Book Review: The Zero Stone by Andre Norton
Four Stars
“Who may seize upon time and hold it fast?”
A space opera but much more, and it works. Some whine about the past dearth of recognition for female science fiction/fantasy writers. Andre Norton is proof against those claims, and this book backs to her reputation.
“We were late comers to the space lanes.”
“Planet time is measured in years, space time less easily.” In 1968, Norton got how time varied for those traveling at relativist speeds, why can’t modern writers?
“Never underestimate your opponent.”
A story that works today almost as well as when written, a claim few science fiction tales can make, this is at once a stimulating rollick through well-traveled space lanes and an introspective journey of a semi-antihero toward the quest of a lifetime.
“Sometimes right and the law are not one and the same.”
Curiously, for a female Grand Master of the SFWA, Norton does not feature a single female character, unless you count the ship’s cat.
“Do not seek out the shadows of the future; you will discover sometimes that the sun of tomorrow will dispatch them.”
Thanks to Open Road for making this classic tale available.
“A man’s hardest ordeal is waiting.”
As a Matter of Fancy 
I used to read her work. I don’t think it’s curious that her characters were all male (except cat.) She was trying to fit in with the genre of the time. Her first name suggests another way she wanted to fit in. She was more interested in being a writer who was accepted. It was easier to be accepted in sci-fi, or most other genres, if you were male. I recall not knowing, or caring, when I discovered she was a woman.
Thanks for the review!