FORGOTTEN BOOKS #316: THE FORERUNNER SERIES By Andre Norton

storm over warlock
ordeal in otherwhere
forerunner foray
forerunner_1
forerunner the second venture
I had so much fun rereading Andre Norton’s Solar Queen series, I decided to revisit one of her other science fiction series: the Forerunner series. The Forerunners were an alien race that preceded humanity in space by thousands of years. They possessed incredible technology. But a war destroyed the mysterious race and obliterated most of their presence on the planets they had colonized. But humans find remnants of Forerunner technology which, of course, causes all sorts of problems.

Storm Over Warlock is the first book in the Forerunner series. It had a classic EMSH cover of Survey survivor Shann Lantee who manages not to be killed with the insect-like aliens, The Throg, attack the human base on the weird planet of Warlock. The series takes a lot of twists as turns over the decades. If you’re looking for a Young Adult SF series with action and adventure, you might try these entertaining novels.
THE FORERUNNER SERIES:
Storm Over Warlock (1960)
Ordeal in Otherwhere (1964)
Forerunner Foray (1973)
Forerunner (first book published by TOR Books) (1981)
Forerunner: The Second Venture (1985)

16 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #316: THE FORERUNNER SERIES By Andre Norton

    1. george Post author

      Sergio, your nieces might prefer Andre Norton’s WITCH WORLD series. I’ll be reviewing some of those novels in a few weeks.

      Reply
    1. george Post author

      Bill, I loved STORM OVER WARLOCK as a kid especially that cool EMSH cover. The other Forerunner books deepen the story line.

      Reply
  1. Randy Johnson

    She was one of my early interests, long before I knew she was a woman. sadly, in my callow youth, I might not have read her had I known. Her novel STARMAN’S SON(though under the title Dybreak 2250 A.D. ) was my second SF book after Henlein’s Tunnel In The Sky. I liked this series, but my favorite was the Time Trader books.

    Reply
  2. Richard R.

    So George, do you classify all of Norton’s work as YA? While I agree that last week’s Solar Queen series was for juvenile readers, this series, which I read while in college, seemed, for it’s time, pretty much straightforward SF.

    Tp Sergio I’d say get those nieces started with Heinlein’s juvenile books, including HAVE SPACESUIT, WILL TRAVEL and the rest.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Rick, almost all of Andre Norton’s characters are young men and women. Many are teenagers. I haven’t read many Norton novels from the 1980s or 1990s so I don’t now if her work changed from the Young Adult focus.

      Reply
  3. Wolf Böhrendt

    These covers again bring fond memories of the 60s to me, especially Emsh(willer). I also started a collection of the magazines like If, Galaxy, Startling Stories etc and of course Astounding/Analog …
    In those days “garish” covers were a kind of necessity o attract the mainly male (?) readers.

    Totally OT:
    Has anyone here followed the controversy re the Hugos? I found something on George R R Martin’s “non blog” – don’t understand it at all …

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Wolf, all I know about the Hugo Award controversy is that a group of fans have “hijacked” the nomination process. There’s more details available on BLACK GATE.com

      Reply
  4. Stan Burns

    I remember quite clearly when I was in junior high, there was a display of the covers of Storm Over Warlock and Time Traders and Galactic Derelict pinned up on a display on the wall in the school library. I had just started reading Heinlein and these came immediately thereafter. I loved Emsh covers, and I loved those three books.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Stan, I love the original covers on STORM OVER WARLOCK, TIME TRADERS, and GALACTIC DERELICT (one of the best SF ever!). And I enjoyed those great Heinlein juveniles, too, especially CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY.

      Reply

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