Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Ace Books (1967), Paperback
Description
Krip, the Free Trader, is changed into an animal by the strange Moon Singer maiden in an effort to save him from the evil power seekers; but now he faces a more serious danger - that of not being able to return to his human form.
User reviews
LibraryThing member baggette
Nice to be entertained in a different universe.
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Hmmm, not very good. The story is OK - some interesting aspects to it - but there's a lot of coincidence, lots of plotting behind the scenes that we never get to see (why _was_ the Combine doing all this? The page of "explanation" at the end makes very little sense), and it's written in very high
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language. Usually I can take Andre's style just fine, but somehow this one overloaded me. I'll read the rest of the series and see if this one's worth keeping - but unless the rest of the story is really great, I think I can do without this. Krip and Maelen are interesting but opaque - I know what they do and what we're told about why, but I have no feeling for them as people. I liked Simele better than the both of them. And the whole thing with body-switching and the very convenient available bodies just...just too much. Show Less
LibraryThing member justchris
I have the 1968 edition of [Moon of Three Rings] by Andre Norton. It's been a very long time since (at least 20 years) I've reread this book, not sure why. I loved it as a child since it features animals as equals and human-animal telepathy. My go-to Norton comfort reads tend to be the early [Witch
[Moon of Three Rings] along with [Exiles of the Stars] form a duology featuring Krip Vorlund and Maelen. Krip Vorlund is the assistant cargomaster of the Free Trader ship Lydis, the last crew member signed aboard, much like Dane Thorson, the protagonist of the better known and more popular [Solar Queen] series ([Sargasso of Space], [Plague Ship], [Postmarked the Stars], [Voodoo Planet] in the original set, [Redline the Stars], [Derelict for Trade], [A Mind for Trade] in the 1990s reboot, which I didn't like). Another similarity between these unrelated stories is the precipitating trouble of the story engineered at least in part by one of the Combine ships. This story takes place in the same universe as the Solar Queen stories, but possibly much later in time. There's reference to the League of Free Traders, and that the open conflict between Free Traders and Combines ended a long time ago, which seemed to be a key feature of the Solar Queen stories.
Krip describes Free Traders as almost a separate race from the rest of humanity, intermarrying among themselves with mates and children either traveling together on larger spaceships or living in Free Trader "space-borne ports" operated independently of any planet and visited between voyages. For people unfamiliar with Norton's science fiction, the Serenity/Firefly show by Joss Whedon would perhaps give the best sense of the ambiance of the Free Traders arranging deals on frontier planets, working the margins, and hoping for a big score while only one mischance away from financial ruin.
Unlike the [Solar Queen] books, the action takes place entirely on the planet of Yiktor, with minimal mention of the other spaceship crew. The Free Trader Lydis arrives during the phase when the moon has three rings instead of the usual two, which is when the big trade fair in the plains city of Yrjar is scheduled. The ship is exchanging a cargo of murano silk for sprode, blocks of compressed juice, to be traded to the Zacathans who use it for a medicinal and telepathy-enhancing wine. On his first free evening at the fair, Krip goes to see a beast show and thus meets Maelen.
Maelen is a Moon-Singer of the Thassa, and she emcees a beast show with performing animals who work cooperatively to dance, play music, and otherwise display complex talents without the need for a trainer offering treats as rewards or whips for punishment. The Thassa are a once-technological, once-urban people associated with the mountains (where the tumbled ruins of their cities might be found) who now roam the continent without set homes, and are explicitly compared to the Roma (gypsies). And much like the Roma, they are outsiders who are feared and distrusted as having magical powers. Unlike the Roma, they aren't persecuted and dehumanized but instead respected and left alone for the most part by the plains people who arrived and settled the region long after the Thassa had changed their way of life. Maelen describes the Thassa as having abandoned a more material culture focused on personal gain for a life of the mind and spirit, seeking to develop inner power and communion with life instead of power over others. It sounds very much like Eastern philosophy.
The story is told equally from Krip and Maelen's viewpoints in alternating chapters to move the action forward. It's a fast-paced adventure with some philosophical exposition thrown in. One of the details that I like, being familiar with Norton's ouevre, are the hat tips to planets (and their associated trade goods) that are featured in other novels, such as Sargol ([Plague Ship]) and Hawaika ([Key Out of Time]). Events rapidly spin out of control after the fateful meeting between Krip and Maelen. It's a good story that does a great job of making one think about what's important in life and valuing life itself, as well as the nature of our relationships with people of all creeds and ethnicities, animals, and places.
