Search for the Star Stones

I first discovered a novel (The Stars Are Ours!) by Andre Norton at the age of nine (I'm 46 now!) and have been addicted to science fiction ever since. If the slightest smidgen of a thirst for adventure and a sense of wonder her books will give your soul wings! I find this 2 book series one of Miss Norton's best and it is my favorite series by my favorite author. The interaction of plot elements that are present in all of Norton's works seem to mesh best in these two stories (and also oddly enough in another of her series that has only 2 books as well "The Stars Are Ours" and "Star Born"). The elements of youth on the cusp of adulthood discovering there place in the universe, being a mutant as a metaphor for the strangeness all adolescents go through at that time, alliances between human and mutant/alien/or other as social commentary on what we loose out on if we are prejudice against race/religion/gender/or species (she did start to write over 50 years ago and had to use a mans name instead of her real name "Mary Norton" after all! Andrew North then finally Andre Norton.) , the manifest destiny of mankind to take our place in the universe as explorers as exemplified by "Free Traders", "First In Scouts" of the galactic patrol and others who just simply get lost in the great expanse. The the flat out weirdness of alien/ancient/or forgotten knowledge and how we have the abject stupidity in our hubris of thinking we are the "lords of creation" whenever the topic of aliens that appear to be animals to us are often much more intelligent, and also in the often frightening and awe inspiring science and power left behind in various artifacts by the thousands of "forerunner" species that predate us some by many millions of years. An almost reverential fear of the awesome power of forgotten knowledge and the many star systems ravaged by ancient conflicts that to us primitives seem to be nothing short of magic! (Like Arthur C. Clarke said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." !) The awesome "Zero Stones" end up ultimately being a metaphor themselves in that when the manufacturing process is reviled in the end, there creation takes nothing less then the destruction of the very living essence, being and life force of a being from an ancient forerunner civilization. One of which is reveled to be the main characters companion throughout the adventure who has hidden this fact for two reasons. One, that it itself can only be released from the imprisonment of the temporary body it has found itself in and take it's (or close to it's) original form, and two, that it's ultimate goal is not independence and wealth for the two of them but the release of others of it's kind from imprisonment in the stones even if that release is the release of the grave! A powerful anti servitude metaphor if ever there was one! "Give me liberty or give me death!" so to speak. If you are a science fiction or fantasy fan DO NOT MISS OUT on reading a

I first read The Zero Stone and Uncharted Stars as a child, as part of a summer library reading program, and so I bonded with them quite young. They are some of the few books that I go back and reread every few years, less to discover something new than to simply experience the story and the world again. Because the universe Norton created here is in many ways the real star of the novels: the mystery as it unfolds, the layer upon layer of ancient interstellar civilizations, the intrigue. Murdoc Jern is perfectly written, a character who we the reader can become as we follow his story. Eet is brilliant, both mentor and foil for Jern, a part of the mystery and yet caught up in it as well. The stones themselves are almost alive, almost animate. They don't write science fiction like this anymore. The wonder of exploration and adventure that is so perfectly presented in these two magnificent works has been replaced with soap-opera violence and an obsession with long page counts, and that's a pity. So pick up The Zero Stone and Uncharted Stars and lose yourself in them; you'll be glad you did.

Uncharted Stars, the second half of this omnibus collection, was the first science fiction book I ever read, and it still remains a favorite. One of the things that I really liked about Norton's science fiction is that over the course of her writing career, she created a huge, complex universe that appears as the background to her stories. The books in which she created this universe are not related per se, but they all take place in the same milieu. This allows her to toss off allusions to the greater universe which provide tantalizing glimpses of places, people, and adventures unseen and unresolved, at least in the current story. It gives a feeling of an adventure taking place among a larger and much more complex universe, providing greater verisimilitude to the tale. I am not going to recap the book, as several of the previous reviewers have done a much better job of that than I could. The thing that I wanted to emphasize about this book is that it is primarily a coming of age and adventure story. It was originally written as a book aimed at the mid-teen market, but I think that it stands up well even for more adult readers. One of the previous reviewers criticized the book for containing incredible coincidences and totally wild situations. I believe that the point he missed was that all these things were NOT coincidences, but were situations brought about by the protagonist's companions and the zero stone itself. Part of the charm of the book is the portrait of an ordinary young man caught up in a series of incredible adventures over which he has but little control. However, the situations he finds himself in all stem from his peculiar heritage as the son of his father and the legacy of the stone his father left him. This book may seem a bit simplistic and straightforward in our more jaded and cynical time, but I love the unapologetic way that Norton writes her adventure story. This is a great book for a casual read or a light break in your hectic holiday schedule. Think of it as a literary equivalent of a summer action movie or a light romantic comedy -- not particularly deep or philosophical, but an rollicking adventure story.

Search For The Star Stones Search For The Star Stones is an Omnibus edition of two of Andre Norton's Murdoc Jern novels set in the Forerunner Universe, it includes The Zero Stone[[ASIN:B000CMKKB0 and Uncharted Stars (Murdock Jern, Bk. 2) Thank you Baen for bring these two back. My older paperback copies were getting a little worn The Zero Stone "A Mysterious stone, born of worlds long extinct, is the key to powers unimaginable, to man--powers that could enable its owner to control the Universe. Murdoc Jern, gem trader, finds that possession of the stone has led him to the center of a web of intrigue ands murder. With his companion Eet, an inscrutable feline mutant with phenomenal ESP powers, he is hunted through space, coming finally to a long forgotten planet inhabited by apelike "sniffers." There facing the predatory sniffers, the antagonistic Patrol and the laser guns of the Thieves Guild, Murdoc must seek the source of the Zero stone and bargain for his rights to pursue his destiny as a free man." The Zero Stone (1968) is the first novel in the two book Murdoc Jern series. Murdoc is the son of Hywel Jern, a former prime assessor to a sector boss of the Thieves' Guild. Hywel migrated to Angkor and married the daughter of a local hock-lock operator. Shortly after the marriage, his in-laws. and many others in the vicinity of the port, died from disease brought by a plague ship, but Hywel and his wife survived and even performed some of the necessary governmental functions during the emergency. Some five years later, Angkor became a hub for interstellar trade in that sector and the Jern business thrived through Hywel's many off-world contacts, both legal and illegal, but he maintained a low profile, operating from the same modest hock-lock. One day, the first officer of a space liner brought in a ring with a dull stone that was found in interstellar space, far from any star, on the finger of a space suited corpse. The crude stone is plain and cloudy, but has a remarkable hardness. The stone gives an impression of great power to Hywel and Murdoc, but not to the rest of the family. Hywel is obsessed with the stone and arranges an apprenticeship for Murdoc with Vondar Ustle, a master gemologist who searches for new sources of precious stones, so that Murdoc can search for more information on the ring and stone. Hywel is well satisfied with his life as apprentice to Vondar and, when he returns for a visit, finds that he no longer fits into his family. One evening, Hywel stays home to conduct some business while the rest of the family goes to a party. Leaving the party earlier, Murdoc returns home to find his father tied to his chair, bloody and dead. Murdoc takes the ring and stone from its hiding place and leaves his home forever. In this novel, Murdoc and Vondar have come to Koonga City on Tanth searching for gems. They are dining in a taproom when the Green Robes, native priests, enter, spin their selection wheel to point betwee