Description

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When first published, The Beast Master was a new kind of science fiction adventure, featuring a Native American (Navajo) protagonist, Hosteen Storm, a soldier with a unique team—animals with whom he has a telepathic mind-link.

The time is the future, when Earth has been devastated by interstellar war with the alien Xik. Storm is now on the planet Arzor. Once the home of an ancient, long-dead alien civilization, it is now inhabited by human colonists and the indigenous Norbies. Storm and the other Arzorites must fight the Xik, who are intent on to destroying all life but their own. With rousing action and Norton's unique ability to evoke the strangeness and mystery of ancient alien civilizations, The Beast Master, and its sequel, Lord of Thunder remain fresh and enthralling, a half-century after their debut.

About the Author

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For well over a half century, Andre Norton was 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 worked with other writers on a number of novels. Most notable among these were 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). Andre Norton passed away in 2005.

A native of New Zealand, Lyn McConchie is the author of books ranging from science fiction and fantasy to contemporary fiction and non-fiction, for adults and for younger readers. Her collaborations with Andre Norton on the novels Beast Master’s Ark (2002) and Beast Master’s Circus (2004) were both awarded the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel by a New Zealander. Their third Beast Master collaboration, Beast Master’s Quest was recently published. She has also collaborated with Miss Norton on the Witch World novel The Duke’s Ballad. She lives in Norsewood, New Zealand.