Dread Companion

by Andre Norton

A nightmare world unfolds when Kilda agrees to care for two children emigrating from Chalox to the planet Dylan

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

222 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

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

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

“O brave new world that has such people in't.” This novel has more than a touch of The Tempest to it. There are also the legends of the Land of Faerie, the Fair Folk, and the People Under the Hill; and in parts there are echoes of Norton's own Witch World and Star Gate. Added to that is the growing feminism in Norton's SF world: apart from two – and one of those is a child - all of the leading characters are women, strong-willed and either leaders or ready for leadership. There is also one part-human, part-alien who might straddle any definition and a variety of sexually neutral monsters.

Kilda c' Rhyn, she identifies herself at the beginning as being sixteen or seventeen, is offered the chance to leave the male dominated planet of Chalox and enter the service of Gentlefem Guska Zobak to look after her children, Bartare and Oomark, on the frontier planet Dylan. The chance of an independent life after her service and exploring new worlds is all the enticement she needs to take it on. However, there is more to Bartare than is outwardly apparent. As it is with Dylan.

Kilda and the children are transported through a form of space-time continuum into a parallel version of Dylan that is fought over by the Folk, the Sleepers and the Dark Ones. Its landscape, once Kilda can see it properly, is a typical Norton post-apocalyptic ruin of mounds and ancient roads carrying the suggestion of a once flourishing civilization brought low. While the term “The Sleepers” may hint at Arthurian legend - the old knights will be roused when disaster threatens again - on Dylan it may symbolize automated defence mechanisms left by the earlier people and still operational. The Folk, and possibly the Dark Ones came with them as their alter egos, and reached that world through a “gate”. Here Norton's Star Gate comes to mind, a story in which humans have become so far advanced in their technology that they are losing their humanity. Split between benevolent dictatorial Star Lords and corrupted Dark Ones they chase each other through the Star Gates on the planet Gorth. In fact at one point Kilda turns on Bartare and tells her, referring to the Folk, that for them, “there is such a thing as too much knowledge – of the wrong kind.”

It turns out that Bartare is a sort of changeling. Her mind has been infiltrated by that of one of the Folk's Great Ones, Melusa, who wants to draw the child into her world - possibly as a daughter, perhaps as a successor. At this point The Tempest emerges: Melusa as Prospero with Bartare as her Miranda; Bartare's younger brother Oomark – who is being transformed by the new world around him into a sprightly faun-like creature – is ready to play Ariel; the Dark Ones could symbolise Sycorax and her followers; and Jorth Kosgro, a human Patrol Scout who landed on Dylan a century earlier, is desperately fighting his metamorphosis into one of the Folk's creatures and stumbles along as an ugly and hairy Caliban. I can only suggest Kilda as an outside narrator maintaining a link with the real world.

All seems to be turning out well for Kilda and the kids – and Kosgro. They are released back into their own version of Dylan – and then discover that, in line with the ancient Terran legends of entering and leaving the world of the Fair Folk, they have passed through a time distortion. Many years have passed and Dylan is almost in ruins. But not quite. I won't go into all the details but Kosgro's old spaceship is still there and in working order. There are some survivors on the planet after an alien attack and Oomark and Bartare just about settle down among them.

This leaves Kilda and Kosgro to fly off into the unknown ocean of space. Perhaps Miranda and Prospero are beginning again, though if Kosgro sees himself as Prospero he will have a fight on his hands. Kilda has tasted independence and is showing a ruthless side to her character not that far removed from Melusa. But, who knows, perhaps on a planet far, far from here, amazed at what they have done and what they have found, they will think to say once more: “O brave new world that has such people in't.”

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in January 2000.

In this novel, aimed at a slightly older audience than most of her writing, Norton uses several themes from folklore and child psychology to create a disturbing story. Accepting a post as governess to get away from a world which has little to offer a woman of intelligence, Kilda soon comes to realise that there is something strange about her charges. Like Miles and Flora in A Turn of the Screw, Bartare and Oomark have an invisible companion who is rather unpleasant, and they start to play mind games with Kilda under the direction of the mysterious "She".

When they arrive at their destination, the planet Dylan, things get worse; Kilda follows the children through some kind of gateway into a very different world, woven by Norton from the legends of the land of Faery. Easily one of the best writers of science fiction for teenagers, Norton has managed to find new and very effective ways to combine well worn, psychologically telling elements.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s absolutely no point to this book. Andre Norton’s Dread Companion, a pseudo sci-fi novel, has nothing to say. Nothing happens in it that changes anything and the main character is pretty much the same person at the end of the novel that she is at the beginning. No truths were explored, there’s no symbolism, just lots of wandering around and magic trees. Gah. This is the last Andre Norton book I own and will (probably) ever read. I am not sad about this.

