Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Journey Into the Unknown, August 4, 2007
Lord of Thunder (1962) is the second SF novel in the Beast Master series, following The Beast Master itself. In the previous volume, Hosteen Storm rescues Brad and Logan Quade from the Nitras, defeats the Xik aper Coll Bister, and is taken to the main Quade ranch to recover from his wounds. At last he confronts Brad Quade, only to discover that his grandfather, Na-Ta-Hay, had lied to him. His mother had married Brad Quade and Logan Quade was his half-brother. Storm has found another home.
In this novel, Storm is returning to the Quade place after staking his claim within the Peaks country. It's the Big Dry season, so nobody rides during the heat of the day. He takes shelter in a cave and finds the Norbie warrior Gorgol there before him.
Gorgol is working for Storm this season. Storm expected him to be back at the Quade spread watching the horses. After explaining that he had left the horses in the Quade corral, Gorgol tells Storm that all the natives have been recalled to their clans for medicine talk.
Storm knows better than to probe too deeply into medicine talk, but he is quite puzzled by the recalls. Usually the Norbies urge warriors to hire on with the settlers during Big Dry season, if for no other reason than to reduce the number of thirsty mouths drinking scarce water. Of course, these warriors are commonly paid in horses and the clans are always short of the offworld creatures.
This recall puts a cramp in a lot of plans. Most settlers in the Peaks will be short of riders with the natives gone back to their clans. After the land cools down, Gorgol heads into the mountains and Storm rides toward the Quade ranch.
Upon returning home, Storm finds Brad Quade hosting an impromptu settler conclave on the native recall. Rig Dumaroy is busily running his mouth about native uprisings, although he is finding fewer settlers willing to listen to him after his mistaken accusations during the Xik attacks a few months ago. Brad Quade, the Lancin brothers and a few other level-headed settlers are more concerned about the shortage of riders.
During this conversation, Storm learns that the natives have moved out of their home ranges and are heading into the Blue range. No settler knows much about that section of mountains, although Logan -- Storm's half-brother -- probably knows more than anyone else. But Logan has not returned from his visit with the Shosonna clan and is probably traveling with them toward the meeting.
When The conclave ends, Brad Quade points out that Storm has a claim to file. The next day, he should take a 'copter into Galwadi to make his claim and then he can find some extra riders to hire. He could also try to meet with Kelson and learn what the Peace Officer knows about this strange native behavior.
In this story, Storm only finds one man available for hire. After failing to reach Kelson, Storm treats himself to some long awaited offworld food. While he is ordering his favorites, Kelson shows up and then introduces a central worlds gentlehomo named Widders. It seems that this man's son has probably been stranded in a lifeboat within the Blue range. This situation would give Storm a very good excuse to go poking around in those mountains, but his chances of surviving would be extremely slim.
When Widders asks him to lead an expedition to find his son, Storm refuses the request and returns to his home. After Storm completes his report to Brad Quade, Kelson shows up with Widders in tow. Gentlehomo Widders has heard that Quade has a son who is familiar with the natives and their mountains. Pointing out that he has two sons, one of whom has already refused him, Quade tells Widders that Logan is not presently available.
Widders makes another appeal and this time mentions a few things that he will be able to furnish to make the excursion more likely to succeed. Quade, Kelson and Storm start making some detailed plans based on the additional equipment and supplies. Storm clearly states that he will go alone until he can find native guides and that only he will decide whether to go the whole route. Widders agrees to these terms.
This story involves the ever present risk of inciting the Arzor natives into an uprising. Naturally, Widders has no intentions of following Storm's instructions and his casual treatment of native sensibilities causes all kinds of troubles. At the same time, another influence is stirring up the natives. Will the Patrol have to occupy the planet to put down a native insurrection? Why should Widders care as long as he gets his son back?
Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien psychology, colonial politics, and exotic technology.
-Arthur W. Jordin
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read, April 27, 2004
The sequel to _Beast Master_, this book is a good continuation of that storyline. Picking up several months after Storm and his team dealt with the alien presence on the planet Arzor, Storm's new home, this book starts out with a mysterious migration of the native Norbies. They are gathering in large numbers, ignoring old enmities with other tribes, and traveling to forbidden regions. Storm is engaged to search for a crashed human ship at the same time, in the forbidden regions. What follows deals less with the environment of Arzor than in _Beast Master_, focusing instead on the hidden caverns of the ancient race which once peopled this planet. There were ruins of their presence on Arzor in the previous book, but nothing like that which is found in this one. Storm endures a great deal in his attempt to locate potential survivors of the crash, including facing angry Norbies and dealing with hostile creatures and machinery.I like this book, as with the first one, because those parts which are not understood by the characters are not described. It is really a 3rd person limited POV, and very well done by the Grand Master Norton. Given that after a 40 year separation Norton has produced some new Beast Master stories, I felt a review of the original stories were in order. On a side note, the story as presented in these two books is far superior to that of the movies and TV show. These are much more of a sf focus, with some mystical elements (primarily Amerindian and Norbie "medicine") added in very nicely.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable reading., July 27, 2000
By A Customer
This book is a continuation of the Beast Master. I was only able to read it 2 or 3 times and now I cannot find a copy. The book continues with the adventures of Storm and his companions. The hunt for the downed shuttle and the journey through the caves of the Old ones was exciting. Norton has a way of describing things that allow you to see with your imagination. I also enjoyed the conclusion with the final battle between the Nitra, Storm, and the Lord of Thunder. I hope that there are further books in the series.
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