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In a world nearly destroyed by a cataclysmic natural disaster, a young metalsmith leaves his own people to seek out some of the ancient skills and knowledge.Tags
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Read this in high school in the late 1970's. The hero's journey on a post-apocalyptic earth. Certainly not an in depth character study but a page turner none-the-less. In search of lost knowledge while trekking through a landscape of massive climactic change encountering assorted mutated wanderers and hard types. Including a climactic battle with a remnant technological evil and humanistic philosophical support for the human race in general and the individual in particular. All in 223 pages with a hard but up lifting end. These were the books I was raised on.
SPOILERS!!
I did not love this book. It's science fiction, published in 1975; my first thought was that it doesn't wear its age well, but I don't think that's the problem I have with it.
The story is set in the future, many generations after a cataclysmic disaster has pushed humanity back to primitive societies and created a variety of fearsome mutants and a landscape in twisted ruins. Sander, a smith, and Fanyi, a shaman, each with animal companions, encounter each other by chance and travel together for protection. He seeks better ways of working with metals and she seeks more powerful weapons so she can wreak vengeance on those who killed her people--they believe they can find the knowledge they seek left by the 'Before Men,' those who show more lived before the disaster.
They travel and face various dangers together; finally, they find an underground installation with advanced technology. But neither really finds what they are after, and I guess it's that failure that disappointed me in the end. It seemed that they simply decided to give up and face the future with their own strengths--admirable, I suppose, but unfulfilling as presented. show less
I did not love this book. It's science fiction, published in 1975; my first thought was that it doesn't wear its age well, but I don't think that's the problem I have with it.
The story is set in the future, many generations after a cataclysmic disaster has pushed humanity back to primitive societies and created a variety of fearsome mutants and a landscape in twisted ruins. Sander, a smith, and Fanyi, a shaman, each with animal companions, encounter each other by chance and travel together for protection. He seeks better ways of working with metals and she seeks more powerful weapons so she can wreak vengeance on those who killed her people--they believe they can find the knowledge they seek left by the 'Before Men,' those who show more lived before the disaster.
They travel and face various dangers together; finally, they find an underground installation with advanced technology. But neither really finds what they are after, and I guess it's that failure that disappointed me in the end. It seemed that they simply decided to give up and face the future with their own strengths--admirable, I suppose, but unfulfilling as presented. show less
In a future earth where disaster has ruined our civilisation sander smith is in search of more information about smithcrafting. when he meets with fanyl who is searching for some answers about her family they join to search. norton takes an interesting look at our modern infatuation with machines and portrays very well the confusion of people not exposed to this kind of information. interesting and well written.
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1,630 works; 51 members
Author Information
436+ Works 76,725 Members
Born Alice Mary Norton on February 17, 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio, she legally changed her name to Andre Alice Norton in 1934. She attended the Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve) for a year then took evening courses in journalism and writing that were offered by Cleveland College, the adult division of show more the same university. Norton was a librarian for the Cleveland Library System then a reader at Gnome Press. After that position, she became a full-time writer. She is most noted for writing fantasy, in particular the Witch World series. Her first book The Prince of Commands was published in 1934. Other titles include Ralestone Luck, Magic in Ithkar, Voorloper, Uncharted Stars, The Gifts of Asti and All Cats are Gray. She also wrote under the pen names Andre Norton, Andrew North and Allen Weston She was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and the Nebula Grand Master Award. She has also received a Phoenix Award for overall writing achievement, a Jules Verne Award, and a Science Fiction Book Club Book of the Year Award for her title The Elvenbane. In 1997 she was inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. She died on March 17, 2005. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1975
- People/Characters
- Sander; Fanyi
- First words
- The thick plume of the greasy-looking black smoke rising from beyond the ridge was warning enough.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"No night lasts forever."
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Statistics
- Members
- 429
- Popularity
- 72,262
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.20)
- Languages
- English, German
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 6
- ASINs
- 7
