Star Flight

Star Flight Star Flight (2007) is an omnibus edition of the two SF novels in the Astra series. It includes The Stars Are Ours and Star Born. In case you haven't heard, Baen is going back and republishing a number of Andre Norton's books in Omnibus form, at least two books per. I personally appreciate this since my old paperbacks are getting somewhat worn and this will give a new generation easier access to the "Mistress of Science Fiction and Fantasy". The Stars Are Ours Ad Astra Novel This is the first novel in the Astra duology. Mankind had reached the Moon, Mars and Venus, but found little to justify terra-forming, so interplanetary flight was used only for scientific research. However, the three space stations provided a number of services, including astronomical and meteorological observations and refueling interplanetary flights. One of these stations was invaded by unidentified armed men who turned certain installations into weapons which they unleashed against the planet. A major portion of the planet was completely devastated and the loss of life was incalculable. Among the survivors was Arturo Renzi, who had lost his entire family. He began to preach the evils of science and was welcomed as a great leader throughout the world. However, his message was too liberal for some of his followers and he was assassinated, apparently by a Free Scientist. For three days after the assassination, Renzi's followers engaged in a furious purge against scientists and techneers, hunting them down and killing them. Then Saxon Bort, one of Renzi's chief lieutenants, assumed command of the leader's forces and established the tight dictatorship of the Company of Pax. In this novel, a decade or so later, Dard Nordis is the son of a Scientific family, living with his older brother, Lars, and his niece, Dessie. Lars and Dard, together with Lars' pregnant wife, Kathia, had fled the purge, but the escape had left Lars a twisted cripple and his wife an amnesiac. After Dessie was born, Kathia retreated into her own dream world until her death. Now Dard, Lars, and Dessie live on a farm far from any population center and the only nearby farm is Hew Folley's place. Dard doesn't trust Folley, for he wants their farm. Then one night, a Pax 'copter lands in the snow just before the house and armed Peacemen surround the building. Dard has the others gather food and supplies and sends them down into the cellar, then torches the house. Moving aside some rotting bins, he uncovers a tunnel, sends Dessie ahead, and helps Lars struggle down the passage. After the Peacemen leave, Lars sends Dard out to leave a packet for his Scientific underground contact, but Dard hears a shot shortly after he drops the packet and runs back to find Folley clutching a squirming Dessie. Dard throws his knife and kills Folley, then discovers that Lars is dead. With no other recourse remaining, Dard and Dessie return to the contact point to wait. Lotta Folley finds them there and give

Star Flight (2007) is an omnibus edition of the two SF novels in the Astra series. It includes The Stars Are Ours and Star Born. In The Stars Are Ours (1954), mankind has reached the Moon, Mars and Venus, but found little to justify terraforming. However, the three space stations provided a number of services. One of these stations was invaded by unidentified armed men who turned certain installations into weapons which they unleashed against the planet. A major portion of the planet was completely devastated and the loss of life was incalculable. Among the survivors was Arturo Renzi, who had lost his entire family. He began to preach the evils of science and was welcomed as a great leader throughout the world. However, his message was too liberal for some of his followers and he was assassinated, apparently by a Free Scientist. For three days after the assassination, Renzi's followers engaged in a furious purge against scientists and techneers. Then Saxon Bort, one of Renzi's chief lieutenants, assumed command of the leader's forces and established the tight dictatorship of the Company of Pax. In this novel, a decade or so later, Dard Nordis is the son of a Scientific family, living with his older brother, Lars, and his niece, Dessie. Lars and Dard, together with Lars' pregnant wife, Kathia, had fled the purge, but the escape had left Lars a twisted cripple and his wife an amnesiac. After Dessie was born, Kathia retreated into her own dream world until her death. Now Dard, Lars, and Dessie live on a farm far from any population center. The only nearby farm is Hew Folley's place. Dard doesn't trust Folley, for he wants their farm. Then one night, a Pax 'copter lands in the snow just before the house and armed Peacemen surround the building. Dard has the others gather food and supplies and sends them down into the cellar, then torches the house. Moving aside some rotting bins, he uncovers a tunnel, sends Dessie ahead, and helps Lars struggle down the passage. After the Peacemen leave, Lars sends Dard out to leave a packet for his Scientific underground contact. Dard hears a shot shortly after he drops the packet and runs back to find Folley clutching a squirming Dessie. Dard throws his knife and fatally injures Folley, then discovers that Lars is dead. This story is another of the author's post-apocalyptic works, but the emphasis herein is on spaceflight. Mankind had achieved interplanetary flight and was working on interstellar flight when the terrorists destroyed civilization. Other fanatics then ripped up civilization into even smaller pieces and tried to ensure that ignorance would reign forever. The Scientific community, however, was working on a stardrive and that work was continued in hiding. In Star Born (1957), the Terran refugees have found a habitable planet, which they named Astra. It has evidence of a prior civilization. Still, the Terrans have little choice except to settle the planet, for their ship was

Andre Norton's STAR FLIGHT tells of a hunted man whose brother is murdered for covert activities as a scientist in a world where scientists are blamed for the global war that destroyed mankind. It's a part of THE STARS ARE OURS and STAR BORN and represents their first combined publication under one cover.

The Stars Are Ours. Humanity established space stations so that interplanetary flight could occur cheaper. However, terrorists took control of a station and attacked earth from it devastating the planet. Survivor Arturo Renzi saw his loved ones die so he preached an anti-science message that led to his assassination. Outraged, his followers attacked the opposition with a vengeance forming the dictatorial Company of Pax. Brothers Dard and Lars Nordis and the latter's pregnant wife Kathia fled the purge; however Lars was crippled and Kathia suffered a brain injury and after giving birth to Dessie she died. The siblings and Dessie hide at a remote farm for a decade until the Pax Peacemen arrive. They try to escape, but Lars dies leaving Dard and Dessie running from the Peacemen. Star Born. The Pax ended space exploration as part of their anti-scientific campaign as they blame the pandemic devastation on scientists. However, some rebels managed to steal a few spaceships and flee to form colonies that had no ties to earth. A century passes with the Federation of Free Men having disposed of the Pax and space exploration redeployed with faster than light engines. The RS-10 ship reaches Astra where an earth colony was established. However, it is the fiendish natives that greet the terrans who they have plans to eradicate with their strange science. This omnibus reprint of Andre Norton post-apocalyptic "Star" saga showcases how talented the author truly is especially in "The Stars Are Ours"; in which a terrorist act leads to security superseding freedom (the Neocons must have wolfed this one down). "Star Born" is also well written, but pales compared to its predecessor as the evil species that plan to wipe out humanity on RS-10 display no redeeming quality not even rationalizing saving a way of life from outsiders. Still these are two entertaining science fiction tales sets one hundred years apart in different galaxy locations. Ms. Norton's fans will soar with STAR FLIGHT. Harriet Klausner