Solar Queen

Series · 7 books · 1955-1998

By Andre Norton

Books in series

Sargasso of Space

1955

Almost half a century ago, renowned science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton introduced apprentice cargo master Dane Thorson in Sargasso of Space, in the first of the star-spanning tales of the Solar Queen series Dane signed on with the independent cargo ship Solar Queen looking for a career in off-world trade. In Sargasso of Space, the Solar Queen free traders win exclusive rights to trade with the planet Limbo, but the crew arrives to find most of the planet’s surface charred, with little signs of life. They find a valley with life, but others may still lurk. Worse yet, a strange force threatens to cripple the Queen. They must solve the planet’s mysteries if they hope to escape not only with tradable goods, but their lives. First of the "Solar Queen" adventures, originally published under the pseudonym "Andrew North." This is the second ace edition.

Plague Ship

1956

Second of the "Solar Queen" adventures, originally published under the author's alternate pseudonym "Andrew North." The trader ship has won the exclusive rights to a new world, reputed to be a source of fabulous gems. But the collection of those precious stones turns out to involve something far different from mining! And then there's the mysterious illness which strikes the Queen on her voyage home. By the time it arrives at Terra, the crew is reduced to three apprentices, who must land the ship while avoiding being shot to pieces by the Patrol. And somehow, despite being treated as contagion itself, they must find help.

Voodoo Planet

1959

The story is described as a “duel of the cosmic magicians”. It involves two witch doctors who conjure up ghosts and demons against each other and might appear to be fantasy. But Norton bases the wizards’ magic on the use of mildly hallucinogenic drugs, psychological manipulation and latent telepathy, which place the story within the realm of science fiction.

Postmarked the Stars

1969

Trouble started early for the free-trader Solar Queen the moment cargo-master Dane Thorson collected a package for transit from Xecho to Trewsworld. What was in the package Dane did not learn until after he had been kidnapped, knocked out, and a dead man bearing his credentials had been substituted for him aboard the ship. Efforts to find out the reasons for the mysterious switch seemed hopeless until they made the ghastly discovery that their precious cargo of alien embyos had been subjected to secret radiation, causing them to regress genetically into monster forms. Only after Dane and his fellow spacemen had endured a series of nightmare adventures on their port of call did they begin to fit the puzzle together - to realize that they had stumbled upon a criminal operation that involved a whole cluster of stars.

Redline The Stars

1993

It's been more than twenty years since the last Solar Queen novel was published. Memorable adventures like Sargasso of Space took the crew of the small interstellar trade ship across the rim of the galaxy in search of valuable cargo and profitable new markets. Business wasn't easy for small independents like the Solar Queen, but it kept Captain Jellico and his crew busy enough to keep the ship viable - and along the way, their adventures have entertained science fiction readers for decades. No matter how perilous their voyages are, the crew has always survived, even Dane Thorson, the Cargo apprentice who seemed to bring his own luck to the ship. And now there's another new crew Rael Cofort, half-sister of one of the Queen's chief competitors. Attractive and competent, she just wanted passage to the new port of call, Canuche, in the Halios system. But what seems a simple run becomes a doubly dangerous mission as first a plague of rats and then an explosive crisis on the planetary star docks threaten to end the days of the Solar Queen and wipe out the population of Canuche's capital as well. It's do-or-die time for the Solar Queen...and her mysterious new crew member!

Derelict for Trade

1997

In this brand-new space thriller, the Solar Queen is in real trouble. After saving thousands of lives in a near disaster, the crew are heroes, and they're ready to cash in their newfound celebrity for some profitable trade. But when they come out of hyper and almost crash into a deserted ship, they nearly find themselves dead on arrival. Luckily, the derelict has fuel enough to get both ships to the nearest port - an eerily beautiful space habitat. Three races, human, Kanddoyd, and Shver, share the facilities; but a fourth species - bureaucrats - nearly scuttles the Queen's crew and their claim to the derelict. What started out as a lucky stop at the habitat turns into a series of treacherous misadventures as an alien stowaway, a gang of intergalactic spacejackers, and an ultraviolent clan of aliens threaten to make this the Solar Queen's final run.

A Mind for Trade

1998

Hesprid IV can't be that bad. Especially when it holds such a huge deposit of lucrative cielanite ore. Or so thinks Dane Thorson and the rest of the crew of the "Solar Queen, " and its new sister ship, the recently recovered derelict "North Star." The plan seems simple—make landfall, mine ore, leave.But when huge electromagnetic monsoons strike, and a strange lifeform makes deadly attacks on the miners, the mining grinds almost to a halt. Then the real threat arrives: the crew of the "North Star, " long ago stranded here, wants off the planet... at any cost.It'll take every ounce of the "Solar Queen" crew's savvy and experience to make it off Hesprid IV with their lives, let alone a profit. And that's assuming they get past the pirates lying in wait on the far side of the star system...

Author

Andre Norton

Author · 174 books

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.