Kilda c’Rhyn does not want to follow her expected path—stay on her home planet and get married and produce children. Every path she can think of directs her to being a wife and a mother, neither of which interest her. Determined to get off-world, she speaks with one of her teachers, Lazk Volk. He is sympathetic and helps her find a job as a child attendant for a wealthy family. The mother and her two children are leaving Chalox to travel to Dylan, the planet where their father is stationed. Kilda will be in charge of the children during this time. While the young boy, Oomark, is easy to deal with, the same cannot be said for the older (11 yrs?) girl Bartare. She seems to speak as if she is much older and mature and when she behaves like a child, Kilda is very sure it is an act. When they arrive at the planet, they discover that the father has been killed in some kind of accident. However, Bartare wasn’t surprised by this and is not sad. While the mother is basically comatose and drugged up to deal with her grief, Kilda takes charge of the children. She learns that Bartare seems to have special abilities and can hurt people who don’t do what she wants. One day, while accompanying Bartare and Oomark on a school trip, Kilda notices Bartare behaving oddly. She follows the children and they all end up in some kind of weird alternate universe. Kilda has to find Bartare and Oomark and get them home—before this new world takes over their minds and bodies.

This story started out strong. Kilda wants adventure, wants a challenge, doesn’t want to follow the traditional path. She’s strong and smart and independent. The mystery of Oomark and Bartare is pretty good and I’m intrigued—what is Bartare up to? Then Norton dumps the reader in this poorly defined weirdo world and that’s it. The majority of the novel is Kilda running around trying to find Bartare (who has been taken over by the Lady—some unexplained presence who inhabits this world) and finding and losing Oomark. He is rapidly transforming into one of the Folk, some of the people who live in this world. From what I can infer, they aren’t native to the world, but are brought over by the Lady’s people (who are the royalty of the Folk???) and transformed into Folk by eating the fruit and drinking the water on the planet. If you try to not be transformed, you are called a “Between” by the Folk which is bad thing—to be neither one thing nor the other, but stuck “between.” Then there are the Dark Ones who do bad things…and the hunters who eat you if you aren’t in magic circles (but only when the mist comes out). To defeat the hunters and the Lady and stop the transformation there are magic trees called the notus that were planted long ago by other mysterious people who didn’t like the Folk (???). As you can see by all of my ????, I find this story just as incoherent as the previous novel of hers I read. None of it makes any damn sense and after over 100 pages of the same kind of nonsense (Kilda wandering about finding and losing Oomark and finally figuring out, duh, eating the native food and drinking from the streams turns you into Folk and hiding from giant killer worms—although, really, the giant killer worm battle was quite exciting, violent and unexpectedly gross—and Kilda looking for the magical awesome notus trees) I was exasperated and ready for the novel to end. The ending is nonsensical as well. The whole middle section was absolutely worthless. What was the point? I thought maybe her teacher Lazk Volk would reappear because he gave her the task of adding to his knowledge of other worlds and I figured she make a nice mind recording for him (because this novel is kind of science fiction-y and she has a device that will record her thoughts) and he’d be impressed and there would be some kind of meaningful discussion about her experiences in this bizarro world, but nope. None of that happens at all. What’s ironic is Kilda ends up in the same kind of situation—being pressured to marry and add to the population. But (with a convenient and who the hell didn’t see this coming) romance, she and her “oh, I really do kinda like you!” surprise only to Kilda love interest run away in the planet’s only working space ship. Awwww.

Yeah, this book was weird and incoherent. Read it just for the weirdness, I guess. Otherwise, don’t expect much.

[Mjhancock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abandoned child of a space-faring union, Kilda grows up with the other parentless children on the creche at Lattmah for abandoned children of the Service (the Futurama fan in me thought of it resolutely as the Orphanarium). Seeking a life off-planet, she gets her opportunity when she becomes au pair for a, well, pair of children, the offspring of a dilettante space woman. Though Kilda initially sees the job as a stepping stone to other things, she quickly comes to realize that there's something strange going on. The younger child, Oomark, seems reasonably normal, but his sister Bartare seems to possess knowledge beyond her years, and claims to speak with an unseen woman with strange powers (the Dread Companion of the title, as a matter of fact). When Bartare takes Oomark and opens a portal to another world altogether, Kilda follows them, and finds herself in a place where her senses can't be trusted and ingesting the local food may mean she has to stay forever. Teaming up with Jorth, a long-marooned Service man in this strange world, she resolves to rescue the children and return home--whether they want it or not. It's a strange book; for the most part, it's only nominally sci-fi at all, as most of the fantastic things that happen come directly from the strange world that's pretty clearly an analog of what we tend to think of as Fairyland. Change a few details, and it qualify as a fantasy novel pretty easily. Kilda is a fine enough protagonist, though she gets fairly passive once Jorth hits the scene--none of the rest of the characters make much of an impact, except maybe the slightly sinister aspects of Bartare. The book's strength is how successful it is in making the other realm seem strange, alien, and oppressive; it touches lightly on horror in places, and does it pretty well. It's also a relatively brief book, which makes it a good read for an idle day.

