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In a future where humanity has scattered itself across the stars and Earth itself is now a dimly-remembered place of legend, two worlds of near-supernatural strangeness challenge two naive but courageous heros. The planet Beltane had been unscathed by the all-encompassing war of the four Sectors when Vere Collis and his friends, exploring caves underground, were trapped by powerful explosions on the surface. Their leader was killed, but the group wandered for days underground to find a way to the surface. They emerged to find that they were the last human survivors on Beltane. Only strange and deadly mutant creatures now roamed the surface. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Kilda¿s home planet had no place for her, so she took employment as a teacher and governess to two young children on the planet named Dylan. But she soon found that one of her charges has an invisible ¿dread companion¿¿and soon Kilda knows that the companion is not imaginary at all, as it leads her charges into an other-dimensional world resembling the legends of Faerie. Though the other world has unknown dangers on every hand, Kilda follows the children across the spatial barrier, knowing that she is their only hope. Two complete novels of two very different heroes battling alien and unknown evil, and fighting to protect the helpless in worlds that are wondrous, terrifying, and utterly alien. Publisher¿s Note: Dark Companion has previously appeared separately as Dark Piper and Dread Companion. This is the first combined publication in paperback of the complete book.… (more)
User reviews
Dark Piper follows the struggles on a small group of children to survive after their research-colony/planet is attacked and all the adults wiped out.
Dread Companion takes a creche-raised librarian turned governess
The first of the books in the omnibus is 'Dark Piper', which sounds vaguely as if it's on the same timeline as the other books in Andre Norton's Korwar books, though it isn't set on that magnificently ornate planet.
'Dread Companion' seems to be set in a more ideal time, where Kilda's main problem seemed to be how to find a situation that would suit her intelligence and questing spirit. The position of governess to the two children of a high class Gentle Fem seemed ideal, especially as they were bound off world to join the lady's husband in a new post. But the daughter seemed a little odd. Bartare's imaginary friend, referred to just as She seemed to terrify her younger brother Oomark and as she got more involved in their lives, Kilda found Bartare able to invoke some strange events in her name. But it's not until they become lost in the wilderness of their new homeland that Kilda becomes aware of just how dangerous She is. But where is this strange place, covered in mists and containing strange creatures with powers not know by modern humanity? A strange half and half creature is able to communicate and tells Kilda they are in what was once known as fairyland, and a transformed Oomark seems to conform this. But what about the missing Bartare? A spirit sent into the lands of humanity to lure fresh blood into fairyland is the strange answer. Our trio and the man-beast they are befriended by in fairyland win free to find themselves back on Dylan, where they had started from, but fairy can do strange things to time and it's fifty years since Kilda and the children had disappeared and over a hundred since their companion had arrived there as a First-in Scout! And the passage of time hadn't been kind with an alien attack laying waste to the whole sector to destroy interstellar travel.
Both books are, as you might see, are both a bit of a downer though 'Dread Companion' does end on a somewhat more hopeful note.
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DDC/MDS
Fic SF Norton |