Customer Reviews

The Sioux Spaceman

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When the Terran Confederation finally made the great leap into interstellar space they discovered that they were not the first. They found that the vast Styor Empire enslaved two-thirds of the star systems of the known galaxy, and their inhabitants. The Styor, in spite of their vast numerical and technological superiority, found that it was never worth the effort and losses to try to enslave the upstart Terrans. Yet, they could not ignore the Earthmen either, for they were popping up everywhere. So the Styor allowed the newcomers to operate as traders- an occupation unfit for imperial bureaucrats and warriors. The Earthmen accepted this status, for it allowed them to travel to the enslaved worlds where the Patrol could not yet venture. They kept their eyes open and noted the growing cracks in the decadent Empire. Here and there they could do what they could to widen those cracks.

This was the case on the planet Klor, where Kade Whitehawk, Amerindian of the Northwest Terran Confederation noticed that the vast grasslands of that world were distinctly reminiscent of his plains homeland. The enslaved native race of Klor, the Ikkinni, reminded Whitehawk of his own people, the Lakota. They only lacked one essential to fight back against their Styor masters- the horse. Kade could get horses- and if a few managed to slip away....

After all, had not Whitehawk's own people accomplished the impossible when they won back their own land from the mechanized civilization that had once tried to enslave them?

The late Andre Norton was a scholar of Amerindian history and lore, and incorporated her knowledge into many of her novels, e.g. "Galactic Derelict" (1959), and "The Beast Master" (1959).

"The Sioux Spaceman" (1960) stars Kade Whitehawk as a rebellious junior member of the Terran Space Service, an organization involved in intergalactic trade. The background of this science fiction novel is a little different from the author's usual universe of Free Traders and long-vanished Forerunners. Here, the Terrans are newcomers to the stars where the humanoid Styor lords still rule a decaying galactic empire. Kade despises the Styor for their arrogant belief that all other races are little more than animals or slaves. On his first outbound mission, he tangles with a Styor lord and is bundled back to the Traders' Base on Lodi in disgrace.

Kade is surprised to learn that he has been assigned to another mission, this time on the primitive, fur-trading world of Klor, with the warning that if he screws up again, he'll end his career on a labor gang.

Unfortunately, the Styor have already established themselves on Klor and have enslaved the aboriginal population of Ikkinni, who very much remind Kade of his Sioux ancestors prior to the Spanish introduction of horses into the New World. When he accidentally learns how to free the Ikkinni from their Styor slave collars, Kade must decide whether to step back into his official role as a trader, or join the slave rebellion.

What are the Ikkinni still lacking that made Kade Whitehawk's Sioux ancestors into such formidable warriors? When the junior trader figures out the answer to this question, he and the Ikkinni are off and galloping.

"The Sioux Spaceman" is yet another fast-moving adventure story on a believably crafted alien world that made Andre Norton so popular with YA and adult readers for over half a century. I was quite drawn into the character of the proud, resourceful Kade Whitehawk in his battle against the decadent Styor Empire, and am sorry she never continued his story. Still, this SF novel is very good on its own. "Yat-ta-hay," as her Navaho hero of "The Beast Master" once said. "Very, very good!"

In the future the humans are not top dog. There is an alien race that controls most of the known areas of space and believes that all other races are there to serve them. Humans get by because this other race sees itself as "too noble" to be mere traders/merchants, so that's the role that humans have to fulfill. In this story a young Sioux is sent to one of the planets controlled by this other race to join a trading post there. The aliens of the world are kept in slavery by the wearing of collars that can stun, punish or kill them. The Sioux discovers accidently that the world would be a perfect place for horses and that the natives, much like the Native American's have a true affinity for horses. The trials and tribulations of getting the horses, helping the natives and keeping himself alive all make for a very enjoyable read.

The main character, Kade Whitehawk, is a buffoon who can't do anything right. After bungling a mission, he's sent to a minor diplomatic post on a frontier hunting planet. The local natives hate him and try to kill him, but he can't even die correctly. Turns out the enslaved native Ikkinni see Kade's company as pure exploitation team, since Kade works with the Overmen who beat them mercilessly. Kade accidentally manages to turn off their slave collars, only killing three or four from shock overload brain explosions. Somehow the native Iks still don't think Kade a friend, and Kade wonders why this is.

Kade returns from his first hunting assignment the sole survivor and is branded a loser by his outpost team. They bundle him off planet and tell him to do a simple presentation. The mere idea of a horse appeals to Kade's Sioux spirit and manages to save him from creating a major diplomatic incident. He convinces the major-domo of a Star Lord that riding the mighty horse on the frontier world will be wonderful, and BAM! -- horses.

The horses don't get names, but they still out-hero Kade. The stallion saves Kade's life when the natives try and kill him (again). Hero-Horse rescues Kade from a native fauna after he's tied up and helpless, because the bat-monsters smell bad and are good for stompin'! Apparently the bat things are mega-dangerous to non-horses because The Horse impresses an entire enclave of natives by taking out another one. With a triumphant whinny while Kade stands about uselessly, The Horse inspires the native people into a slave rebellion.