[Jason Reeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story, full of imagination along the lines of C.S. Lewis. Her stories remind me of old Twilight Zones, and original Star Trek episodes. I can't resist this type of thing.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and mysterious sci-fi fantasy with a pragmatic and brave main character, Dread Companion is enthralling even today.

Set in the 2400s, the main character is trying to find her place in the world. She, like most women main characters, doesn’t want to settle down and get married (as is expected) but wants to see new things. So, she, like a Victorian heroine, takes a job as a governess, of two children. Kilda is awesome. She’s a typical young woman with a good head on her shoulders and is brave and resourceful. She doesn’t wallow or feel sorry for herself throughout her journey. Granted, there’s no real growth on her part - in that regard she’s a bit one-dimensional - but for the 1970s in sci-fi she’s a great character.

The other characters are a little flat. Kosgro isn’t very likeable as he’s demanding, bossy, and treats Kilda a bit like she’s a damsel, and the kids don’t have a ton of personality. The main villain is a woman, which is also rare for the early 70s, but her motivations aren’t very fleshed out and she’s hardly in the story. But this is a plot-based story, with the weird planet or dimension the focus more than character development, so it’s no less enthralling.

The planet is specular. It reminded me a bit of The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher, but with weird minotaur monsters, magical glowing plants, and abandoned cities. There’s a mist that ebbs and flows, and you’re never really sure what is going to happen next. It also ties into classical Celtic myths about the fairy folk (why you shouldn’t eat their food when you’re transported into their realm, etc) that was really fun.

The last twenty pages or so were also really surprising, and the ending was great, as while one trope does happen, it could also be read as platonic, which is very subversive for the time period.

Overall, while it is a little slow, and the first person doesn’t really do it any favours, it’s a very enjoyable fun read 53 years later.

[Wendy Bousfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andre Norton’s DREAD COMPANION begins promisingly as an interplanetary TURN OF THE SCREW. Kilda c’ Rhyn is governess to a girl, Bartare, and younger brother, Oomark. With the children and their self-involved mother, Kilda travels to a frontier planet, Dylan, where the children’s bureaucrat father is gathering information on ancient ruins. Upon landing, Bartare announces (correctly) that her father is dead. Clearly frightened. Oomark tells Kilda that Bartare’s unseen companion, “the Lady,” gave her the news. On Dylan, Bartare engages in ritualistic behavior-- wrapping a carved figure in green and stepping only on the crystal terrace stones. Bartare, Kilda comes to suspect, merely plays the role of a child: “Her stare was deep, measuring, and somehow very disturbing. I felt almost as shaken as if I had encountered, behind the outer shell of a small girlchild, something old, authoritative, and faintly malicious” (13-14). Unlike Henry James’s governess, fortunately, Kilda is courageous, levelheaded and resourceful. Undaunted by the supernatural entity possessing Bartare. Kilda is unswervingly committed to her charges’ well-being.

DREAD COMPANION is based on the fascinating premise that, in the distant future, the Fairyland of old “Terran” myth exists, even though humanity is widely dispersed in the galaxy. According to Terran folklore, fairies leave their offspring as “changelings” with unsuspecting human families. In DREAD COMPANION, Bartare is a fairy changeling, “spirit daughter” to the fairy, Melusa. The planet Dylan has a gateway to Fairyland, through which Bartare seeks to return to her true home.

Bartare manipulates her governess into taking both children on a fieldtrip to observe the Lugraans, bipedal reptiles that build and plant crops, oblivious to observers. (Since they exist only in Lugraan valley, they may be liminal beings, akin to the reptilian “Dark Ones” that live in Fairyland.) When Bartare and Oomark leave the group, Kilda follows them to a field of red boulders. The children strike a series of rocks, attempting to produce a precise combination of sounds. When Kilda accidentally strikes a third rock at the same time, the resulting chord propels them all into Fairyland.

