Brother to Shadows

by Andre Norton

Paperback, 1999

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Norton

Collection

Publication

Eos (HarperCollins) (1999), Mass Market Paperback, 311 pages

Description

"Brother to shadows marks the triumphant, long-awaited return of one of the most distinctive voices in the realm of the future-possible - the first sf novel in over a decade by the incomparable Andre Norton, winner of the Science Fiction Writers of America's prestigious Grand Master Award." "At the end of the history of Ho-Le-Far Lair, a young Shadow named Jofre is cast out in disgrace - cruelly forsaken by the illustrious Brotherhood of spies, bodyguards and assassins to whom he has dedicated his life...and damned to wander Asborgan alone." "Then Destiny unveils her grand designs for Jofre in the Stinkhole - haven of the vilest scum to follow the star lanes. For there he is blood-oathed to the off-worlder Zurzal - a gentle, reptilian knowledge-seeker on a quest to penetrate the mystery of time itself." "There are others, however, intently interested in the progress of the lizard-being and his newly acquired guardian: the lord of a contentious world who would harness their powers to crush a revolution...the bloodthirsty minions of the dreaded interplanetary Thieves Guild...and a beautiful, issha-trained Shadow-sister, entrusted with the destruction of one with whom she shares an unbreakable bond." "But a Shadow, once oathed, may not question his mission. And Jofre must be faithful to the path he has chosen - embarking upon an exrtraordinary journey through strange worlds and unknown perils...and toward an unforeseen magnificence that awaits him in the terrible Shattered Land."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member dbsovereign
Okay sci-fi where not a whole lot happens. Characters are surprisingly dense. I was very happy that the main woman character does *not* become the romantic interest to whom the main character becomes entwined.
LibraryThing member JohnFair
I came to this read-again book thinking it was one of those that I got just because the subject mentioned time travel. However, after actually reading it, I found it quite interesting and rather more exciting in terms of people shooting at each other than is usual in Andre Norton's stories and,
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though it's listed as part of a series, it is more than fine as a standalone. As is usual with Norton's far future science fiction it may not be directly related to other books in that future though it shares a lot of common elements, not least of all, the zacathans in the shape of Zurzal a researcher in bad odour with his own people as he tries to use some forbidden technology to look into the past. Jofre is an outcast from the only life he knows as a trainee assassin who finds himself oathbonded to Zurzal after saving his life. We even have a beautiful female agent who's been ordered to kill Jofre but instead finds herself bonded to him and Zurfal.
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Language

Original publication date

1993-11

Physical description

311 p.; 6.7 inches

ISBN

0380770962 / 9780380770960

DDC/MDS

Fic SF Norton

Rating

(28 ratings; 3.4)
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