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World] books, especially the [Crystal Gryphon] set, and the [Solar Queen] and [Beast Master]books, along with a few oddball solo stories like [The X Factor], [Secret of the Lost Race], etc.[Moon of Three Rings] along with [Exiles of the Stars] form a duology featuring Krip Vorlund and Maelen. Krip Vorlund is the assistant cargomaster of the Free Trader ship Lydis, the last crew member signed aboard, much like Dane Thorson, the protagonist of the better known and more popular [Solar Queen] series ([Sargasso of Space], [Plague Ship], [Postmarked the Stars], [Voodoo Planet] in the original set, [Redline the Stars], [Derelict for Trade], [A Mind for Trade] in the 1990s reboot, which I didn't like). Another similarity between these unrelated stories is the precipitating trouble of the story engineered at least in part by one of the Combine ships. This story takes place in the same universe as the Solar Queen stories, but possibly much later in time. There's reference to the League of Free Traders, and that the open conflict between Free Traders and Combines ended a long time ago, which seemed to be a key feature of the Solar Queen stories.
Krip describes Free Traders as almost a separate race from the rest of humanity, intermarrying among themselves with mates and children either traveling together on larger spaceships or living in Free Trader "space-borne ports" operated independently of any planet and visited between voyages. For people unfamiliar with Norton's science fiction, the Serenity/Firefly show by Joss Whedon would perhaps give the best sense of the ambiance of the Free Traders arranging deals on frontier planets, working the margins, and hoping for a big score while only one mischance away from financial ruin.
Unlike the [Solar Queen] books, the action takes place entirely on the planet of Yiktor, with minimal mention of the other spaceship crew. The Free Trader Lydis arrives during the phase when the moon has three rings instead of the usual two, which is when the big trade fair in the plains city of Yrjar is scheduled. The ship is exchanging a cargo of murano silk for sprode, blocks of compressed juice, to be traded to the Zacathans who use it for a medicinal and telepathy-enhancing wine. On his first free evening at the fair, Krip goes to see a beast show and thus meets Maelen.
Maelen is a Moon-Singer of the Thassa, and she emcees a beast show with performing animals who work cooperatively to dance, play music, and otherwise display complex talents without the need for a trainer offering treats as rewards or whips for punishment. The Thassa are a once-technological, once-urban people associated with the mountains (where the tumbled ruins of their cities might be found) who now roam the continent without set homes, and are explicitly compared to the Roma (gypsies). And much like the Roma, they are outsiders who are feared and distrusted as having magical powers. Unlike the Roma, they aren't persecuted and dehumanized but instead respected and left alone for the most part by the plains people who arrived and settled the region long after the Thassa had changed their way of life. Maelen describes the Thassa as having abandoned a more material culture focused on personal gain for a life of the mind and spirit, seeking to develop inner power and communion with life instead of power over others. It sounds very much like Eastern philosophy.
The story is told equally from Krip and Maelen's viewpoints in alternating chapters to move the action forward. It's a fast-paced adventure with some philosophical exposition thrown in. One of the details that I like, being familiar with Norton's ouevre, are the hat tips to planets (and their associated trade goods) that are featured in other novels, such as Sargol ([Plague Ship]) and Hawaika ([Key Out of Time]). Events rapidly spin out of control after the fateful meeting between Krip and Maelen. It's a good story that does a great job of making one think about what's important in life and valuing life itself, as well as the nature of our relationships with people of all creeds and ethnicities, animals, and places.
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LibraryThing member jaddington
I first read this in High School. I can't remember how many times I checked it out from the library. I thought it a most magical and wondrous story. A great blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I went on a quest of my own and found the exact library copy from the great evil Amazon. I read the book again a
And through the joys of the interwebs I discovered 3 more books to follow!
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few years ago. I still love it and think its a most magical and wondrous story. You will never change my mind. And through the joys of the interwebs I discovered 3 more books to follow!
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LibraryThing member jaddington
I first read this in High School. I can't remember how many times I checked it out from the library. I thought it a most magical and wondrous story. A great blend of sci-fi and fantasy. I went on a quest of my own and found the exact library copy from the great evil Amazon. I read the book again a
And through the joys of the interwebs I discovered 3 more books to follow!