Kilda arrives with Oomark, and together they search for Bartare. Initially, Kilda sees only colored geometric shapes—“I sat down under a dull blue octagon Oomark informed me was a bush” (69). Because Oomark gorges himself on Fairyland berries, he is able to see its flora and fauna. Though Kilda resists eating fruit, she becomes so thirsty that she drinks Fairyland water, enabling her to distinguish landscape features. The berries Oomark eats precipitate a metamorphosis. He grows horns and hoofs, ultimately becoming indistinguishable from Fairyland’s Pan-like beings. Though Kilda retains her human form and personal identity, her toes try to root her to the ground. In Fairyland, Kilda fights two battles: (1) to maintain the human identity of Oomark, Bartare, and herself; (2) to protect herself and her charges from “Dark Ones,” Fairyland’s reptilian monsters.

A fascinating combination of space opera and mythic fantasy, DREAD COMPANION does not, unfortunately, live up to its promise. Shuck, Shark, and the other Dark Ones are (unimaginatively) “a nauseous mixture of humanoid and reptile” (192). Existing merely to provide dramatic conflict by impeding Kilda’s progress, the Dark Ones have no agenda, are barely distinguishable from one another, and do not originate in Fairyland myth.

In the interests of a conventionally happy ending, DREAD COMPANION contradicts its fundamental premise. When Kilda confronts Melusa, a barrier appears, separating Bartare from the fairies. When she returns with Kilda to Dylan, Bartare, without her “dread companion,” becomes “more and more like the other children” (243). Enabling Kilda to begin a new life with the man she loves, Bartare’s rapid transformation is unconvincing, psychologically and logically.

Reading the original Ace paperback, I was reminded that, in 1970, science fiction was an expendable mass-market commodity. DREAD COMPANION (1970) was not copyedited. Every few pages, the reader must deduce, from an obviously wrong word, the word intended. Blocks of text are repeated, and some sentences made no sense. Ace printed DREAD COMPANION on pulp paper, now badly acidified. Much more disheartening, however, is André Norton’s lack of investment in, or respect for, her own artistic creation. DREAD COMPANION is carelessly written, and its happy ending contradicts the story’s fundamental premise. It is sad that more care were not devoted to its writing and presentation, for DREAD COMPANION is, potentially, a terrific novel.

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The clearest example I've ever found of a work that is both SF and fantasy.

Kilda is recounting the strange story that leads to her being about fifty years younger than she ought to be, given her birth and the year. She was raised in a creche, and the official assignments did not get her a place out of it until she was nearly aged out. Her mentor suggests an unofficial route, and she ends up taking service, and charge of two children Bartare and Oomart, as their mother and they ship out to the planet where he's working. Bartare is rather peculiar in behavior and intimidates Oomart -- Kilda hears things about She. Arriving on planet, they find that Bartare knows beforehand that their father died in an accident. The mother collapses, and Kilda continues to supervise the children. Bartare does many strange things, including one that seems to make everyone sleep as if drugged -- Kilda not having been in her room when she finished it.

But when they visit a sight on the planet, Bartare takes Oomart with her and goes off. Kilda follows and finds her performing another rite. Stumbling on this one means that she is caught up in it, and lands in another world. Oomart is nearby, but he sees landscape where she sees geometric shapes, until she drinks from a stream.

Where this ends up involves a strange, shaggy creature that dogs their steps, pieces of choc (a kind of sweet, if you can't guess from the name), extorting a promise by names and making specifications about what the promise entails, a maze that traps her, white flowers, a horn and a hunt, toes that start to try to take root in the earth, feet that turn to hooves, a distaste for food from their own world, and a wound that needs bandaging.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little paperback book changed my perception of the world when I was 12 and was the beginning of a life long love and obsession for sci fi/fantasy

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting if not entirely successful melding of science fiction with a kind of faerie folklore. As usual with Norton (with the two I've read so far), her strength is in portrayal of exotic aliens and alien worlds. The story in this book was not as strong, mostly a "lost on a misty alien planet" plot with emphasis on a lot of aimless wandering around in the middle third. The idea of using faerie as a fellow lost alien race on the same planet was intriguing but not fleshed out as much as it could have been. The major "twist" at the end was poignant, though not an entirely unexpected result when interacting with faerie folk.

[Jim Collett · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a rather weird mashup of science fiction and what is perhaps fantasy. The narrator. Kilda, lets us know up front that a large amount of time has passed without her aging, which her tale will explain. She also makes a vague reference to ancient Earth-based myths about what we can presume is Faery. In a world of interplanetary travel, she secures a job as a tutor/caretaker for two children, the oldest of whom Bartare, is acting strangely. When they travel to another world, Bartare quickly leads them into another world of mystery and danger. Quite a bit is implied or foreshadowed without every being really developed. I finished the book with a slight sense of "blah" and that there was more random floundering around than action.

