Janus [Paperback]

Andre Norton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2002

On the distant jungle world of Janus, Naill Renfro hopes to work off his debts and begin his life anew. But soon Naill begins to remember another place, in another time--when he was not human, but something else: a native of Janus, in the days before its civilization fell. Embarking on a quest to learn more of his alien heritage, Naill will discover the mysterious source of his strange new memory, the fate of the others of his kind--and the story of human invaders who devastated the once-proud world!

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Victory on Janus is] a fast-moving adventure story set in a vivid imaginary world." --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (July 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743435532
• ISBN-13: 978-0743435536
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,481,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Janus by Andre Norton, August 24, 2004

By 

April May Rollins (Ashuelot, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Janus (Paperback)

One of the earliest novels I can remember reading was DAYBREAK: 2250 AD (aka STARMAN'S SON) by Andre Norton. Like most science fiction readers of my generation, I went through an Andre Norton period. She was writing young adult fiction before the term was created. I was both curious and apprehensive when Baen announced that they would be re-issuing those books of hers that had been out of print. This volume reprints two of her novels, JUDGMENT ON JANUS (1963) and its sequel VICTORY ON JANUS (1966). I was hopeful that, but also nervous whether, her books would hold up after all these years.
The main character is Naill Renfro. The son of a space merchant family, he is living in a refugee camp called the Dipple on the planet Korwar at the beginning of the book. An interstellar war has killed his father and destroyed his family's spaceship. To buy drugs for his dying mother, Naill sells himself into slavery. Then he is shipped to the planet Janus. Naill has no idea how long the voyage was, because he was under suspended animation the entire time.
Janus is a planet fit for human habitation that consists of large continents covered by forests and separated by small seas. A religious sect called the Sky Lovers settled on Janus 20 years previously, and its members have been clearing the forests to build farms. Naill is bought by Callu Kosburg, one of these settlers.
The main female character is Ashla Himmer, one of the daughters of one of the other settlers. Naill and Ashla each discover an alien artifact, but contract an illness called the Green Sick. They survive, but they find they are no longer human. This is when their adventures really begin.
To my surprise, no romance ever developed between Naill and Ashla, and there was absolutely no sex of any kind in the book. Nor was there any gratuitous violence, which is not to say there is no action. Far from it. However, the protagonists are running away from their enemies as often as they face them. Furthermore, the resolutions of both novels require the characters to solve puzzles instead of killing or destroying something.
"Janus" refers to the Roman god who looks both forwards and backwards. After Naill and Ashla are transformed, they both find they have two sets of memories. In addition to their human ones, they also remember living as members of an intelligent, but extinct, species native to Janus.
As you would expect with forty year old science fiction, some of the science is out of date. For instance, Norton concept of a computer is one that uses vacuum tubes and requires maintenance shafts and crawlspaces. However, if obsolete science makes a story unreadable, it was probably not worth reading in the first place. This is not the case here.
I am glad to say that I can wholeheartedly recommend this book. The story kept me thoroughly engaged, and I found the characters interesting. I don't recall reading the novels when they first came out, but I'm glad I didn't have to wait three years between the original and the sequel.

Reviewed by Tom Feller for The Coffee Cramp Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks to Baen for Reprinting These Books, March 13, 2003

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Janus (Paperback)

Judgement on Janus and Victory on Janus were first published in 1963 and 1966 repsectively. They are here published in one volume for the first time.

Naill Renfro is an inhabitant of the vast refugee camp/slum called the Dipple that developed on the pleasure planet of Kowar after the late war. It has become the source of cheap, desperate labor for the rest of the universe. Renfro was the son of a Free Trader who died with his ship during a fire fight. Ejected with his mother in a lifeboat they came to the Dipple as refugees, but even with the war ended they have no hope of escape.

His mother dying, Naill sells his body as contract labor on an agricultural planet known as Janus to buy her some peace at the end. Naill is shipped in cold sleep to the planet where his contract is purchased by one of the settlers, a member of a dour religious group who are tearing up the great forest of Janus in order to plant their cash crop. Again it seems Naill is in a trap with no means of escape.

Before saving the rain forest became fashionable, Norton wrote about the consequences of losing contact with nature. In this story there are forces on the planet that are trying to reestablish relationships between the Terrans and the planet by changing the Terrans as the Terrans try to change the planet to meet their needs.

This is prime Norton fiction and very entertaining.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Norton sci-fi, November 13, 2009

By 

Donna (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Janus (Mass Market Paperback)

This is part of a trilogy of books. A well written supenseful selcetion that can be read alone or as a group. Better as a trilogy. For Norton fans as well as not well worth the purchase.