Lord of Thunder (Hosteen Storm/Beast Master, Bk. 2)

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 the

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.

Beast Master was one of my favourite teen books and this is an unusual sequel inasmuch as that it is at least as good as the original.N.B. The film "Beast Master" is very obviously based on these books, though migrated to a fantasy setting. I never saw them credited anywhere though. The film is an enjoyable romp, nice humorous touches without going over the top. The hero looks very good though he is awful with a sword. Worst moment: practicing sword on mountain. Best moment: "ferocious" feline threatening pretty girl.

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.