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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Smorgasbord of good stuff, give or take the final essay., February 7, 2001
I'm reviewing the stories in order of publication, rather than their order within this book (a.k.a. _The Many Worlds of Andre Norton_, incidentally). Note - the bibliography at the end of the book is comprehensive up to 1974, which may sound as though it must be short, but Norton's career began in 1934, so it takes 11 pages.The Gifts of Asti (1948) - Varta, the last priestess of Asti, lives alone with Lur, a telepath of the lizardfolk, in Asti's isolated mountain retreat. Decadent Memphir has long since drifted away from the austere paths of Asti, and now the barbarians of Klem are sacking the city, and the smoke of its burning drifts up to the temple. Asti's followers, however, foresaw that this day would come to Memphir, as Varta has learned from her study of the ancient chronicles... All Cats Are Gray (1953) - "Steena of the Spaceways - that sounds just like a corny title for one of the Stellar-Vedo spreads." Steena is a computer programmer who spends her life in the background, a woman in plain gray clothing who speaks little - but her knowledge of odd bits of spacer's lore has saved lives and made fortunes... Mousetrap (1954) - The "sand monsters" of Mars are mysterious statues in the desert, that have withstood time, storm, and extreme heat and cold - but they crumble into dust at a touch. The tourist bureaus (and the Space Marines) now have the surviving statues protected from everyone trying out his personal version of superglue (since the museums and scientists have gigantic standing rewards for anyone who can get one to Earth). Any would-be hero will have to find an undiscovered sand monster to get a chance at the reward... Long Live Lord Kor! (1970) - Survey discovered the world of Vallek, burned to a cinder by atomic war. Useless? Not at all - enter the Bureau of Time Exploration and Manipulation, with their machines that can send agents' minds back in time to influence critical points in history by taking over the bodies of people in the past... The Toads of Grimmerdale (1973) - The only Witch World story to appear in this volume; also to be found in _Lore of the Witch World_. In the chronology of the Witch World, the Invaders' War ended during the Year of the Hornet. Hertha, the sister of the lord of Horla's Hold in Trewsdale, had been sent for safety to the abbey in Lethendale in the last months of the war, but never reached it. A band of enemy raiders ambushed her escort on the road, only to be caught in turn by a band of renegade Dalesmen, so that Hertha suffered rape not at the hands of the enemy, but of those who should have rescued her. Three months later, on the last day of the Year of the Hornet, the last straw is that her brother expects her to quietly have an abortion and be grateful in his 'generosity' in continuing to keep her in his household. Hertha is now making her way to Gunnora's shrine to ask two boons - that the child to be born in the Year of the Unicorn take nothing from the one who will not stand as its father, and to call her attacker to account... In case anyone gets the idea that this story's ending is too pat, please note that it has a sequel, "Changeling", to be found in _Lore of the Witch World_. Also note that in her travels, Hertha meets Trystan, a former Marshal who plans to end up Lord of a Dale, now that High Hallack is in a state of flux. "Legacy from Sorn Fen" in Lore of the Witch World deals with another man with such ambitions, but a very different character. London Bridge (1973) - This story was expanded in 1974 to create the longer story "Outside". "London Bridge" is told exclusively from the viewpoint of the older brother, where "Outside" concentrates on his younger sister. In this version of the future, the last remnants of humanity sealed themselves into domed cities to protect themselves from the polluted world outside, only to be ravaged by plagues. The only immunes were too young to remember the world before the cities were sealed; the city is now a patchwork of gang territories, reflected in the slangy speech of Lew, the narrator. A strange Rhyming Man has appeared from nowhere, and has been luring the youngest children away from gangs all over the city (overtones of the Pied Piper of Hamlin). The children have not been seen again, so the gang leaders are organizing a massive hunt for the Rhyming Man. Then Marsie, Lew's little sister, disappears... Apart from the revised version "Outside", if you like this story you might like _The Girl Who Owned a City_ by O.T. Nelson, in which a worldwide epidemic has killed everyone except the children. The Long Night of Waiting (1974) - In 1861, Lizzy and Matt Mendal, aged 11 and 5, began crossing their father's field to take him his lunch - a journey that would not end for 110 years. Before their father's eyes, the children vanished into thin air; their parents never saw them again, and put up a marker on the spot where the children disappeared, to mark their long night of waiting. In 1971, three other children - Rick, Lesley, and Alex - on their way home from school meet two scared, lost strangers their own age... "On Writing Fantasy" is a 1971 essay by Norton. Last (and least), is a second essay by another writer (Rick Brooks), titled "Andre Norton: Loss of Faith" (also 1971). If you haven't read many of Norton's works yet, skip Brooks' essay for awhile; his opinions are open to question (especially since the information on which the essay is based is now 30 years old.)
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by Andre Norton
by Andre Norton
by Andre Norton
by Andre Norton
