When I first started reading Science Fiction in the late 1950s, my favorite SF writers were Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, and Andre Norton.
In the early 1960s, I was mowing lawns to make some spending money. And I spent some of it on Andre Norton ACE Books paperbacks. I later discovered that Andre Norton was actually Alice Mary Norton!
I enjoyed all the Andre Norton SF books I read. Storm Over Warlock with the iconic EMSH cover might be my favorite. But I read all the Andre Norton books I could get my hands on.
BAEN Books published Crosstime in 2008. It brings together two alternative Earths novels: The Crossroads of Time (1956) and Quest Crosstime (1965).
I first read The Crossroads of Time as part of ACE Double (D-164) that had Mankind on the Run by Gordon R. Dickson on the other side. Years later, I read the hardcover version of Quest Crosstime published by Viking Press.
If you’re in the mood for classic action and adventure in the old fashioned SF mode, CROSSTIME delivers! GRADE: B+
George, I think I’m 2-3 years older than you and started reading SF 2-3 years earlier, and as far as I can remember I never read any Norton although I was aware of her. Except for Heinlein I didn’t read any SF juveniles at all. Then I started in on the adult Heinlein stuff and, probably Asimov. I read Gordon Dickson later, but probably wasn’t even aware of him at that time. So in those early days my favorites were Heinlein and Asimov, although the only Asimov I really liked were the robot stories and novels. If there was a single book that blew my SF reading into a new dimension it was Bester’s THE DEMOLISHED MAN, which I read in the late fifties.
Michael, you’re right. You were ahead of me in reading Heinlein and Bester (I caught up with Bester’s THE DEMOLISHED MAN in the 1960s). I suspect the cool covers on Andre Norton covers attracted me to them. Our local public Library bought Andre Norton books and so did our school Library (although not as many).
For no compelling reason, I never did pick up a Norton habit. My first and last purchased book from her was YEAR OF THE UNICORN, since the Witch World series seemed the default choice for her best work. Ah, well. My loss. If she had written more short fiction, I might’ve developed more of a taste for her work.
Since my earliest exposure to sf was mostly driven by 1) writers who also wrote horror, 2) writers who would be included in Robert Arthur’s and Harold Masur’s “HITCHCOCK” anthologies for Random House, 3) Gordon Dickson’s SECRET UNDER THE SEA, L’Engle’s science fantasies A WRINKLE IN TIME and A WIND IN THE DOOR, and a smattering of other writers who didn’t publish much adult sf, 4) writers in the books and (2 issues of ANALOG and one of VERTEX) magazines my father had around the house, THE SF HALL OF FAME V1 as curated by Robert Silverberg from the SFWA poll, and Silverberg’s less institutional anthology INFINITE JESTS, and the likes of Harlan Ellison’s anthology of collaborations PARTNERS IN WONDER were among the most influential books in fostering my interests, along with library copies of Silverberg’s anthology BEYOND CONTROL and Bradbury’s R IS FOR ROCKET. By the time I augmented my lawn mowing/chores casual allowance by helping a neighbor dig a ditch around his house, it was with the intent of splurging on one of Gerry de la Ree’s back-issue digest grab-bags in autumn 1978, and the habit was already formed.
Todd, I read all the books you cite but at different times. I tended to read one writer compulsively until I exhausted their entire oeuvre and then I’d move on to another writer.
Todd, many Andre Norton fans consider her WITCH WORLD series her best work. But as a 12-year-old kid, I loved everything she wrote at that time.
I have read a few novels that border on science fiction over the years but very few. Some Heinlein, Asimov, H.G, Wells, LeGuin.
Patti, I would guess Le Guin’s work would appeal to you the most. But Andre Norton’s work excited me as a kid. She was a librarian before she became a writer.
When I was a kid, Norton’s novels in hardcover were mainstays on the county bookmobile that set up shop in our community every other Friday. A few years later, I bought CROSSROADS OF TIME as a 1966 Ace stand-alone reissue, with the same cover art as its Ace Double predecessor.
Fred, I have both the ACE DOUBLE and the stand-alone version of CROSSROADS OF TIME. Our Bookmobile showed up once a week at the elementary school and I always found some Science Fiction to take home.
The only Nortons I’ve read are the Solar Queen books (which were originally published as by Andrew North).
Jeff, I was stunned when I found out “Andrew North” was also Andre Norton who was also Alice Mary Norton!
My first sf books were copies of I, Robot by Asimov and The Mind Thing by Frederic Brown in the very early sixties. I read a lot of Norton for the next 7 or 8 years. I liked her much better than the Heinlein juveniles. I also read a lot of Robert Sheckley, Phil Dick and Theodore Sturgeon early on. And of course, Alfred Bester.
Steve, I think the Andre Norton SF novels from the Fifties and Sixties hold up better than Heinlein’s juveniles. I was a big Robert Sheckley fan, too. Loved the weirdness of Philip K. Dick and the emotional impact of many Theodore Sturgeon stories. Alfred Bester was in a class of his own!
I read The Crossroads of Time several times; I think Quest Crosstime, which I acquired later, only once.
I think it’s funny that the Ace Double you picture says “complete and unabridged” when it’s the story’s first publication. In Crosstime, the two stories were presented in reverse order for some reason — maybe because the second book says it’s Blake Nelson’s “first mission.” Maybe so, but it’s the second book in the sequence. Norton wrote a lot of two-book series.
Jeff, you’re certainly right about the sequencing of the two novels. And you’re also right about Norton writing many two-book series: CATSEYE/NIGHT OF MASKS, IMPERIAL LADY/EMPIRE OF THE EAGLE, JUDGEMENT ON JANUS/VICTORY ON JANUS, and many more.
Until 1962 when I started university and had a chance to look at bookstores in the university town of Tübingen I only got German translations – and some German SF like the (in)famous Perry Rhodan series.
Many American books were compressed into 64 pages pulp so you often lost important parts.
Ib those bookstores you could find a selection of ACE doubles and other publishers – I might have found my first Andre Norton there but I don’t remember the titles – just too many books …
Wolf, around 1962 there were plenty of Andre Norton/Andrew North titles available. You’re right about too many books!