[Eric F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Labeled as a myth-fable-scifi tale - with a Rip VanWinkle twist - I also found a good dose of "Turn of the Screw" feel going on here. Solid Norton work and wording. I love the book by way of tropes moves - especially the constant possibility of "Taking a Third Option". Worth a read, not heavy or deep, but worthy.

[Mike Burnham · Rating 1 out of 5]

A tedious read, with an interesting future space colony civilization start made irrelevant by a lost in fairyland middle. Multiple places where the reader is left waiting pages for the narrator to realize and reveal facts that seemed self evident.

[Doris Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

A VERY INTERESTING BOOK.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will review at Fantasy Literature.

[James]

A young governess accompanies her two charges to a frontier planet and finds the children are involved with an evil power.

[Rosemary Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read my review for THE X FACTOR.

[Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kilda has always wanted to travel in space, but was unsure what career she could pursue; for the time being she has settled on governess, travelling with a fairly wealthy family to take care of the children. The two children are polite enough charges, but there’s something odd about the oldest, Bartare…
When Bartare opens a doorway into another world, to follow and protect her charges Kilda will have to survive an inhuman world of old legend and law, clinging to her true nature as she searches for another door.
*
Although set in a clearly sci-fi world at the beginning, Dread Companion steps through into the world of fae. The rules were recognizable as soon as Kilda and the children appeared in the alternate world: Don’t Eat The Food, Running Water Stops Them, Don’t Trust Your Eyes, etc.
This was an interesting and creative, if strange, combination of genres and formed the basis of the story. The characters were not as filled-out as they could be, and many things were never explained (as often happens in Andre Norton’s books), but overall it was good.

[Jeff Greason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have enjoyed Andre Norton in the past, though it has been years since I read a book from her for the first time. I am oddly conflicted about Dread Companion. I loved the characters, I love the determination with which the protagonist overcomes her obstacles. There is something both affirming and very human in her determination to see not only herself but those she feels responsible for make it through.

Perhaps my biggest dislike was the trappings of science fiction in the framing of the story. I like a good fantasy story and viewed as such, this holds up well. My copy from Del Rey heralds 'Science Fiction Adventure'. And if this is science fiction, so is the Chronicles of Narnia. I enjoyed the story and the clever way in which mythology is used as worldbuilding -- yet I kept waiting for SF themes which never came.

Approach this as you would a fantasy novel and an enjoyable and well crafted one awaits.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a future with space travel, a young woman becomes governess to two children as they fly to the colony world Dylan. These children are odd, seeming to communicate with the dread companion they refer to as She. On Dylan the woman and her charges are transported to a land of faerie, and she fights to survive as well as return to her world.

Enjoyed reading her exploration of this strange world, and her meeting a man-creature who had similarly become trapped there.

[Valerie]

An explicit homage to the tales of the People of The Hills, set in the far future on a distant planet. Cf Norton's Dare to Go A'Hunting, written years later, but actually set earlier, I'd say.

My copy is a cheap one, and it shows--as with many others, the glue in the spine is perishing, and pages fall out.

[Doris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Kilda is a refugee child looking to find a better life for herself, as so many women throughout history have done, by tying her future to a prosperous family. She travels with her charges, two young children, as they navigate from a normal, if alien, world. In that world they find elves and fairies and other mythical beings, although they are called something else.

[Facedeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there are some trappings of science fiction wrapped around this story, it is primarily a fantasy at its heart. It's based closely on European myths of the fairy realms. The writing style felt a bit archaic for my tastes but I suppose that fits with the feeling that the setting is meant to evoke.

[Saleris · Rating 2 out of 5]

(8th May, 2025) Found on shelf - I don't know when it was originally started, but I don't remember the story, so it's getting re-started. (I was only 48 pages in, so it'll be easy getting back to that point).

[Jacquie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairies in space? For serious? Oh my gawd. I should have been warned off by the "like Arthur C Clarke meets JRR Tolkien" splash on the lurid 70s cover, but I was desperate for a quick read. Unfortunately the bile really slowed me down.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set on an isolated planet during a period of intergalactic chaos, Gilda and her charges find a gate to a strange, magical world. Andre Norton often mixed fantasy and SF in her stories.

A decent read.

[S.A. Parham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little tale, with as much fantasy as sci-fi elements (which is one of Norton's strong points, I think).

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Andre Norton, Strange plot about space and the realm of the fairies.

[Max Reeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dread companion was amazing, it had a great plot line and was descibed very well, just great.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun fantasy of another dimension and a creature who turns out to be a human who was changed. Really enjoyable.