Beast Master Team
~ 2nd Omnibus for the Beast Master Series by Andre Norton
(Series aka) Hosteen Storm
Both novels within written by Lyn McConchie from a brief collaborated outline.
Contains ~
- Beast Master's Ark (2002) Published by TOR, HC, 0-765-30041-9, LCCN 2002067249, $23.95, 318pg ~ cover by Allen Douglas
- Beast Master's Circus (2004) Published by TOR, HC, 0-765-30042-7, LCCN 2003060697, $24.95, 301pg ~ cover by Allen Douglas
Synopsis ~
From the flaps of the dust jacket ~
Animal Corps: With “Beast Master” (1959) and “Lord of Thunder” (1962), Andre Norton created one of her most popular characters – Hosteen Storm, a soldier of Earth who is part of the Beast Master corps. Aided by his team of telepathically-linked animals, Storm now protects the human and alien colonist on Azor, the planet he’s called home since the destruction of Earth by the alien Xik.
“Beast Master’s Ark” Even after six generations, there’s a lot about their world the humans on Azor don’t know. The Big Blue – the vast dessert and rugged mountain region where they ranch – contains untold dangers, but nobody has ever seen a threat like the one the natives call Death-Which-Come-in-the-Night. Something is killing both grazing animals and humans, leaving behind nothing but bones…and it’s spreading. With Tani, a young woman who has Beast Master gifts but mistrusts others with such power, Storm must find a way to stop the killer. Because if Death-by-Night is not stopped, it could decimate Arzor and spread to other worlds as well.
“Beast Master’s Circus” Arzor is visited by a circus that features Laris, a young woman who has been sold into bondage to Dedran, the circus’s hated master. Laris works with a number of alien animal species to perform entertaining feats of derring-do. And she’s certain that Dedran is working for the secret interstellar Thieves Guild. The Guild seeks to breed or clone telepathic creatures for their own purposes, and they have been killing Beast Masters who stand in their way. They’ll stop at nothing to plunder Arzor’s animals…unless Laris can warn Storm and Tani in time.
Write-up from a fan ~
Beast Master's Ark ~ Before the Xik destruction of Earth, the Terran High Command authorized the creation and stocking of genetic arks (large spaceships with laboratories) to preserve many animal species. Now one Ark ship is coming to Arzor to hopefully obtain some genetic material from Hosteen Storm's team, and to possibly create mates for them. Trouble is, the main geneticist on the Ark hates Beast Masters because she feels sacrificing the animals in war is wrong; this attitude was taught to her by her mother, who resented the fact that her Beast Master husband and his animal team had been killed in the war with the Xik. In addition to her attitude towards him, Storm gets off on the wrong foot by laughing when her owl repeats a scurrilous phrase taught to it by a disgruntled former member of the Ark's crew. At the same time, a second Xik holdout force on Arzor has created a hive of voracious killer insects, akin to the army ants of Earth--only much more deadly. Hosteen and Tani (the geneticist) must combine their skills to defeat this new Xik threat. ~ SL
Beast Master's Circus ~ A former Beast Master who has lost his own team starts kidnapping the animals of other teams, searching for ways to replace his own team. When he kidnaps Sura and Hing, as well as injuring Tani, Storm goes after them. With the help of an orphaned girl, Laris and her cat-like companion, who makes her living partly by a circus act, partly by thievery (forced into it by the circus master) he manages to recover the team and bring down a major branch of the Thieves' Guild. ~ SL
Bibliography of English Editions ~
- (2004) Published by SFBC, HC, 0-739-44180-9, # 64363, $12.99, 388pg ~ cover by Allen Douglas {Black Paper Boards & Spine, ISBN, # 1160081, # 64363 on Rear of Dust Jacket}