In short, I found an unnamed Horse more interesting and better characterized than the main 'hero.' This novella of 133 pages is a semi-amusing farce. The writing quality is 1950's pulpy and the descriptions are lacking. Still, from me, the Horse wins three stars. Go Horse!

Kade Whitehawk is a junior Terran Space member, who is surprised when he is reassigned from a dull post to a Styor planet, as a trade team member. He is told he is replacing a Terran member who was killed under suspicious circumstances. Kade wonders why he was selected, because he is known as a rebel, and not in good standing with the Terran spacers. He later discovers that is exactly why he was chosen.

Whitehawk becomes entangled in the struggle of the native Ikkinni to free themselves from the oppressive Styor rulership. He unwittingly discovers a way to free them from their physical bonds, and hatches a plan to introduce horses to the planet. The horses could be used by the Ikkinni to serve as an effective, but primitve way for them to travel and fight against the advanced Styor society. Whitehawk draws upon his Sioux knowledge and lifestyle to help him in the seemingly impossible struggle. The story moves along quickly, with no dull moments. There are victories of sorts, but this is not a story of one individual taking on an entire planet. Whitehawk contributes, but the epic struggle between Styors and Terrans goes on...

This is another in a long list of competent science fiction by Norton, who seemed incapable of creating anything less. In many of her books, animals figured prominently in the story. Here there are hints early on that a bear may play an important role. That never develops, and instead the horse is introduced. And not surprisingly with Norton, it worked. I have read better books by her, but that is not to say that this is not worth a read. Passing over any of her works is a certain mistake.

Andre Alice Norton (1912-2005) was a very prolific sci-fi and fantasy author writing for more than sixty years!

"The Sioux Spaceman" (1960) is a standalone book and a fair example of the `50s mainstream sci-fi: fast paced, action centered, no great character development, clear cut confronting sides, quite short text (only 132 pages).

The story is as follows: when Humankind jumps into interstellar travel discovers a mighty old Empire already established there. Competition arises and a stalemate is reached. The Styor tolerate Humans because they are not able to eradicate them, in the other hand Humans are incapable of overwhelm the Empire. The unstable agreement they arrive is that Humans will concentrate on trade, providing goodies to the haughty Styor Lords, leaving bureaucracy and military power in Styor hands.

With this backdrop Kade Whitehawk, of Amerindian lineage, is sent to a Traders outpost in Klor, a remote planet, after he has irritated the Styor Lords in his first mission.
There he found humanoid native population (the Ikkinni) enslaved and treated as animals by the Styor and their Overmen.
After his firsts investigations Kade decide to introduce Terran horses and deliver them to the Ikkinni so to enable them to rebel against their masters.
Yet one thing is to plot and another thing is to put the plot into action!
The book is the chronicle of Kade's efforts.

This book is a good sample of the simple & adventurous sci-fi of the `50s.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Andre Alice Norton (1912-2005) was a very prolific sci-fi and fantasy author writing for more than sixty years!

"The Sioux Spaceman" (1960) is a standalone book and a fair example of the `50s mainstream sci-fi: fast paced, action centered, no great character development, clear cut confronting sides, quite short text (only 132 pages).

The story is as follows: when Humankind jumps into interstellar travel discovers a mighty old Empire already established there. Competition arises and a stalemate is reached. The Styor tolerate Humans because they are not able to eradicate them, in the other hand Humans are incapable of overwhelm the Empire. The unstable agreement they arrive is that Humans will concentrate on trade, providing goodies to the haughty Styor Lords, leaving bureaucracy and military power in Styor hands.

With this backdrop Kade Whitehawk, of Amerindian lineage, is sent to a Traders outpost in Klor, a remote planet, after he has irritated the Styor Lords in his first mission.
There he found humanoid native population (the Ikkinni) enslaved and treated as animals by the Styor and their Overmen.
After his firsts investigations Kade decide to introduce Terran horses and deliver them to the Ikkinni so to enable them to rebel against their masters.
Yet one thing is to plot and another thing is to put the plot into action!
The book is the chronicle of Kade's efforts.

This book is a good sample of the simple & adventurous sci-fi of the `50s.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

The late Andre Norton was a scholar of Amerindian history and lore, and incorporated her knowledge into many of her novels, e.g. "Galactic Derelict" (1959), and "The Beast Master" (1959).

"The Sioux Spaceman" (1960) stars Kade Whitehawk as a rebellious junior member of the Terran Space Service, an organization involved in intergalactic trade. The background of this science fiction novel is a little different from the author's usual universe of Free Traders and long-vanished Forerunners. Here, the Terrans are newcomers to the stars where the humanoid Styor lords still rule a decaying galactic empire. Kade despises the Styor for their arrogant belief that all other races are little more than animals or slaves. On his first outbound mission, he tangles with a Styor lord and is bundled back to the Traders' Base on Lodi in disgrace.

