History Creator / AndreNorton

Andre Alice Norton (born [[MoustacheDePlume Alice Mary Norton]], February 17, 1912 – March 17, 2005) was a prolific SpeculativeFiction writer. She was dubbed "Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy" by her biographers, fans, and peers, and has an award comparable to a Nebula for young adult speculative fiction named after her. She was also the first woman (and sixth person) to be named [[UsefulNotes/SFWAGrandMasterAward Grand Master]] by the Science Fiction Writers of America. She published her first novel in 1934 when she was 21 and her last posthumously in 2006.

Full list [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliography_of_Andre_Norton here]]. (Even Wiki/TheOtherWiki had to split the bibliography into a page of its own.)

* NuclearNasty:

* ''Literature/{{Warlock}}'': ''Storm Over Warlock'', ''Ordeal in Otherwhen'', and ''Forerunner Foray''.

* ''Quag Keep'' and ''Return to Quag Keep'' -- published in 1978, the first book is considered [[UrExample the first]] ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' novel. Norton wrote it after playing a session of the game with Creator/GaryGygax himself.

* {{Kitsune}}: Fox spirits are mentioned in both ''Imperial Lady'' (co-written with Susan Shwartz) and ''The White Jade Fox''. In the former, Silver Snow's maid is a kitsune, while in the latter it's left ambiguous as to whether any of the characters are literally kitsune, but the trope is at least toyed with.

Norton is well-known for her "[[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness soft]]" ScienceFiction, ScienceFantasy, and {{Fantasy}} novels, although she also wrote such things as spy stories, {{Western}}s, and gothic romance. Her most famous works are probably the ''Literature/WitchWorld'' series and her ''Beast Master'' novels, the latter of which were later adapted ([[InNameOnly sort of]]) to film and a tv series. Her work greatly influenced many modern authors, including Creator/MercedesLackey and Creator/DavidWeber. A number of female authors were encouraged to write on finding out that Andre was a pen name, and she was a woman.

* TheReptilians: The novels in the Council/Confederation universe feature the Zacathans, a race of Reptilians whose [[PlanetOfHats "hat"]] is archaeology and history. They live at least a thousand years on average. [[LawOfAlienNames Their names all begin with "Z".]]
** ''Brother to Shadows'': The protagonist works with a Zacathan for an extended period, one of the best glimpses of them that we get.
** ''The X Factor'': The head of the dig on Mimir is Zacathan.
** ''Star Rangers'' (alternate title ''The Last Planet''): The hero's best friend is a Zacathan, a fellow member of their reconnaissance team. Although highly intelligent and knowledgeable, he's somewhat less science-oriented than most Zacathan portrayals. He's also more ready to fight than most, and mentions that his brother is highly skilled with a [[LaserBlade force blade]]. "Zippp--and there's an enemy down with half his insides gone--"

* UnfamiliarCeiling: In ''The Stars Are Ours'', Dard Nordis wakes up and immediately asks "Where is here?" The attending human praises him for coming up with an alternative to "Where am I?"

* OurElvesAreBetter: The Iftin of the ''Janus'' series are both SpaceElves -- they are (or rather, were) the original native intelligent species of the planet Janus -- and Wood Elves. They were wiped out long before the arrival of human colonists, but set traps to create changelings so that their race would continue. Messing with any of the traps causes the person handling it to fall ill with the Green Sick, after which one is physically Iftin -- green-skinned, pointy-eared, and bald -- and carries some memories of an original Ift person, generally those memories geared toward survival skills, such as recognizing edible plants. The Janus novels play the trope straight -- the traps cause the victims to become xenophobic toward their former kind; they theorize that this was at least partly intended to keep them from trying to resume their former lives.

Andre Norton (born [[MoustacheDePlume Alice Norton]], 1912 – 2005) was a prolific SpeculativeFiction writer. She was dubbed "Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy" by her biographers, fans, and peers, and has an award comparable to a Nebula for young adult speculative fiction named after her. She was also the first woman (and sixth person) to be named [[UsefulNotes/SFWAGrandMasterAward Grand Master]] by the Science Fiction Writers of America. She published her first novel in 1934 when she was 21 and her last posthumously in 2006.

