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The Norby Chronicles #3

Norby e la principessa perduta

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Dopo aver deciso di compiere una missione alla ricerca di una popolazione terrestre, sperduta nello spazio sin dall'Era Glaciale, Norby e Jeff con i loro amici si ritrovano senza volerlo sul lontanissimo pianeta Izz, dove vengono presto coinvolti nella ricerca della giovane principessa smarritasi nello spazio con l'astronave. Inizia la loro avventura nell'avventura: infatti raggiungono il pianeta degli Scivoloni, dove la principessa è stata trasformata in pianta carnivora e loro stessi vengono fatti prigionieri. Solo la loro abilità e l'intervento di Norby risolverà l'intricata questione.

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

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About the author

Janet Asimov

60 books21 followers
Also known as: Janet Jeppson Asimov, Janet O. Jeppson, J.O. Jeppson

Janet Asimov was an American science fiction writer, psychiatrist, and psychoanalyst. She originally wrote as J.O. Jeppson. She was an accomplished novelist and short-story writer who sometimes worked in collaboration with her husband, the late Isaac Asimov. Among the Asimovs' joint ventures as writers is the series of juvenile novels involving an endearing robot, Norby, and his young owner, Jeff Wells.

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5 stars
44 (26%)
4 stars
66 (40%)
3 stars
42 (25%)
2 stars
10 (6%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Profile Image for Francesco.
1,686 reviews7 followers
June 23, 2020
Le avventure di Norby si fanno sempre più assurde e strampalate.
Stavolta l'ammiraglio Yobo - la cui principale occupazione sembra essere il fare visita ai Wells per assegnare loro missioni segrete a cui partecipa pure lui - vuole scoprire qualcosa di più sugli Altri, i misteriosi alieni che hanno costruito inizialmente i componenti di Norby.
Si ritrovano così sul pianeta Izzi, popolato da antichi umani portati lì dagli Altri, e da qui si imbarcano in un'ulteriore avventura alla ricerca della principessa di Izzi che si è persa in una spedizione di esplorazione del pianeta Melodia.

La storia poteva chiaramente essere gestita meglio, il finale è come al solito decisamente affrettato e troppo "a lieto fine". Non che mi dispiaccia, ma oggettivamente la risoluzione del dramma della principessa è troppo veloce e "fantasy" per essere in un racconto di fantascienza.
Profile Image for Mark Oppenlander.
924 reviews27 followers
August 12, 2018
In this installment of the series, Norby, Jeff and company are practicing for a singing competition. They interrupt their preparations (long story) to travel to the planet Izz where they find a society of humans who don't know that there are others of their kind in the universe. Thinking that the travelers are long-lost Izzians, the Queen of the planet tasks Norby, Jeff and their companions with finding her daughter, Princess Rinda, who disappeared while aboard the Izzians first ever hyperspace-capable ship. The entourage eventually makes their way to Melodia, a muddy planet where they are captured by the semi-intelligent natives and discover that Princess Rinda has been transformed into a plant. Only Norby's special abilities - and perhaps the group's singing prowess - will save the day.

It's very hard to describe the Norby books to those who haven't read them. They're science fiction, but there's not a lot of hard science in them. They're designed for children, so they have a lot of humor and silliness in them; they read pretty quickly. There is often a great deal of plot, and yet nothing much ever really happens. Each book follows a pretty simple formula: The regular cast of characters (almost a stock company at this point) gets into some scrape on a strange planet and Jeff and Norby have to figure out how to get them out of it.

I don't really dislike these books, but I can't say that I truly enjoy them either. I guess my tastes run to things that have a little more gravitas to them, even when it comes to children's books.
223 reviews
June 17, 2019
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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
333 reviews30 followers
April 20, 2024
2.521 stars, I liked it, but probably won't read again.

Norby discovers two new worlds and Melodia, well, best leave that one alone. The question is, what were the Others, and why did they seed the galaxy with intelligent races.

Asimov Novel Completionist: 24/38
Profile Image for Blake Petit.
Author 18 books40 followers
May 17, 2015
When I was young, I loved Janet and Isaac Asimov's "Norby" books. I was reading anything with Asimov's name on it at the time, and I didn't know at that point that Janet mostly wrote the books herself, but his name was added for the sales bump. I didn't care, and honestly, I still don't.

In this book, third in the series, Norby leads his human friends to another planet that was seeded with humans taken from Earth eons ago by the mysterious alien "Others" that the series focuses on so much. They find themselves hunting for the princess of the planet, who has been lost on an expedition to test a new spacecraft with an experimental hyperdrive. It's a charming book, less sophisticated than most modern Young Adult fiction, but with a silly, Silver Age sci-fi feel to it that appeals to me to this day. Since the books are difficult to find, I was hoping that they'd be available digitally now, but only this one and the fourth book (out of ELEVEN) are currently in the Kindle store. Baffling.
Profile Image for Jeff Stockett.
350 reviews16 followers
June 28, 2010
It seems that (at least for the first 3) each Norby book is better than the previous one. This one certainly doesn't disappoint. This one has exciting new planets and creatures. Jeff, Norby, and friends travel to the planet Izz where they discover the princess of Izz has been trapped on the planet Melodia.

They travel to Melodia where they encounter strange creatures that they call slithers. The adventures continue with all of the fun things that we are familiar with from previous Norby books: dragons, robots, time travel and Norby's continued tendency towards being mixed up.

Definitely a fun read.
Profile Image for MC.
614 reviews68 followers
September 6, 2016
I really enjoy this series of young adult novels from years back by Janet Asimov. I wish I had read these as a kid. What fun stuff.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

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