Show More
few years ago. I still love it and think its a most magical and wondrous story. You will never change my mind. And through the joys of the interwebs I discovered 3 more books to follow!
Show Less
LibraryThing member fuzzi
An interesting story of a spaceman on an alien world, in the style of both SciFi and Fantasy, due to the natives' magical abilities being on display. It's a slow-starting tale that is both predictable and not: I guessed correctly about how one situation would be resolved, but was also surprised by
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other elements within the story. Although it was published 50 years ago, unlike a recent read of a book by Heinlein, from the same era, this one is not dated at all. Overall, I enjoyed my read, and I plan to seek out the next book in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member Familiar_Diversions
This is the story of Krip Vorlund, a Free Trader, and Maelen, a Singer of the Thassa people of the planet Yiktor. Krip came to Yiktor hoping, as all young Free Traders do, to stumble across something that might make his fortune. He finds himself drawn to a beast show (basically a circus, although
Unfortunately for both Krip and Maelen, there are dangerous politics at work, people who want power and the advanced weaponry Free Traders have access to (or so I understood - I admit that I lost track of the political aspects after a while). Maelen, her motivations a tangle, saves Krip's life but leaves him so changed that he wonders if it was worth it. The question then, is whether she can manage to make things right again, and what the ultimate price will be.
I have some nostalgic feelings where Norton's works are concerned. I fell in love with her Star Ka'at and Witch World books when I was in the 5th grade. However, it's been about that long since I last read a lot of her stuff (I reread Breed to Come in late 2019, but that's about it), and there were many of her works I never read. Although the title of Moon of Three Rings sounded familiar, I'm pretty sure this was my first time reading it.
Although this wasn't terrible, it was a chore to get through. I disliked the writing style - the characters spoke like they'd just stepped out of a high fantasy story, and it was occasionally a struggle to understand what they were saying. The pacing was slow, and I didn't particularly like or connect with any of the characters, although Maelen gradually became more interesting as the story progressed.
I will say this, at least: the story didn't at all go in the direction I thought it would, when Maelen and Krip first met. Maelen, who initially seemed like she'd be some infallible mystical woman, turned out to be very fallible (but still mystical, with telepathy and other powers), and the wishes and hopes she hid from Krip and even, to a certain extent, from herself ended up causing a big and bloody mess.
I didn't realize, going in, that this was the first book in a series. It might be interesting to see how things turn out for the characters in the later books, but I'd really rather not subject myself to more of that "high fantasy-like, but in space" writing style, so I'll be stopping here.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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the text makes it sound more mystical than that) run by a beautiful and mysterious Thassa woman named Maelen. Maelen's goal is to one day add a barsk (a dangerous dog-like creature) to her group of "little people," and to one day perhaps take her beast show to space and other planets.Unfortunately for both Krip and Maelen, there are dangerous politics at work, people who want power and the advanced weaponry Free Traders have access to (or so I understood - I admit that I lost track of the political aspects after a while). Maelen, her motivations a tangle, saves Krip's life but leaves him so changed that he wonders if it was worth it. The question then, is whether she can manage to make things right again, and what the ultimate price will be.
I have some nostalgic feelings where Norton's works are concerned. I fell in love with her Star Ka'at and Witch World books when I was in the 5th grade. However, it's been about that long since I last read a lot of her stuff (I reread Breed to Come in late 2019, but that's about it), and there were many of her works I never read. Although the title of Moon of Three Rings sounded familiar, I'm pretty sure this was my first time reading it.
Although this wasn't terrible, it was a chore to get through. I disliked the writing style - the characters spoke like they'd just stepped out of a high fantasy story, and it was occasionally a struggle to understand what they were saying. The pacing was slow, and I didn't particularly like or connect with any of the characters, although Maelen gradually became more interesting as the story progressed.
I will say this, at least: the story didn't at all go in the direction I thought it would, when Maelen and Krip first met. Maelen, who initially seemed like she'd be some infallible mystical woman, turned out to be very fallible (but still mystical, with telepathy and other powers), and the wishes and hopes she hid from Krip and even, to a certain extent, from herself ended up causing a big and bloody mess.
I didn't realize, going in, that this was the first book in a series. It might be interesting to see how things turn out for the characters in the later books, but I'd really rather not subject myself to more of that "high fantasy-like, but in space" writing style, so I'll be stopping here.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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Language
Original publication date
1966
Local notes
Moonsinger, 1
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Norton |