Brother to Shadows

Moon Magic #5

by Andre Norton

A senior member of an order of spys, assassins, and bodyguards forces Jofre out into an unfamiliar world, where he encounters an obsessed alien archaeologist and a beautiful, deadly rival. Reissue.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

311 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Andre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.

Reviews

[Redsteve · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I was a kid, I thought that Andre Norton was pretty cool, but after reading BROTHER TO SHADOWS, I'm kind of afraid to go back and reread any of her earlier books, because, hoo-wee, is this one a stinker. I really tried to get through this, first thinking to myself, maybe it will get better, and then, "Oh c'mon, it's an Andre Norton book; how hard can it be to finish?" The answer is, I'm calling it at 173 pages in. I should have been warned off by the terrible prose in the first paragraph.

[Valerie]

The paperback has the same cover art as the hardcopies, and I don't know why it isn't so displayed.

The main characters are Ninja types, hired by a Zacathan to supplement an unauthorized research into a (vaguely defined) machine to elicit pictures of past events. This device was 1st introduced in Catseye, where it led to some disastrous results to the expedition to Rhukharv (on Korwar). The Zacathan thinks he's got the bugs worked out, but I'm ~halfway through, and about all I can say is that the thing seems to work, but it's not clear what results it will yield.

There's also a subtext about a priestly caste among the
ninja-like 'issha' which is fanatically trying to suppress any changes to their established practices--with indifferent success, frankly.

The Tssek world is virtually undescribed. The pretext given is that the protagonists are closely confined, but others seem to've managed to grasp the cultural and political elements despite police-state 'security' and censorship. Granted, they're natives, but even so it doesn't speak well for the information-gathering capacities of the issha, or even the legendary Zacathans.

The book ends somewhat abruptly (and extremely violently) without any real resolution of the quest. There's almost a hint that the intention was to stretch the story to three episodes, and that this was abandoned for some reason. The occurrences on Lachan (sp?) are, if anything, more incoherent than those on the Tssek world, where at least there're people around, mostly. It's probably significant that the supposedly trail-trained issa aren't able to mark out trails on a world that's described mostly as mossy tundra (but hot? I thought tundra was by definition based in permafrost? Perhaps Norton meant to use the term 'taiga', which I believe can be hot?). It does seem to be a trackless world, although the implications are that it once had roads and trails. The implied library that's supposedly the goal of Zurzal's quest is NOT found, btw, and I don't think it's a spoiler to say so, because what IS found is still more than most people expected.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norton style is characteristic of her time and this work is emblematic of that style: light and inviting, an easily read bildgundsroman about coming of age and working out the many problems and challenges that represents. Featuring some of her most well known motifs--primitive vs the advanced, challenged ethics, psionic communication with animals--for Norton fans, it's probably like comfort food. Nonetheless the plot is not as strong as it might have been and had a very loose feel to it. The climax was alright in a pleasant peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich kind of way but there were overtones of deux-ex-machina in it that kept it from totally satisfying.

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

Pretty typical Norton SF: Alienated youths, mental links with animals, Zacathans, the Patrol, the Guild and its Veeps. But there's no "spark" animating the material. Definitely only for the Norton completist in the family.

If you want to understand why she's a Grandmaster, sample the Solar Queen or The Witch World novels.

[Morgan McGuire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I liked Andre Norton as a teen, but the first page was so laughably bad, I just couldn't continue to read this book!

[Juan Sanmiguel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exiled member of a martial order finds himself body guarding an alien researcher who has invented a device to view living history. Although it uses SF devices it feels more like a fantasy. There are some good action sequences but there are questions about the order which remain unresolved. An average space opera.

[Patricia Cochrane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why this is included in the series

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Andre Norton's last SF novel and contains several of her favorite themes. There are three protagonists, Jofre is classic Norton, a human orphan raised by an alien assassin and kicked out after his master's death. There's a young Zacathan with an obsessive quest and an assassin/courtesan named Taynad who any other author would make a femme fatale, but in this story she ditches the fancy dress for space blue jeans. Topping off the wonder team is a cute, fuzzy animal with psychic powers.

There's some exciting adventure in this book, but the dialog feels a bit stiff in places and the villains have very thin personalities. It also screams for a sequel that will never be written. This book is a standalone volume, I've no idea why it's called Moon Magic #5.

[Sherri · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favourite of mine when I was growing up, I recently picked up a copy to re-read, for old times sake. Amazingly, it's just as good now as I remember it being, which normally doesn't happen. Although occasionally the story moves a bit slowly, that just makes the rest of the book all the more exciting, and serves as a nice pause in the plots and intrigue. A definite must for any Andre Norton fan, or fan of sci-fi/fantasy. And don't worry that it's the fifth book in a series... as far as I can tell, it's got nothing to do with the other four!

[Doris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I am very much a fan of Andre Norton's works, this did not appeal to me. An apprentice assassin, Jofre was abandoned to his fate at the end of the previous story. He is taken in by one of the gentle, repitilian, knowledge-seekers who want to discover all the knowledge of all the worlds. They travel to various places and meet strange groups, eventually landing amidst an intrigue of thieves and assassins.

[Cinnamingirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I've now finished the Free Trader books and this one was ... meh. Nothing special. It was very vague, plotwise, as Norton books have tended to be, and I don't count it one of her best. Had a lot of the same themes - alienated teen, animal companions, etc. The world building was very interesting, but I was within the last 20 pages going, "I can't be almost finished with this book." There were so many plotlines that could have been explored and they just weren't. -sigh-

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the story is intriguing, with interesting species created -- and plenty of histories mentioned but not fully told -- the end comes too suddenly. It's like the author was bored of the story and so threw in a deus ex machina just to get it over with. Sometimes the story just didn't hold my attention. I didn't hate it, but my response is basically meh.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old Norton I hadn't read yet. Very entrancing. Different cover art though.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda nice that despite there being male and female characters, there was no romance.