Kade is surprised to learn that he has been assigned to another mission, this time on the primitive, fur-trading world of Klor, with the warning that if he screws up again, he'll end his career on a labor gang.

Unfortunately, the Styor have already established themselves on Klor and have enslaved the aboriginal population of Ikkinni, who very much remind Kade of his Sioux ancestors prior to the Spanish introduction of horses into the New World. When he accidentally learns how to free the Ikkinni from their Styor slave collars, Kade must decide whether to step back into his official role as a trader, or join the slave rebellion.

What are the Ikkinni still lacking that made Kade Whitehawk's Sioux ancestors into such formidable warriors? When the junior trader figures out the answer to this question, he and the Ikkinni are off and galloping.

"The Sioux Spaceman" is yet another fast-moving adventure story on a believably crafted alien world that made Andre Norton so popular with YA and adult readers for over half a century. I was quite drawn into the character of the proud, resourceful Kade Whitehawk in his battle against the decadent Styor Empire, and am sorry she never continued his story. Still, this SF novel is very good on its own. "Yat-ta-hay," as her Navaho hero of "The Beast Master" once said. "Very, very good!"

The Sioux Spaceman (1960) is a standalone SF novel. When the Terran League reached the stars, they found the Styor Empire occupying the most desirable planets. The Empire was old and beginning to crack, but was still capable of defeating an upstart newcomer. The League dealt with the Empire mostly through the Outworld Trade Service.

In this novel, Kade Whitehawk is a Lakota Sioux in the Outworld Trade Service. On his first post, Kade had taught a Styor lordling a painful lesson. Now he has been pulled off that assignment and shipped back to Lodi for disciplinary action. Yet he is being placed in an emergency reassignment to a Mixed Team on Klor. Kade is confused, for Mixed Team positions are supposed to be rewards, not punishment details.

Enroute to Klor, Kade learns as much as he can about his new assignment. He learns that Klor has three continents, two in the western hemisphere and the third in the east. This eastern continent is hook-shaped and stretches across the equator. A chain of mountains and foothills runs diagonally across this continent, but most of the land consists of grassy plains.

The third continent is the most important to the Trade Service. The Terran Trading Post is located in a level space among the mountains, equidistant from the Styor administrative center, Cor, and a giant smelter-producer complex. The rest of the continent is covered by the individual holdings of the lords.

The Trading Post is mostly interested in the furs of giant bat-like creatures. These flyers are trapped by teams of the native Ikkinni hired from various lords. These Ikkinni are slaves captured from the wild natives lurking among the peaks.

The Ikkinni are tall, but very slender, and are covered with fine, long black hair. Their wide mouths contain the sharp teeth of a carnivore. Around their necks are the collars that enslave them.

Strangely enough, his predecessor, Jon Steel, was also a Lakota. According to his briefing, Steel had been "lost by an act of violence", which meant neither death by the Styor nor death by accident. Kade is very interested in discovering exactly how Steel had died.

On Klor, Kade busies himself catching up with more current records and correspondence. He finds an interesting analysis of the native grass, comparing it with the grama grass of his native plains. He also finds himself in charge of a Terran bear destined as a gift to High-Lord Pac.

Kade becomes interested in Dokital, one of the native slaves permanently assigned to the Trading Post. The slaves on the post are owned by a Styor lord, but are overseen by a half-breed Overman named Buk. None of the slaves will have anything to do with the bear, but Kade tries to get Dokital used to the animal.

In this story, Kade presents the bear to High-Lord Pac and entices him with visions of riding horses. Since Klor has no domestic animals, Pac is definitely interested in a creature that responds to his commands. Kade orders a stallion and four mares from the nearest outpost.

Kade accompanies the natives on a hunting trip and nearly finds himself being "lost by an act of violence". Instead, Buk becomes a victim of his own plot. In the process, Kade discovers an interesting use for his stun gun.

This story resembles several of the author's early science fiction. The Terrans go to the stars to find them already occupied by a large empire that is slowly falling apart from its own corruption. The same theme was used in the Central Control stories such as Star Guard (1955) and the Outworld Trade Service is very much like the mercenary services of that novel. The Trade Service is also similar to the Free Traders in Sargasso of Space (1955) and other stories.

This story also has some similarities with The Beast Master (1959), for both feature Amerindians as the protagonist. Klor is very much like the plains of Arzor and both are populated by tall, yet slender, natives. But the evil aliens in the earlier story have already been defeated and, nominally, were not a problem.

The Ace Book edition of this story is really a novelette, only 133 pages in length. Originally published as a Double Book, it was so popular that it was reprinted as a singleton. Eventually, it was republished in hardback by Gregg Press. The title of this review comes from the cover of the singleton edition.

Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure, exotic natives and interstellar intrigue.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This is the story of the contact and trade teams of Earth.

A much larger and more powerful empire of the stars have to death with outward diplomacy. But is there a silent conspiracy from inside the trade agency. Is it for or against the will of Earth.

A good tale that compares cultures of different worlds and their similarities to Earth