Axler.UPenn%UDel-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (05/26/83)
From: David Axler <Axler.UPenn@UDel-Relay>
Andre Norton is an author whose books are, for many people, among the
first sf or fantasy works ever encountered. This is because her entry into
the sf field was through the writing of juvenile fiction, which, in turn, has
lead many librarians who know her name to automatically categorize all her
writing as such; this attitude has also occurred in the marketing of much of
her work. Despite her prolific output, she has been pretty much ignored by
sf fans; as far as I can recall, she's yet to receive a Hugo nomination.
Her entry in the Nicholls' encyclopedia is huge -- over three columns.
I'll paraphrase the highlights here:
Andre Norton is the writing name of Alice Mary Norton (1912--), who has
recently [[ca. 1977]] become Andre Alice Norton. A librarian for 20 years
before turning to full time writing .... Though much of her work is fully as
adult in theme and telling as almost all general sf, she has been primarily
marketed as a writer for children and adolescents. Beginning to publish
in the 1930s, she soon produced an espionage trilogy...; she came to sf proper
in 1947 with "The People of the Crater", as Andrew North, a pseudonym she also
used for three novels.
AN has consistently demonstrated a preference for novel-length fictions,
and for the establishing of links among her numerous books; indeed, most of
her novels make use (though sometimes rather casually) of a common background
and common vocabulary whose general effect is to place into a broadly
conceived galactic venue a wide variety of tales, some space opera, some
comparatively intimate studies of men, aliens, and beasts and their relation-
ships under various circumstances. . . . Though shared assumptions and a shared
galaxy do not make a series, many of the novels are more closely linked.
"Dane Thorson" series: Sargasso of Space ('55); Plague Ship ('56); Voodoo
Planet ('59); Postmarked the Stars ('69)
"Blake Walker" series: The Crossroads of Time ('56); Quest Crosstime ('65)
"Ross Murdock" series: The Time Traders ('58); Galactic Derelict ('59);
The Defiant Agents ('62); Key out of Time ('63)
"Astra" series: The Stars are Ours! ('54); Star Born ('57)
"Hosteen Storm" series: The Beast Master ('59); Lord of Thunder ('62)
"Lantee" series: Storm over Warlock ('60); Ordeal in Otherwhere ('64);
Forerunner Foray ('73)
"Janus" series: Judgement on Janus ('63); Victory on Janus ('66)
"Witch World" series: [[**FANTASY; NOT SET IN THE SHARED BACKGROUND]]:
Witch World ('63); Web of the Witch World ('64); Year of the Unicorn ('65);
Three Against the Witch World ('67); Sorceress of the Witch World ('68);
Spell of the Witch World (shorts coll'n, '72); The Crystal Gryphon ('72);
The Jargoon Pard ('72); Trey of Swords ('78). The first seven volumes are
available in a Gregg Press (acid-free paper, sewn bindings, etc.) edition with
introductions, maps, essays, etc.
"Moon Singer" series: Moon of Three Rings ('66); Exiles of the Stars ('71)
"Murdoc Jern" series: The Zero Stone ('68); Uncharted Stars ('69)
[[Another series not noted in Nicholls is the "Magic" series, in which all
the titles end with the word 'magic': Steel Magic ('65); Fur Magic ('68);
Dragon Magic ('72); Lavender-Green Magic ('74); Red Hart Magic ('76). These
are a series in that they share some basic conceptual approaches, but don't
have interlocking plots.]]
Though her style has matured over the years, and her plots have tended to
darken somewhat, from first to last an AN story will show virtues of clear
construction, a high degree of narrative control, protagonists whose qualities
allow easy reader identification, and a universe (whose availability to Man is
described in space-opera terms and represented by the familiarity of the
shared backgrounds) which is fundamentally responsive to virtue, good will,
and spunk. [[All of which are characteristics beloved by children's librarians,
one might note.]] The large number of books published [[Nicholls shows another
25, besides those already listed, and that's only up to '77]], the fact that
she has not been inclined to publish material in the sf magazines, and the
label of juvenile writer she has borne, have all worked to restrict AN's impact
within the sf genre, though her actual sales are very considerable. Though
she is not innovative with regard to ideas, she is all the same a prolific
craftsman whose relative critical neglect is regrettable.
[[Fantasy gameplayers, by the way, should note her novel Quag Keep, which is
actually a novelization of a section of a D&D campaign in Gary Gygax's
Greyhawk (tm) world.]]
--Dave Axler