I originally wrote this review for In the Mouth of Dorkness back in early 2016.  I’m always in the mood for classic science fiction.  I’m thinking I might dip back in again after the history book I’m reading now.

Fans of Science Fiction simply must read Andre Norton (Alice Mary Norton). She was one of the architects of the genre, writing a daunting number of books that stand along Heinlein, Asimov, Herbert, and the rest. She created visions of believable futures, peopled with fun characters. And she does it in just a hundred or two pages.

In Star Hunter, we’re introduced to Ras Hume, a safari guide and big game hunter who takes wealthy folk to specially selected game worlds. But he’s also running a con, getting the mob and a desperate orphan wrapped up with him. And when they stumble upon something unexpected, all kinds of trouble drops on their head.

When I read Norton’s work from the 50s and 60s, I can’t help but think she was crafting a larger universe without ever getting too strict about it. I often get the feeling that if you flew far enough in one direction or another, you’d find the characters from one of her other novels going through their particular set of struggles. If I were a better man, I’d assemble some kind of guide to her worlds; try to figure out which stories belong together.

Star Hunter is a great deal of fun, and a book to track down.  If, for some unknown reason, you haven’t read Norton, change that.

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