Galactic Derelict [Hardcover]

Andre Norton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 083982422X | ISBN-13: 978-0839824220 | Publication Date: June 1979

Three men undertake a perilous journey to investigate an alien spaceship wrecked during prehistoric times.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Andre Norton has no peer in his chosen field of science fiction for teen agers. This time his story involves an expedition in both time and space, as some young scientists- and a chance involved "rider for the Double A", Travis, who had been a student in the field of archaeology, set forth on a journey to repossess a lost space ship. Where their journey takes them provides breathless adventures in other worlds, with other-world creatures. Ingenuity, basic knowledge flexibly applied, and dauntless courage provide the handholds for success and a safe- though somewhat shattered-return. There's a hint of racial antagonism- a chip on the shoulder attitude- at the start, for Travis is an Apache but it has a negligible part in the story, though Travis' background and training stand him in good stead. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Gregg Pr (June 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083982422X
• ISBN-13: 978-0839824220
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,800,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Juvenile Sci Fi at its Best, March 18, 2000

By 

Jay Rogers (Buda, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Galactic Derelict (Hardcover)

When I was 11, Andre Norton was my god. I think I read every Norton book in the Beaumont Public Library. I remember how shocked I was when I learned "Andre" was a SHE! Somehow the books were never the same...I had identified so strongly with all those youthful male heroes, to learn that they sprang from the female imagination was a little unnerving to my adolescently male mind.

The time travel books were awesome...Galactic Derelict, The Time Traders, Key Out of Time, all ranged wildly into strange alien technologies and vistas, and there was plenty of danger and suspense. I'm a little sad to learn that so much of Norton's ouvre is out of print.

If you catch this somewhere, pick it up.

Oh, and by the way, it wasn't an original 1979 edition as mentioned in another review here, the original was written in 1959.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read., August 31, 2007

By 

Bonnie R. Cox - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Galactic Derelict (Paperback)

Classic, I love her. This book is full of high adventure, interesting characters, and far away places.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Through Time and Space With Travis Fox, July 23, 2011

By 

Paul Camp (Chattanooga, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Galactic Derelict (Paperback)

_Galactic Derelict_ (1959) is the second solo time agent novel by Andre Norton, and the only one that features all of the main characters-- Gordon Ashe, Ross Murdock, and Travis Fox-- on stage together. And let me say at once that they manage to get into one devil of a predicament!

The previous time agent book was _The Time Traders_ (1958), and the two follow-up novels are _The Defiant Agents_ (1962) and _Key Out of Time_ (1963). I pass over later books in the series written "in colaboration" with another author; this doubtless means that Norton did little or none of the actual writing.

The point-of-view character is a young Apache cowboy and archeologist named Travis Fox who stumbles onto a site manned by various time agents. After some communication over the radio, Fox is told: "Headquarters checked you out all along the line" (26) and that he has been cleared. I once applied for a routine clearance to do some historical research at the U.S. Air Force Base near Montgomery, Alabama. I was told that it would take _at least_ two months. To be sure, it makes sense to speed things up for the sake of the story. But it does seem to me that for a project as huge as the time travel program, recruits are taken in on a pretty casual basis.

But perhaps Fox was the right man to recruit. He has a number of Apache survival skills and is a "time guesser". He can tell the age of an object by handling it. The Americans plan to outmaneuver the "Reds" by going back in time, locating an alien spaceship, boarding it, and transporting it into modern times. Everything goes more or less according to plan... up to a point. But when the agents board the ship, a timer preset by the Baldies goes off. The ship takes off with the agents inside, and they are literally lost in space and time.

The original World hardback and Ace paperback had a great cover by Ed Emshwiller. It depicts Travis Fox climbing a spaceship ladder, while behind him are spaceport buildings, a robot, and something that looks like a scarlet snake (but which isn't). This cover was reprined on the Gardner Dozois anthology, _The Good Old Stuff_. Get it if you can. If you can't, keep your eyes open for this scene in the novel.

_Galactic Derelict_ is the best of the time agent novels.