Beast Master's Planet

by Andre Norton and Lyn McConchie

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765325861
• ISBN13: 9780765325860
• Release Date: January 2010
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Classic science fiction and an exciting read

When Beast Master opens, an interstellar war has just ended, with Earth destroyed by the alien and incomprehensible Xik invaders. Demobilized Commando and expatriate Navajo, Hosteen Storm is relocated to the planet Arzor with his special forces team of meerkats, an eagle and a desert cat. He finds employment as a hired hand on a ranch in an amazingly harsh planetary environment. Acceptance follows in his new situation through his abilities and willingness to work. His animal team aids him and provides continuity with his past. Strange happenings lead Storm to investigate the possibility of a Xik holdout band operating on Arzor. Storm has to deal with his own isolation and loss, while making headway in solving a complex puzzle. The fast moving story line follows his investigation, engaging your attention and sympathy. This is the first tale (1959) in a quartet of "Hosteen Storm" books. The last three additions were fielded in 2002, 2004, and 2006 co-written by Lyn McConchie. The omnibus concludes with Lord of Thunder (1962), following Hosteen Storm when the Arzoran native population withdraws from normal contact with the human colonists. A rescue operation gone wrong results in Storm being stranded in a remote mountainous area of Arzor with an unusually mild climate for the seasonally extreme planet. The discovery of an ancient and alien weather control installation still humming away in mountain caverns leads to the reason for the withdrawal of Arzor natives from contact with humans. The very existence of the human colony on Arzor is in peril from the energies rising in the mountain peaks. The alien environment is expertly revealed, as Norton does so well. Storm's passage through the mystery is well presented and so well portrayed that readers can truly feel they have been looking over the shoulder of Hosteen Storm throughout the adventure. Norton's reputation for solid science fiction was enhanced by these two stories, in concert with the Time Trader and Solar Queen series. She often had several story lines being published in parallel, a feat rarely accomplished by other authors since. These two stories are a firm foundation in appreciating Andre Norton's ability to spin an engrossing tale while creating a truly believable universe populated by substantive characters, both human and non.

An Amerindian on Arzor

Beast Master's Planet (2005) is an omnibus edition of the first two SF novels in the Beast Master series. It includes The Beast Master and Lord of Thunder. The action takes place on Arzor, a human colonized planet, but with intelligent natives and alien ruins. The situation is much like that of the Spanish settlers among the southwestern tribes in the North American plains. In The Beast Master (1959), Hosteen Storm is a native of Terra and an Amerindian. He is also a Galactic Commando and a Beast Master with an unusual affinity with animals, who is mustering out of the service to be repatriated on Arzor. "The last desperate thrust of the Xik invaders had left Terra...a deadly blue, radioactive cinder", leaving the native Terrans homeless and in shock. Some had gone mad, killing themselves and others. Finally, all Terran troops had been forcibly disarmed. Since Hosten has not displayed any symptoms of such delayed shock, the service medics reluctantly agreed they could not deny Storm's release. Storm travels with Baku, Ho, Hing and Surra -- his commando team -- to Arzor on a troop ferry and then looks for employment herding horses to the auction to be held during the Gathering at Irrawady Crossing. To prove his ability to ride, he tames a young stallion and introduces him to Surra, the dune cat. When the horse tolerates the cat breathing in his nose, Storm gets the job without further questioning. He claims the stallion as his working mount and names him Rain-On-Dust. Since the horse herd is an attraction for covetous natives as well as wild animals, Surra patrols the camp at night and Baku, the African Black Eagle, scouts the route by day as they proceed cross-country to the Gathering. On the first night, they encounter a yoris and Storm, Surra and Baku kill the lizard in a coordinated attack before it can harm the horses. But its scent and hissing causes the horses to stampede. With the herd scattered all over the area, the drivemaster hires some Norbies, the local native sentients, to track down the horses. It soon becomes evident that someone has separated the herd and stashed the small bands in out of the way places. However, even the Norbie trackers cannot determine who has done this. While the horses are being returned to the herd, Storm spends some time gentling a few of the wild stock to replace riding animals lost in the stampede. The other men soon come to respect his skills and he gains an even closer relationship with Put Larkin -- the drivemaster -- and Dort Lancin -- an old Arzor hand -- who is teaching him finger talk and other lore. However, Coll Bister has developed a hostile attitude toward Storm for some unknown reason. Storm has also become accepted by the Norbies as a fighting man with a fighting bird totem. Gorgol, the youngest of the trackers, is drawn to Storm by admiration and curiosity, providing him with lots of chances to practice finger talk as he answers Gorgol's questions. At the gathering,

Grateful for this omnibus edition

My originals of the two books collected in this omnibus were so old and ragged that I was tremdously grateful that they were re-printed! Andre, or Mary Alice, Norton was one of the shining lights among women writers in science fiction, and we will miss her. And never was her writing better than in Beast Master and Lord of Thunder. New readers, beware! Andre Norton is addicting, and mostly you have to locate her books in the Young Readers sections. The saving grace is that she was also a prolific writer (two whole shelves on my bookshelves!) so that it will take a while to read them all. She is one writer you can give a young reader without worry about too much violence or "adult" content, and she liked to write about younger heros/heroines before they were a more widespread phenomenon. But her books cover some wonderful, thought-provoking topics, as timely now as they were when she wrote them.

Beast Master's Planet

Ok--while I do not own this book--I do own the 2 stories that it contains (4 copies of Beast Master and 2 of Lord of Thunder--what can I say--I'm a major Andre Norton fan) and the 2 stories are GREAT. The little blurb provided by the publisher frankly does nothing to engage a possible reader's attention. Basically Hosteen Storm (called only Storm by his own choice) is one of the few survivors of an Earth that has been totally destroyed during a war with an alien race. There are many human settled worlds tho, so there is still no shortage of humans in the galaxy. Storm, with his beast team, 2 meercats, an African Black Eagle and a Sand Cat (all genetically enhanced so that they are at least semi-intelligent and also able to telepathically communicate with Storm and each other) come to Arzor to settle. Altho there is a secondary agenda on Storm's part. While riding herd they become mixed up in other adventures. These are the first 2 of a 5 part story arc. Altho many years elapsed between the publishing of these 2 and the other 3 books in the series. While I have enjoyed the other 3 books in the series (Beast Master's Ark, Beast Master's Circus and Beast Master's Quest) these 2 are my favourites in the arc of stories. Because of the almost 25 years between the publishing of books 1 and 2 (comprised in this book) and books 3,4 and 5, you can really see the difference in attitudes that have occured in even that short a time. The stories in this book are also popular with younger fans (6th grade reading level and above), especially with boys. I was 13 myself when I found Andre and have been an addict ever since.

Omnibus Book

Excellent single book containg both stories. Saves shelf space. These are both intriguing narratives of a possible future.