* ''The Prince Commands'' ({{Ruritania}}n adventure; her first novel)

* BookcasePassage: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael finds such a passage.

* AChildShallLeadThem: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael Karl ascends to the throne of a {{Ruritania}}n kingdom at the age of eighteen. [[spoiler:When Ulrich Karl, his alleged dead cousin, shows up so that Michael Karl is not the heir, he's an even better example.]]

* GiveMeASword: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael loses his horse in battle and asks for another; an officer immediately orders for a horse for His Highness.
* HiddenBackupPrince: Michael in ''The Prince Commands'' was raised in America in total ignorance of his birth. Only when his grandfather and cousin died does he learn he was the rightful heir. (To be sure, this was the consequence of his father running away and marrying in America.)

** In ''The Prince Commands'', the protagonist (after many adventures) settles down to his new life in Morvania upon learning that he and his last living relative had had a misunderstanding, and that he was welcome to stay.

* KingIncognito: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael Karl, soon to be King of Morvania as a result of his cousin Ulrich Karl's death, is captured by a bandit known as The Werewolf, a prime suspect, who makes no secret of his dislike for the royal family. [[spoiler:The Werewolf ''is'' Ulrich Karl, using that role to build a loyal army while ''also'' posing as an American journalist to ferret out traitors among the nobility]].

* OverlyLongName: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael Karl's full name is Michael Karl Johann Stefan Rene Eric Marie Karloff, followed by a long list of titles.

* RealNameAsAnAlias: In ''A Prince Commands'', Michael uses this while passing himself off as the American friend of the prince.

* {{Ruritania}}: ''The Prince Commands'' took place in "Morvania" in the early 1930s. The Air Force consisted of one barely-flyable plane, and horse cavalry was still a viable force because machine guns were rare and armored cars or tanks not available. The conspirators against the throne included a Communist agitator; the old king had been a brutal tyrant; and the rightful new king, [[spoiler:after dodging an assassination attempt, was FakingTheDead ''and'' pretending to be]] a bandit chieftain, rebel, and werewolf. Despite its small size, the place was apparently strategic enough that the main character, [[SpareToTheThrone newly designated as Crown Prince]], had to make state appearances in Paris, London, and Berlin on his way to Morvania (he'd grown up in the U.S., and ignorant of his heritage, too).

* SeekingSanctuary: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael finds the enemy in the cathedral. They murder the bishop, and he refuses to honor their claim of sanctuary on that ground.

* SpareToTheThrone: The protagonist of ''The Prince Commands'' didn't have a clue he was of the Morvanian royal family until he was eighteen, when his guardian introduced him to some visiting nobles with the words, "This is His Royal Highness." And then they told him that his grandfather the King had been assassinated, and the Crown Prince died in an ... accident ... before he could be crowned, and guess who's next up for the throne?

* TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: In ''The Prince Commands'', Michael Karl's full official is Michael Karl Johann Stefan Rene Eric Marie, Prince and Lord of Rein, First Lord of the Kingdom, Duke of Casnov, Count of Urnt, Baron of Kelive, plus several others, including colonelcy of three different units.

* The ''Beast Master'' series

* AnimalEspionage: ''The Beast Master'' novels. Hosteen Storm has telepathic/empathic links with four animal companions -- the meerkats Hing and Ho, the African Black Eagle Baku and the sand cat Surra. He regularly uses them as spies/observers.

* AttackAnimal: In ''The Beast Master'' and sequels, Hosteen Storm is a Beastmaster who can telepathically command several animals. One of them is a sandcat named Surra who is highly effective in battle.

* BadassNative: Hosteen Storm, the title character of ''The Beast Master'' and its sequels, is an ex-commando of Navajo descent.
* TheBeastmaster: Hosteen Storm, the title character of ''The Beast Master'' and its sequels, has telepathic links with a group of genetically-engineered animals (a cat, an eagle, and a pair of meerkats).

* BondCreatures: Hosteen Storm's animal companions in ''The Beast Master'' and sequels.

