The Beast Master
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Andre Norton |
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| Cover artist | Richard M. Powers |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Beast Master; Hosteen Storm |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace |
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Publication date
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August 1959 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover; abridged paperback) |
| Pages | 192 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | (edition?) |
| OCLC | 586722 |
| LC Class | PS3527.O632 B4 |
| Followed by | Lord of Thunder |
The Beast Master is a science fiction novel by Andre Norton published by Harcourt in 1959. It inaugurated the Beast Master series, or Hosteen Storm series after the main character. In German-language translation it was published as Der Letzte der Navajos (, 1963) —literally The Last of the Navajo.
Norton wrote one sequel published in 1962 and three by Andre Norton and Lyn McConchie of New Zealand were published forty years later, one of them after Norton's 2005 death. According to McConchie, they were "written solely by Lyn from a brief collaborated outline." The first two latterday sequels were named the year's best novel by New Zealand science fiction fans (Sir Julius Vogel Award).
The Beast Master tells of Hosteen Storm, a Navajo and former soldier who has empathic and telepathic connections with a group of genetically altered animals. The team emigrates from Earth to the distant planet Arzor where it is hired to herd livestock. Storm still harbors anger at his former enemies the Xik, and has sworn revenge on a man named Quade for his father's murder. According to Kirkus he finds "life and hope" instead.
In this novel and its sequels Norton explores aspects of Native American culture, specifically the Navajo, through metaphors in Storm's life and in the culture he adopts on his adopted planet.
Galaxy reviewer Floyd C. Gale received the novel favorably, saying that "young readers are sure to enjoy complete enthrallment."
Kirkus Reviews concluded that the "fantasy is made convincing by the author's boldness of imagination and by his ability to yield totally to the atmosphere which he creates." This was one of several reviews by Kirkus from 1958 to 1963 that reveal that the reviewer presumed "Andre Norton" to be a man. Some others were The Time Traders and its three sequels.
In Norton's sequel Lord of Thunder (1962), Hosteen Storm discovers and resolves a problem with stakes on a world scale. Kirkus concluded that that story "is secondary to the fascinating description, the imaginative ideas, and the general quality of prose and dialogue. For the experienced science-fiction reader."
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Wikipedia