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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar Stories, January 11, 2002
This review is from: Star Soldiers (Hardcover)
My first encounter with Andre Norton came around age 11 or 12 when I bought "Star Guard," a story loosely based on Xenophon's "Anabasis." It proved a rollicking good yarn. Earthlings had gone to the stars and met with a powerful empire under Central Control. Earthlings being too backward for anything else, they were allowed into the empire as mercenaries. "Star Guard" follows the adventures of a unit of mercenaries sent to serve a usurper on a backwater world. Their boss loses and they have to fight their way to freedom across a hostile world. I read and re-read the story several times, and I still have the old thirty five cent Ace paperback lovingly tucked away on a shelf in my library. "Star Guard" forms half of the book "Star Soldiers." The other half comes from another novel I read multiple times as a preteenager--"Star Rangers." This book also found its inspiration in a historical incident (or at least a historical legend). During the decline of Rome an Emperor decided to rid himself of a pesky legion. He ordered them to march east; they obeyed; and they marched right off the pages of history. Some 6,000 years after that Emperor's edict, it is repeated by another crumbling civilization. Central Control is losing its grip on its far flung galactic empire. The Star Rangers are somewhat of a nuisance to Central Control, so it sends them off on a fool's errand of exploration. "Star Rangers" chronicles the history of this last mission. The Central Control of "Star Guard" was very similar to the Central Control of "Star Rangers," but try as I might, I could never reconcile the dissimilarities enough to say that "Star Guard" and "Star Rangers" both occurred in the same fantasy universe. The two stories are aimed at juveniles, their "science" is bankrupt, and they are little more than space opera. But they entertain, and that is all that they were intended to do.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Juveniles Revisited, September 5, 2001
This review is from: Star Soldiers (Hardcover)
"Star Soldiers" is the republication of two old Norton scifi juveniles: "Star Guard" and "Star Rangers." The books have no connection with each other. I still have the old paperback publications of these books which deal with opposite ends of time: man's conquest of the stars and his retreat. It seems to me that everything from the original publication is here. "Star Guard" is a book that has stuck in my memory from my youth. It featured Norton's patented great action and strong characters. I hadn't read the book for years and expected it would lose something on this rereading. And it did, to some degree...it seemed much shorter now. I realized as I retraveled an alien world with the human mercenary troops of the "Star Guard", trapped, abandoned by "Central Control" and dying but always striving, how sophisticated Norton's juvenile's were and are. A happy ending for the hero, yes, but plenty of trial and loss along the way. I have a slight preference for "Star Guard" over "Star Ranger." The mercenaries of the first book may be taking their lumps but they're considered a "young" race. The humans of "Star Rangers" seem old and tired. Not so much our young heroes but the civilization as a whole which I found rather depressing when I was a kid and still do now. Still the action and great character development is here. It is in "Star Rangers," I believe, in which Norton first writes about the strong human/alien bonds, team work and tolerance which will become signiture features of her later books. One thing I did notice as I reread these books was the absolute
gender bias in these early books that I was not aware of as a teen. There are no women characters in the first book and virtually no females until the end of the second book. Although strong female characters soon appear in Norton's novels, these early works were "supposed" to be written for boys by boys...thus "Andre." The dark secret of the sex of noted women scifi writers is laughable today but seemed important back then. I was considered odd for reading scifi. If you don't own these books, I would suggest getting them to complete your Norton collection...and as a good introduction to her juveniles for all your teen friends.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
oldies but goodies, November 16, 2001
This review is from: Star Soldiers (Hardcover)
If you haven't got the original books, get this copy. Or if you have more than one child, get one for each. I grew up on Andre Norton books. Her young adult books have
lost none of their relevance to children today, and I raised
my sons on the very same books I read. Yes, the early books have
male characters, probably because it was hard enough for a woman
to get science fiction published then. Heinlein, if you notice,
managed to get away with writing strong female characters.
I was an oddity for a female in those days - refused to read/
couldn't stand the "Sweet Valley High" type stuff that was
published for girls, and Andre Norton's books, even if they
had male characters, at least dealt with problems of growing up
and with struggles to remain honest, honorable. Star Rangers
gave aliens a fair deal and they seemed alien enough to me then,
but also characters I could understand and admire. Took me years
to realize the message I'd absorbed - judge the person by what
they are and how they act, not by what they look like. That
message still needs to be delivered, and this is a great, enjoyable way to deliver it to young people.
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