* BottledHeroicResolve: In ''Lord of Thunder''.
* BrownNote: ''Lord of Thunder'' mentions that subsonic noise could be used to control animals or drive them into madness.

* DueToTheDead: In ''The Beast Master'' Hosteen Storm taunted a character he had realized was an alien: recounting all their funerary customs and how he won't get them, because no one will realize he died.

* EarthThatWas:
** In the backstory of ''The Beast Master'', the alien Xik performed a "burnoff" of the surface of the Earth, killing all humans living on it. Luckily the human race had already spread out to other planets in the galaxy.
** ''Star Rangers'' (a.k.a. ''The Last Planet'') has Central Control scout ship ''Starfire'' crash-landing on an unknown world located far off the star charts. Guess where...

* GenocideDilemma: In ''The Beast Master'' cycle, this dilemma is resolved non-genocidally. Humans have defeated a race of Xiks. Xiks are clearly AlwaysChaoticEvil, but they're [[JokerImmunity only left reduced to their homeworld and closely watched]]. When Xik spies' actions are revealed to be the cause of a series of disasters, they're hit with civil -- legal -- action, instead of military. [[spoiler:This despite the fact that the Xiks had just destroyed the planet Earth (we were living on other planets too, so it's not as big a deal).]]

** In ''The Beast Master'', Hosteen Storm nearly goes insane after the destruction of Terra; he channels it into a desire for {{Revenge}}, and [[spoiler:in the end, discovers that he had [[ThickerThanWater still living relatives]] on another planet where he could make his new home]].

* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: In ''The Beast Master'', Hosteen has to persuade an alien that a spaceship, landing in a forbidden area, is not a human ship but that of their enemies. He concludes by giving him a knife and telling it to drive it home if he doesn't believe him.

* TheRemnant: In ''The Beast Master'', the villains turn out to be a detachment of the same aliens who found out too late that nuking Terra into radioactive sterility wouldn't save them from Terra's colonies. The war's been over for a year or so, but they're trying to make new trouble on a colony planet.

* SeldomSeenSpecies: In the Beast Master novels, the protagonist's animal companions include two meerkats, Hing and Ho.

* SpaceWestern: ''The Beast Master'' and its sequel ''Lord of Thunder''.

** In ''The Beast Master'', Earth has been destroyed in an interstellar war as of the beginning of the story; the protagonist chooses another planet to be sent to after the war. The military is (justifiably) worried about his state of mind, particularly since they haven't seen any of the obvious / expected reactions from him.

Andre Norton (born [[MoustacheDePlume Alice Norton]]) was a prolific SpeculativeFiction writer. She was dubbed "Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy" by her biographers, fans, and peers, and has an award comparable to a Nebula for young adult speculative fiction named after her. She was also the first woman (and sixth person) to be named [[UsefulNotes/SFWAGrandMasterAward Grand Master]] by the Science Fiction Writers of America. She published her first novel in 1934 when she was 21 and her last posthumously in 2006.

* The ''Solar Queen'' series

* AlienCatnip: In ''Plague Ship'', catnip itself is alien catnip. The protagonists are trying to trade with a CatFolk race for valuable gemstones. The problem is, the aliens are unwilling to sell the gems for regular goods... but once they get a sniff of catnip and valerian...

* CatapultNightmare: ''Postmarked the Stars'' begins with Dane Thorson dreaming that he's crawling through steamy, greasy mud. He wakes up with a gasp and pushes himself up to a seated position.

* CaughtOnTape: In ''Plague Ship'', representatives of one of the big trading corporations tried to push the Free Traders into giving up a lucrative trade arrangement. They made a not-especially veiled threat of armed attack, mentioning that they were far away from any authorities who might defend the Free Traders. And then J. Van Rycke pulled a small disc out of a belt pouch and commented, "Very interesting. I shall treasure this recording--"

* DerelictGraveyard: [[RecycledInSpace In space!]]
** ''Forerunner'': the desert north of Kuxortal holds a field of Forerunner spacecraft contaminated with radiation.
** ''Sargasso of Space'': a Forerunner installation on the planet Limbo had dragged many ships to their destruction over the eons.

