13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Two Dark Tales, September 25, 2007
Dark Companion (2005) is an omnibus edition including two SF novels:
Dark Piper and
Dread Companion. These stories are unrelated except in their mutually dark ambience.
In Dark Piper (1968), Beltane had lost most of its security and technical men during the ten years of the Four Sectors War. Those that remained became even more work focused and pacifistic, especially after the Corfu incident. Now the war has ended, not by victory but mutual exhaustion.
The Beltane population rejoices that their forced separation from the outside worlds will no longer continue. They are looking forward to word of new scientific advances and renewed trade with other planets. The end of the war will surely bring good things to their world.
In this novel, Vere Collis is the son of the former Security Commander on Beltane. On the day that a fifth-rate tramp brings the Beltane survivors back home, Vere recognizes Griss Lugard among the other halt and lame. He was much too thin and had a partially restored face, but Vere recognized his father's former second in command.
Lugard has been given title to Butte Hold and all that it contains in lieu of back pay. The old security hold is probably the sturdiest structure on the planet. Shortly before the war started, Lugard had discovered artifacts in a lava cave nearby. According to his papers, Lugard is assigned responsibility for continuing these studies.
Vere gives Lugard a lift to his new home Their conversation during the journey does not forebode a peaceful future. Lugard discusses the ships and men that have lost their homes and now have no central control to restrain their actions. They talk of pirates and raids upon the central worlds. After seeing Lugard into his hold, Vere leaves with an invitation to return at any time.
In this story, Vere brings the Rovers -- a study group for the younger set -- to visit Butte Hold. Lugard makes them welcome and invites them to return again. The Rovers are very interested in the Hold, but Vere puts a damper on any talk of forerunner treasure.
This story introduces a homeless ship that asks permission to settle on Beltane. Despite Lugard's objections, the ruling council agrees to let the refugees have land in the vacant areas. Then two more homeless ships turn up asking to join their associates.
Lugard invites the Rovers to explore the lava caves on the day that the council has scheduled a full meeting to discuss this request by the new refugees. Vere and the youngster arrive later than expected, but Lugard has a troop carrier ready for their journey. They have entered the cave and are enroute to the old underground shelter when the earth shakes.
Dread Companion (1970) is set in the 25th century After Flight. The Survey Service allowed their space personnel leave to marry and to produce children. After several years, the marriage was break-bonded and the couple went their own ways. Any children from the marriage were raised in a Service creche.
In this novel, Kilda c'Rhyn was born on Chalox. Her father was Rhyn Halcrow, a Survey scout, and her mother was a Forsmanian of a trading family. After three years, the marriage is ceremoniously broken and Rhyn spaces out. Kilda's mother remarries within her clan and Kilda goes to the creche.
Kilda does well in the creche. Unluckily, she takes after her father in her restless nature. She doesn't want to just bear children and raise a family, but to explore new worlds.
Her mentor and sponsor -- Lazk Volk -- finds her a job that will get her off the planet to a less conventional society. She is employed as a house aide for a woman traveling to Dylan to be with her husband. Kilda is to take care of the two young children.
Oomark -- the younger child -- is a typical boy. However, Bartare -- the older sister -- probably has too much influence on the boy. Kilda notes an element of slyness in the girl and hears them talk about a mysterious "She" in their private conversations.
Gentlefem Guska -- the children's mother -- journeys to Dylan in deep sleep. Kilda stays with the children to supervise their activities during the journey. When they reach the spaceport at Tamlin, Commandant Piscov meets them with bad news. Konroy Zobak -- the children's father -- has been killed in a freak accident. But Bartare already knows of the death.
In this story, Kilda finds herself living in a daze for days at a time. She suspects that Bartare is an esper, but forgets to call for an appointment with the parapsychologist. Eventually she breaks out of the daze, but is still unable to talk to any other person about the girl.
Bartare wants to go on a field trip with Oomark's class. Her brother refuses and something bad happens to Griffy, Oomark's fur friend. When Oomark changes his mind, Griffy starts to recover.
On the field trip, Bartare and Oomark slip off and down the hill. When Kilda notices their absence, she follows behind the pair. Kilda finds them striking rocks against red boulders, producing clear tones. When Kilda tries to catch up, she slips and bumps the supply bag against a boulder at the same time as the children strike their boulders. The three tones blend and Kilda falls unconscious.
When Kilda recovers, she finds herself in a gray space filled with bright, colorful geometric figures. Oomark is also there, but he sees normal terrain, plants and insects. When Kilda drinks from a stream, she too starts to see a normal environment.
This work is a precursor to the
Witch World series. In the other world or dimension, magic is effective and controlled by the Folk. So, too, is magic a force in the dimension containing the Witch World.
Recommended for Norton fans and for anyone who enjoys tales of strange worlds, struggling youths, and desperate actions.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Two of Norton's best Forerunner novels, October 7, 2005
"Dark Companion" is a reprinting of two novels:
Dark Piper and
Dread Companion. Both are set in Andre Norton's Forerunner universe, in which humans have been exploring space for so long that they barely remember Earth. Both books take place late in the greater story arc of this universe, but they can be read in any order. (Click on my name to see the list.)
In "Dark Piper," scientists have established a colony on a distant planet, where they can conduct their experiments and ignore the terrible war that is happening in the rest of their galaxy. When the war suddenly ends, a soldier returns home to the colony, full of dire warnings that civilization is about to collapse. Fearing an invasion of marauders from space, he becomes a sort of Pied Piper, befriending some of the children and leading them on a dangerous expedition into an underground tunnel system where, according to rumor, the remains of an alien society have been discovered.
"Dark Piper" is excellent science fiction, engrossing and fast-paced, with admirable characters who behave in an intelligent, believable way. It contains nothing objectionable for young readers, but it does deal with some grim topics. In fact, it seems to have been written for a young-adult audience. I highly recommend it.
The second novel, "Dread Companion," is a creepy story about a governess named Kilda, who senses something sinister about the two children in her care. Eventually she realizes that one of the kids has an invisible friend, a powerful and malevolent entity who has plans for the child. Kilda accompanies the kids and their mother to a remote planet, where the invisible entity makes its move to claim the child for its own purposes. Scary and bizarre adventures ensue as Kilda tries to protect her young charges and escape from a world that is unimaginably alien.
I must admit that I didn't enjoy "Dread Companion" as much as "Dark Piper," because the alien scenes were so bizarre that it was sometimes hard to figure out what was going on. Nevertheless, if you want to learn more about the mystery of the Forerunners, you should definitely read this book.
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