Until reading this compendium I didn’t realize that Andre Norton was a female writer. She chose the male pen name Andrew North, because writing in the 1950’s it was necessary to do business and have legitamacy. Sargasso of Space and Plaque Ship combine together to make The Solar Queen both stories follow the career of an apprentice cargo master on an independent trading ship name Dane Thorson. The story follow the trials and tribulation of the the Solar Queen. Each story has the sense of wonder and exploration that made Star Trek such a success. Several other Solar Queen/Dane Thorson stories were written and the series is definetly worth checking out. 

Sargasso of Space deals with a planet that has ancient ruins on the surface. A group of space pirates has set up shop on the planet and taken control of one of the alien device. The device draws in passing space ship and crashed them into the surface. The pirates then collect and sell off the cargos. The Solar Queen is unlucky enough to have bought the deed to exploiting the resources of the planet. Luckily they don’t crash on the planet as they are carrying a group of scientists to also explore the plant.

The Solar Queen is declared a plague ship and not allowed to dock at any way station. The Queens crew are trading with a cat like group of aliens when a competing trade ship interfers and causes the crew to contract a mysterious illness. The crew tries to solve the medical mystery as more and more of them fall into comas. Eventually the only crew left standing are the apprentices, and they are forced to take dramatic and desperate action.

Unlike the two previous books in this series this one seemed rushed and unfinished. I was hoping for it to clearly advance the character and draw together several threads.

The last chapter in the novel rather than explaining/answering questions up to this point instead rather weakly proposes new ones. I’m a fan of multi-volume anthologies but each novel should come to some conclusion and this one really doesn’t.

One of the previous main characters Loyl is almost absent in this novel and in fact the parts that were included about him tended to be out of character and distracting from the story line. A major new character was introduced in the last quarter of the novel and their fate was left completely hanging in the air by the end of the book.

Parish Pliess’s character doesn’t develop or grow in the novel, and the newest revelations about the eskalim just fall flat. I would even go far to say that the character is starting to fall into a certain amount of predictability that is contrary two the first two novels feel.

I’ll read a fourth novel if and when it’s published, but unless things change the series may end there for me.

Oh yeah the summary almost forgot, Parish takes on the media moguls running Viva city to expose their cavalier attitudes toward playing with the lives of the poor.

Great young adult reading novel. The story takes place on the colony planet of Fremont where a group of settlers from Earth have settled. The planet itself is violent both geologically and meteorologically, and that makes life hard on the colonists. The original settlers of Fremont chose to live there to escape the growing trend of humans to become altered. Altered humans who have become genetically enhanced also chose Fremont for their home after the first group of colonists wasn’t heard from. The two groups fought a war that resulted in most of the Altereds either fleeing of dying. Six children of the Altereds were adopted/imprisoned by the normal human settlement. Those children are now coming of age and want their rights and history to be recognized. Due to the brutal nature of the first war the colonists are hesitant to allow them much freedom. The colonists however have become somewhat dependant on the Atereds to help maintain the precarious balance on Fremont. Without revealing the outcome I’ll say that even the six6 altered teenagers are split on what role they should play in the future of the colony.

Overall it was a good read and an adventurous world building effort.