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Beast Master's Planet: Omnibus of Beast Master and Lord of Thunder

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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, Storm fends off a couple of attempts to kill or maim him, in which Bister seems to be involved, and meets Brad Quade, the man he has come to Arzor to see, but not quite yet. He accepts a job with the Survey Service to locate and explore the Sealed Caves within the High Peaks.

In Lord of Thunder (1962), Storm is returning to the Quade place after staking his claim within the Peaks country. It's the Big Dry season, so nobody rides during the heat of the day. He takes shelter in a cave and finds the Norbie warrior Gorgol there before him.

Gorgol is working for Storm this season. Storm expected him to be back at the Quade spread watching the horses. After explaining that he had left the horses in the Quade corral, Gorgol tells Storm that all the natives have been recalled to their clans for medicine talk.

Storm knows better than to probe too deeply into medicine talk, but he is quite puzzled by the recalls. Usually the Norbies urge warriors to hire on with the settlers during Big Dry season, if for no other reason than to reduce the number of thirsty mouths drinking scarce water. Of course, these warriors are commonly paid in horses and the clans are always short of the offworld creatures.

This recall puts a cramp in a lot of plans. Most settlers in the Peaks will be short of riders with the natives gone back to their clans. After the land cools down, Gorgol heads into the mountains and Storm rides toward the Quade ranch.

Upon returning home, Storm finds Brad Quade hosting an impromptu settler conclave on the native recall. Rig Dumaroy is busily running his mouth about native uprisings, although he is finding fewer settlers willing to listen to him after his mistaken accusations during the Xik attacks a few months ago. Brad Quade, the Lancin brothers and a few other level-headed settlers are more concerned about the shortage of riders.

During this conversation, Storm learns that the natives have moved out of their home ranges and are heading into the Blue range. No settler knows much about that section of mountains, although Logan -- Storm's half-brother -- probably knows more than anyone else. But Logan has not returned from his visit with the Shosonna clan and is probably traveling with them toward the meeting.

When the conclave ends, Brad Quade points out that Storm has a claim to file. The next day, he should take a 'copter into Galwadi to make his claim and then he can find some extra riders to hire. He could also try to meet with Kelson and learn what the Peace Officer knows about this strange native behavior.

These stories introduce outside forces into Arzor affairs, raising the possibility of native uprisings. Even the Norbies, who are friendly and used to human customs, have problems with settlers such as Rig Dumaroy, who definitely doesn't hire native riders. On the other hand, Storm and the Quades have friends among the natives. Logan Quade has even been adopted into the Shosonna clan.

These novels are vintage Norton, but with an older protagonist than usual. However, there is the psionic bond between man and animal, natives who are strangely like his own kin, and a deadly danger that must be faced. Moreover, there is the element of hope that survives among disaster.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys tales of competent and talented persons, dangerous but friendly animals, and mysterious alien artifacts.

-Arthur W. Jordin

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.

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

This book contains the fist two of Andre Norton's (Mary Alice North) Beast Master Books - "Beast Master: 1959 and "Lord of Thunder" 1962. Yes, these books were written prior to the "Witch World" Series when Ms. Norton became more Fantasy then SiFi. Overall well worth reading and not just for juvenile readers as some claim. I first read these books the years they were published, but rereading them was well worth the time. A great escape from today.

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.

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.