Judgment on Janus

Judgment on Janus is the first novel in the Janus series. Janus is a frontier planet settled by the Sky Men, whose cash crop is the lattamus bush, which must be planted in a completely bare field. Thus, the settlers are clearing the native trees for their fields and selling the bark for extra income. However, there is something sentient, but not human, dwelling in those forests.In this book, Niall Renfro is the son of Free Traders who have lost their ship in a war and have been relocated to the Dipple, the displaced persons zone on Korwar. His father died with their ship and his mother is dying, probably of heartache from the loss of her husband and ship. Niall sells himself to the labor recruiters for enough money to let his mother die in a pleasant dream of lost times. After he gets his mother to drink the drug, he reports to the processing station to be placed in frozen sleep until he reaches Janus.On Janus itself, Niall is sold to Garthmaster Callu Kosburg and taken to the family garth on the Fringe, where he is put to work with a stripping ax. He is told that sometimes treasures are found in the forests and must be reported immediately to the Garthmaster. He is also told that those who touch these treasures get the Green Sick and are left in the woods to die. Soon after, he finds such a treasure and saves part of it in a tree bole. When the rest of the treasure is found, all the workers are ordered back to the bunkhouse until a Speaker comes and the treasure is battered and blasted into ashes.That night, Niall is called by his dreams to the hiding place of the treasure, but is followed by Sim Tylos, another of the bought laborers, and is threatened with a knife if he doesn't relinquish the treasure. However, the Garthmaster and his son have been lying in wait for anyone who comes for the treasure. They take Tylos back for lessoning, but Niall is left in the forest when he is found to have the Green Sick. Feverish, with strange dreams, Niall crawls to water, drinks, and finds that he is loosing his hair and his skin is turning green. Soon the fever leaves him, but he is ravenously hungry. After he feeds, he notices that he recognizes the the puff-pods as fussan, the hunter's friend, and remembers eating them many times. He also knows that borfund with cubs is feeding down stream, although he can't see them. Worst, his memories are telling him that he is Ayyar of Iftcan, Lord of Ky-Kyc. He recognizes that "something terrible has happened to him, outside, inside. He is no longer Niall Renfro."This novel is vintage Andre Norton. A young person from the Dipple finds a way out and then discovers alien artifacts that lead to strange adventures. It also involves a symbiotic relationship with an intelligent animal, in this case an alien bird much like an owl.Recommended for Norton fans and anyone who enjoys alien planets, intelligent animals and resourceful young people in a SF setting.

Those familiar with Andre Norton's universes will find the begining of Judgement On Janus familiar from such books as Catseye. A displaced person signs on as contract labor and is sent out to the planet Janus. Of course, strange and wonderful things happen to him, and he becomes one of the Iftin, former lords of the planet. There are deadly beasts, and a strange and powerful foe to overcome, and the company of others of his kind as he finds the place he had been destined to fill, and his true home. If you enjoyed Catseye, you will love Judgement On Janus.