Star Man's Son, 2250 A.D by Andre Norton

I guess I had always assumed she was female. Martin Harry Greenberg told me that actually, when he was a professor in one of my college courses. It would be several years later when I learned for certain that 'Andre' was actually a woman. It was one of the first Andre Norton books I remember reading, though by no means the last. This one was written before I was born, so you will have to forgive me, as I did not learn to read until some years after it was published. The story ends on an optimistic but predictable note. The protagonist encounters a man from a dark-skinned tribe who shows himself to be at least the equal of Fors in both strength and intelligence.Īlthough this is in many ways a traditional tale of adventure in which many highly unlikely coincidences occur in order to keep the heroes alive, this may be part of what makes it a compelling read. Norton was ahead of her time in using her science fiction to address racial issues in an age before the American civil rights movement got fully underway, as well as to examine what it means to be 'normal'. Like other works by Norton, the main character has a telepathic link to a feline companion. Fors is fascinated by the technology which the ancestors possessed and hopes to learn more about it from the artifacts he may uncover. The hero, Fors, also has certain strange physical traits and abilities (explained as the effects of radiation), and since he is not truly accepted by his own mountain people, he decides to leave for the wild world outside where he intends to fulfill his late father's ambition to find an as-yet undiscovered ruined city. Humans have reverted to non-technical tribal societies, and while they are hostile to each other, they also have a common enemy in the mutant Beast Things which inhabit the ruined cities. This is a seminal example of a story set some time after a nuclear holocaust, and is a solid and well-written piece of pulp fiction.Īt the time, the Cold War terrified people with the prospect of nuclear annihilation, so the subject of this novel would certainly have been something that was on the minds of the American public.

Daybreak 2250AD was originally published as Starman's Son in 1952, and was one of the early published works that launched Norton’s career lasting half a century.

Star Man's Son, 2250 A.D by Andre Norton