Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is the nature of a man?, July 4, 2001
This book is set in the Psychocrat universe - those mad-scientist dictators whose experiments in human behavior used worlds as laboratories (see Norton's _Ice Crown_ for an example). In _Android at Arms_, the Mengians, heirs of the Psychocrats, have snatched about a dozen VIPs from their homeworlds over a period of years, always on the brink of momentous events - e.g. important trade negotiations, designations of heirs. Each victim was replaced by a ringer - an android duplicate. Now a gigantic electrical storm has disabled the security of the prison where they've been held (in some cases, for many years). None remember their capture or imprisonment, having been held in suspended animation and subjected to hypnocasters.Or have they? Which are the androids, and which are the originals? How can you tell, when the androids were crafted to be *perfect* duplicates? We follow Andas, heir presumptive to the throne of Inyanga, a world settled many centuries ago during one of the first "outspreads" from Earth. By chance, Inyanga is closer to the prison planet than any other captive's homeworld, so the escapees head for sanctuary - only to find that even more time has passed than they thought, and that captivity hasn't united them. Andas, having formed a friendship with Yolyos, a Salariki fellow prisoner, takes Yolyos into the secret ways of Inyanga's Triple Towers, the sprawling palace complex from which the Emperor rules a world - a city within a city. They venture even into the Flower Courts of the women - where death 'stalks more ruthlessly than the Emperor's dungeons.' Inyanga's culture is drawn from African elements, rather than the more usual European-based fantasy. Exploring the culture and the political problems faced by Andas will keep you entertained as the prisoners try to cope with the Mengians' riddle - what is the nature of a man? If you can't tell which is the android and which is the man - does the difference really matter?
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Man or Android?, January 2, 2004
Android At Arms is a singleton novel set in the Psychocrat universe, a subset of the primary future history. Lightning strikes a building on an otherwise uninhabited world and the residents are stunned senseless. Awaking, they find themselves in unfamiliar surroundings and company. All the power is off and the robots found within the building are standing immobile. In discussing their situation, they conclude that they have been under the influence of an inhibitor, which muddles the mind. As they exchange information, the last date remembered by each of the residents differs over a range of decades. Moreover, each was involved in some time-sensitive activity. Then one of them tells of a rumor he has heard of a service that, for a suitable fee, offers to replace selected persons with programmed androids. Since each of the residents remembers being a person of consequence, they wonder if they are the originals or the androids.In this novel, Imperial Prince Andas of Inyanga awakes in a gray box with very simple furniture and dressed in a coarse one-piece coverall. He assumes that the building must be a prison, but the door is standing half-open. He finds other residents, including the aliens Demizonda Elys of Posedonia and Lord Yolyos of Sargol as well as Arch Chief Tsiwon of Naul, Veep Turpyn of the Guild, and Chief Councilor Grasty of Thrisk. Together, these six crowd into an automated supply ship and divert it to Inyanga. However, the Guild Veep has a trick up his sleeve. In this story, Andas eventually returns to Inyanga, but finds that many years have passed since his own time. Another Andas sits on the throne as Emperor and his men hunt Andas and Yolyos. Though they escape the hunters, another power haunts Andas' dreams and draws him through a opening between timelines into a strange Inyanga where his counterpart is also hunted, but by the followers of the Old Woman. This novel is obviously related to other books by the author, including the Psychocrat connection with Ice Crown. The similarities with the Solar Queen series include the Salariki of Plague Ship as well as the cultural parallels with the African settlers of Voodoo Planet. The mentions of Zacathans, the Guild and Jacks tie in with most other works in the future history. This story is typical of the author's quest plotlines, with a strong destiny component. The author foreshadows most of the twists, but some seem a bit contrived. Overall, however, this novel is a good, if not great, adventure story with an interesting puzzle at its heart. Highly recommended for Norton fans and for anyone else who enjoys mystery quest tales with a young determined protagonist.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Was he the rightful emperor or an android?, June 5, 2005
This book is one of the late, great Andre Norton's mixed barbeques: it starts out as straight science fiction then gradually descends into magic. The likeable Prince Andas wakes up in a tower on an alien planet after a ferocious storm has knocked out the power to his prison. Other prisoners gather, all of them important people on their own worlds, including a woman with green hair, gills and pearly scales, a cynical Salariki (Norton's favorite cat-like aliens first appear in "Plague Ship"), and a man who seems to know more about the installation than any of his fellow captives.
The robots that had been guarding and caring for the prisoners have all been disabled by the storm, and as the six captives learn about each other, they begin to realize that some of them have been held in 'stass' for decades. The worlds that they were kidnapped from may no longer care about their existence.
Nevertheless, Prince Andas wants to go back to his world to see who is ruling in his place, and regain power if he can. After many adventures, he returns to Inyanga and skulks through the hidden ways of his palace, with his companion the Salariki, Lord Yolyos, trying to find the android who replaced him on his throne.
Andas does indeed confront his double, a much older version of himself who has sired children, and begins to wonder who is the android and who is the real prince? How does an android age? How does it beget offspring?
Now comes a touch of magic and also confusion. Andas, after all of his adventures in what is his 'here and now' is lured into a parallel universe where the local version of Prince Andas is dying. A nasty blend of magic and technology has driven the dying prince into exile, and he wants his counterpart to take his place, and straighten things out.
So the kidnapped prince is in a sense kidnapped once more, and sets out in the true Andre Norton underdog style to win back his (alternate universe) throne.
"Android at Arms" (1971) is a bit haphazard plotwise, but it is still full of interesting and likeable characters who forge their own destinies against all odds.
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