I read this so long ago I don't really remember much about it but I liked all of Ms. Norton's work so I think the rating is accurate. From the back of the book "The ten-planet war had ended, and Griss Lugard had come home to Beltane, the biological-experimental station in deep, deep space. He had warned the council of the dangers of peace. The war had destroyed worlds beyond imagining, and the refugees were sure to come, unerring in their determination to have a new home at any price." ( )

This one sort of takes the "children must make their own way after terrible thing happens" story and puts in on a planet inhabited by scientists, after a war. Norton spins a good tale while still bringing up points and themes about humanity and finds a good balance in it all. Action, thinking, sadness, mutants.What I find a interesting is that Norton's writing style for this book is more formal than in her other work. I think it may be because this is essentially a transcription of an oral history and the world involved is one filled with the progeny of scientists. ( )

This has echoes of the Pied Piper but only to a lesser extent. The children who follow the piper are escaping the destruction of their settlement by bandits. Not really my favourite of hers it's still an interesting read and well worth the time. It's told from a first person point of view by the eldest of the children who doesn't sound all that young, but then again lives on a colony planet as a first wave of settlement so may have more responsibilities settled on his shoulders earlier and if it's written by him later, the more adult attitude may be excused as filtered by this.
Not one of her best but does display a lot of her typical themes, children taking responsibility, questing, etc. ( )