The Sioux spaceman

by Andre Norton

Book Overview

Whitehawk was a trader , he was supposed to ignore local affairs in the galaxy, but he was also a Lakota Sioux. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0007DPO0G
• Release Date: January 1960
• Publisher: Ace Books
• Length: 133 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A fast-moving SF adventure on an alien world

The late Andre Norton was a scholar of Amerindian history and lore, and incorporated her knowledge into many of her novels, e.g. "Galactic Derelict" (1959), and "The Beast Master" (1959). "The Sioux Spaceman" (1960) stars Kade Whitehawk as a rebellious junior member of the Terran Space Service, an organization involved in intergalactic trade. The background of this science fiction novel is a little different from the author's usual universe of Free Traders and long-vanished Forerunners. Here, the Terrans are newcomers to the stars where the humanoid Styor lords still rule a decaying galactic empire. Kade despises the Styor for their arrogant belief that all other races are little more than animals or slaves. On his first outbound mission, he tangles with a Styor lord and is bundled back to the Traders' Base on Lodi in disgrace. Kade is surprised to learn that he has been assigned to another mission, this time on the primitive, fur-trading world of Klor, with the warning that if he screws up again, he'll end his career on a labor gang. Unfortunately, the Styor have already established themselves on Klor and have enslaved the aboriginal population of Ikkinni, who very much remind Kade of his Sioux ancestors prior to the Spanish introduction of horses into the New World. When he accidentally learns how to free the Ikkinni from their Styor slave collars, Kade must decide whether to step back into his official role as a trader, or join the slave rebellion. What are the Ikkinni still lacking that made Kade Whitehawk's Sioux ancestors into such formidable warriors? When the junior trader figures out the answer to this question, he and the Ikkinni are off and galloping. "The Sioux Spaceman" is yet another fast-moving adventure story on a believably crafted alien world that made Andre Norton so popular with YA and adult readers for over half a century. I was quite drawn into the character of the proud, resourceful Kade Whitehawk in his battle against the decadent Styor Empire, and am sorry she never continued his story. Still, this SF novel is very good on its own. "Yat-ta-hay," as her Navaho hero of "The Beast Master" once said. "Very, very good!"

Horsemen of the Stars

The Sioux Spaceman (1960) is a standalone SF novel. When the Terran League reached the stars, they found the Styor Empire occupying the most desirable planets. The Empire was old and beginning to crack, but was still capable of defeating an upstart newcomer. The League dealt with the Empire mostly through the Outworld Trade Service. In this novel, Kade Whitehawk is a Lakota Sioux in the Outworld Trade Service. On his first post, Kade had taught a Styor lordling a painful lesson. Now he has been pulled off that assignment and shipped back to Lodi for disciplinary action. Yet he is being placed in an emergency reassignment to a Mixed Team on Klor. Kade is confused, for Mixed Team positions are supposed to be rewards, not punishment details. Enroute to Klor, Kade learns as much as he can about his new assignment. He learns that Klor has three continents, two in the western hemisphere and the third in the east. This eastern continent is hook-shaped and stretches across the equator. A chain of mountains and foothills runs diagonally across this continent, but most of the land consists of grassy plains. The third continent is the most important to the Trade Service. The Terran Trading Post is located in a level space among the mountains, equidistant from the Styor administrative center, Cor, and a giant smelter-producer complex. The rest of the continent is covered by the individual holdings of the lords. The Trading Post is mostly interested in the furs of giant bat-like creatures. These flyers are trapped by teams of the native Ikkinni hired from various lords. These Ikkinni are slaves captured from the wild natives lurking among the peaks. The Ikkinni are tall, but very slender, and are covered with fine, long black hair. Their wide mouths contain the sharp teeth of a carnivore. Around their necks are the collars that enslave them. Strangely enough, his predecessor, Jon Steel, was also a Lakota. According to his briefing, Steel had been "lost by an act of violence", which meant neither death by the Styor nor death by accident. Kade is very interested in discovering exactly how Steel had died. On Klor, Kade busies himself catching up with more current records and correspondence. He finds an interesting analysis of the native grass, comparing it with the grama grass of his native plains. He also finds himself in charge of a Terran bear destined as a gift to High-Lord Pac. Kade becomes interested in Dokital, one of the native slaves permanently assigned to the Trading Post. The slaves on the post are owned by a Styor lord, but are overseen by a half-breed Overman named Buk. None of the slaves will have anything to do with the bear, but Kade tries to get Dokital used to the animal. In this story, Kade presents the bear to High-Lord Pac and entices him with visions of riding horses. Since Klor has no domestic animals, Pac is definitely interested in a creature that responds to his commands. Kade orders a stallion and four

excellent story

In the future the humans are not top dog. There is an alien race that controls most of the known areas of space and believes that all other races are there to serve them. Humans get by because this other race sees itself as "too noble" to be mere traders/merchants, so that's the role that humans have to fulfill. In this story a young Sioux is sent to one of the planets controlled by this other race to join a trading post there. The aliens of the world are kept in slavery by the wearing of collars that can stun, punish or kill them. The Sioux discovers accidently that the world would be a perfect place for horses and that the natives, much like the Native American's have a true affinity for horses. The trials and tribulations of getting the horses, helping the natives and keeping himself alive all make for a very enjoyable read.

Beware the Horsemen of the Stars!

When the Terran Confederation finally made the great leap into interstellar space they discovered that they were not the first. They found that the vast Styor Empire enslaved two-thirds of the star systems of the known galaxy, and their inhabitants. The Styor, in spite of their vast numerical and technological superiority, found that it was never worth the effort and losses to try to enslave the upstart Terrans. Yet, they could not ignore the Earthmen either, for they were popping up everywhere. So the Styor allowed the newcomers to operate as traders- an occupation unfit for imperial bureaucrats and warriors. The Earthmen accepted this status, for it allowed them to travel to the enslaved worlds where the Patrol could not yet venture. They kept their eyes open and noted the growing cracks in the decadent Empire. Here and there they could do what they could to widen those cracks.This was the case on the planet Klor, where Kade Whitehawk, Amerindian of the Northwest Terran Confederation noticed that the vast grasslands of that world were distinctly reminiscent of his plains homeland. The enslaved native race of Klor, the Ikkinni, reminded Whitehawk of his own people, the Lakota. They only lacked one essential to fight back against their Styor masters- the horse. Kade could get horses- and if a few managed to slip away....After all, had not Whitehawk's own people accomplished the impossible when they won back their own land from the mechanized civilization that had once tried to enslave them?

Souix in space. Aliens on horseback !!

This is the story of the contact and trade teams of Earth.A much larger and more powerful empire of the stars have to death with outward diplomacy. But is there a silent conspiracy from inside the trade agency. Is it for or against the will of Earth.A good tale that compares cultures of different worlds and their similarities to Earth