatic high school teacher. First contacts with the publishing world led her, as many other contemporary female writers targeting a male-dominated market, to choose a literary pseudonym. In 1934 she legally changed her name to Andre Alice. She also used the names Andrew North and Allen Weston as pseudonyms. Andre Norton published her first novel in 1934, and was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) association in 1983. Norton was twice nominated for the Hugo Award, in 1964 for the novel Witch World and in 1967 for the novelette "Wizard's World." She was nominated three times for the World Fantasy Award for lifetime achievement, winning the award in 1998. Norton won a number of other genre awards, and regularly had works appear in the Locus annual "best of year" polls. On February 20, 2005, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which had earlier honored her with its Grand Master Award in 1983, announced the creation of the Andre Norton Award, to be given each year for an outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for the young adult literature market, beginning in 2006. Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers. Notable authors who cite her influence include Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Tanya Huff, Mercedes Lackey, Charles de Lint, Joan D. Vinge, David Weber, K. D. Wentworth, and Catherine Asaro.
