The Fredösphere

Did I mention this week is American Women Writers of Fiction Week here at the Fredösphere?  I just learned of a prolific sci-fi author that somehow escaped my attention until now:  Andre Norton.

(Other than Anne McCaffrey, what other women were/are writing sci-fi to a significant audience?  I'm not including Ursula LeGuin or others from the fantasy genre.)

Andre Norton died this year after a long career as the "Grand Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy."  She was born Alice Mary Norton, but chose Andre as a pen name, thinking it would be more accepted by young male readers.  Of her 70-odd novels, the best known are of the Witch World series.  To the end, she kept busy; her last completed novel, Three Hands for Scorpio, was published posthumously.

So, is she any good?  I'm reading Storm Over Warlock right now, and the scenario is compelling, but the narration is a bit tedious; it tends to pedagogical repetition.  ("Yes, Andre, we get it.")  But hey, the novel was written in 1962; try watching some TV from that era and you'll learn audiences' attentive powers were not held in high esteem by writers of that time.

Here's the synopsis of Storm Over Warlock:

Fleeing from Throg invaders, Shann Lantee and Ragnar Thorvald enter the world of beautiful women.  Immensely powerful as they are lovely, these witches control men by thought domination.  Shann's victory over the beetle-like Throg and his civilized alliance with the women is told here with that sweep of imagination and brilliance of detail which render Andre Norton a primary talent among writers of science fiction.

Beautiful women ... powerful ... witches ... control men ... thought domination....  Hey, I made a mistake!  Andre Norton is an American woman writer of non-fiction.