* DreamIntro: ''Postmarked the Stars'' begins with Dane Thorson dreaming that he's crawling through steamy, greasy mud. He wakes up and finds himself not in a humid, gluey swamp but in a room in a small, cheap inn near a spaceport.

* EveryoneKnowsMorse: ''Postmarked the Stars'' has a settlement cut off by radio jamming call for aid by generating a counter-pulse in a simple on-off code. When the settler asked what code to use, he was told to use something simple.

* FantasticDrug: ''Sargasso of Space'' describes a drug called crax seed, apparently chewed like tobacco (there's a reference to someone having spit out a crax cud). While high on the stuff, you're lots faster, stronger, and smarter than normal. When you come down, you come down '''hard''': "What occurred to them later was not pretty at all."

* FlyingDutchman: In ''Sargasso of Space'', it's mentioned that the ''Solar Queen'''s Cargo Master collects space folklore and is very good at re-telling the stories, especially the story of a ship called the ''New Hope'', which lifted off full of refugees, never landed anywhere, and now is only sighted by ships which are themselves in dire trouble.

* GravitySucks: Justified in ''Sargasso of Space'', where the entire planet was turned by ThePrecursors into a superweapon capable of generating a very powerful gravity-like field that pulls spaceships from afar (possibly even from hyperspace) and crashes them on the surface of the planet.
* GreatOffscreenWar: In ''Plague Ship'', the ''Solar Queen'' lands on Earth in the middle of a radioactive wasteland. The few clues given indicate that this is all that remains of central Europe, destroyed in a nuclear war a long time ago.

* IntelligentGerbil:
** The Salariki (CatFolk) in ''Plague Ship''.
** The Zacathans (LizardFolk) and Trystians (Bird People) in ''Star Rangers''.

* MagicalNegro: The depiction of the tribal elders in ''Voodoo Planet'', in the Solar Queen series, is a bit too close for comfort for modern readers, even if their culture is sympathetic in other ways, such as being founded by Africans escaping from a concentration camp.

** ''Plague Ship'': Fear of this trope means that the titular ship can't seek help through legitimate channels, as they will be destroyed without trial if their status is known.

* RockBeatsLaser: In ''Sargasso of Space'', traders ambush pirates' crawlers and beat pirates with thrown stones. They did have rayguns too, but they didn't want to attract attention.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale:
** The [[IntrepidMerchant Free Trader]] ship ''Solar Queen'' is described as both "small" and "needle-slim." It's also clearly a rocket shape. But when Norton explains the accommodations on a single deck within that "small" hull, it's clear that to have "needle-slim" proportions at that size, it'd need to be about the height of a Saturn V.
** In ''Star Rangers'', Terra's whereabouts have been forgotten, and it's said to be far from the centers of galactic civilization. The man who sent the ship on its last mission is in charge of Deneb, approximately 1400 light-years from Sol. But the villain is from the highly civilized Arcturus system, which is ... only 36 light-years away from the forgotten boonies -- not all that great a distance when a small scout starship can cover some 1400 in a few years (with exploratory landings along the way). And the ship is "Vegan registry" - Vega is a mere 25 light-years from Earth.

* TheTokyoFireball: ''Sargasso of Space'' has a brief mention that centuries before, "volcanic action, followed by tidal waves, had overwhelmed a whole nation in two days and a night--so that Japan had utterly ceased to be--washed from the maps of Terra."

* TrueCompanions: The crew of the ''Solar Queen'' forms a very tight bond amongst themselves throughout the series it features in. Free Traders collectively regard themselves as true companions in contrast to the larger trading corporations (although they freely and very roughly compete with one another).

Norton is well-known for her "[[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness soft]]" ScienceFiction, ScienceFantasy, and {{Fantasy}} novels, although she also wrote such things as spy stories, {{Western}}s, and gothic romance. Her most famous works are probably the ''Literature/WitchWorld'' series and her ''Series/{{Beastmaster}}'' novels, the latter of which were later adapted ([[InNameOnly sort of]]) to film and a tv series. Her work greatly influenced many modern authors, including Creator/MercedesLackey and Creator/DavidWeber. A number of female authors were encouraged to write on finding out that Andre was a pen name, and she was a woman.