2006-05-03
Galactic Derelict
Author: Andre Norton
The story of time travel begun in The Time Traders continues in the desert plains of the American Southwest. Travis Fox is a modern Apache, looking for a good place to raise his herd this season. It's a dry year, and he leads them far from home, into a valley that only he and a wise old man know about. Travis is about the only one that chooses to listen to the stories of the Old Ones, and that knowledge lands him in the middle of a strange governement project when he's captured by someone named Ross ....
After being drafted into the team of time travellers, Travis goes with Ross and Ashe to look for more ancient spaceships. They hit a bigger jackpot than they would have imagined.
Having now read four novels by Norton, I'm glad I kept going. Star Guard was the outlier. Each of the other three was better than the last, with more action and more identifiable characters. Galactic Derelict is a fairly direct sequel to The Time Traders, so I suggest starting with the first novel and its gentle introduction to time travel. The second story, however, is superior. A ride in time turns into a ride in space, and sabretooth tigers share pages with aliens. The Norton books I've read all seem to cover declining civilizations, but she does it well. All the characters are believable and there are no super-heroes, just people wondering if they'll survive to ever see home again.
I recommend you read this story as part of the two-novel collection Time Traders at the Baen Free Library.
The story of time travel begun in The Time Traders continues in the desert plains of the American Southwest. Travis Fox is a modern Apache, looking for a good place to raise his herd this season. It's a dry year, and he leads them far from home, into a valley that only he and a wise old man know about. Travis is about the only one that chooses to listen to the stories of the Old Ones, and that knowledge lands him in the middle of a strange governement project when he's captured by someone named Ross ....
After being drafted into the team of time travellers, Travis goes with Ross and Ashe to look for more ancient spaceships. They hit a bigger jackpot than they would have imagined.
Having now read four novels by Norton, I'm glad I kept going. Star Guard was the outlier. Each of the other three was better than the last, with more action and more identifiable characters. Galactic Derelict is a fairly direct sequel to The Time Traders, so I suggest starting with the first novel and its gentle introduction to time travel. The second story, however, is superior. A ride in time turns into a ride in space, and sabretooth tigers share pages with aliens. The Norton books I've read all seem to cover declining civilizations, but she does it well. All the characters are believable and there are no super-heroes, just people wondering if they'll survive to ever see home again.
I recommend you read this story as part of the two-novel collection Time Traders at the Baen Free Library.
