::: Wheel of Stars (Norton)

[delphipsmith]

I had high hopes for this Andre Norton book, based on my affection for Dread Companion and Breed to Come, both of which I have re-read numerous times since first encountering them in childhood and still love. Alas, they were not realized. Reincarnation I can buy. Grand and sweeping cycles of time/the universe I can buy. But corpse-smelling dagger-toothed vicious evil-incarnate Monsters o' Darkness who are too stupid to jump over a fence?? I can't buy that. "Stupid on cue" drives me nuts. Not to mention she skips the whole middle part where the mysterious Lyle clan sets up their chain of guardianship, and never explains how/why Tor got split in two but no one else did. Add that to the peculiar stylistic quirks and the best I can give it is four out of ten. *sigh*