Star Soldiers

I read this book when it was first published and have looked for it in recent years. I found the reading as enjoyable this time as I did many years ago.

My first encounter with Andre Norton came around age 11 or 12 when I bought "Star Guard," a story loosely based on Xenophon's "Anabasis." It proved a rollicking good yarn. Earthlings had gone to the stars and met with a powerful empire under Central Control. Earthlings being too backward for anything else, they were allowed into the empire as mercenaries. "Star Guard" follows the adventures of a unit of mercenaries sent to serve a usurper on a backwater world. Their boss loses and they have to fight their way to freedom across a hostile world. I read and re-read the story several times, and I still have the old thirty five cent Ace paperback lovingly tucked away on a shelf in my library. "Star Guard" forms half of the book "Star Soldiers."The other half comes from another novel I read multiple times as a preteenager--"Star Rangers." This book also found its inspiration in a historical incident (or at least a historical legend). During the decline of Rome an Emperor decided to rid himself of a pesky legion. He ordered them to march east; they obeyed; and they marched right off the pages of history. Some 6,000 years after that Emperor's edict, it is repeated by another crumbling civilization. Central Control is losing its grip on its far flung galactic empire. The Star Rangers are somewhat of a nuisance to Central Control, so it sends them off on a fool's errand of exploration. "Star Rangers" chronicles the history of this last mission.The Central Control of "Star Guard" was very similar to the Central Control of "Star Rangers," but try as I might, I could never reconcile the dissimilarities enough to say that "Star Guard" and "Star Rangers" both occurred in the same fantasy universe.The two stories are aimed at juveniles, their "science" is bankrupt, and they are little more than space opera. But they entertain, and that is all that they were intended to do.

If you haven't got the original books, get this copy. Or if you have more than one child, get one for each. I grew up on Andre Norton books. Her young adult books havelost none of their relevance to children today, and I raisedmy sons on the very same books I read. Yes, the early books havemale characters, probably because it was hard enough for a womanto get science fiction published then. Heinlein, if you notice,managed to get away with writing strong female characters.I was an oddity for a female in those days - refused to read/couldn't stand the "Sweet Valley High" type stuff that waspublished for girls, and Andre Norton's books, even if theyhad male characters, at least dealt with problems of growing upand with struggles to remain honest, honorable. Star Rangersgave aliens a fair deal and they seemed alien enough to me then,but also characters I could understand and admire. Took me yearsto realize the message I'd absorbed - judge the person by whatthey are and how they act, not by what they look like. That message still needs to be delivered, and this is a great, enjoyable way to deliver it to young people.