Forerunner Books In Order

Publication Order of Forerunner Books

The Forerunner series is a popular series of science fiction and fantasy books. It is written by a renowned American novelist named Andre Norton. The series is comprised of 5 books in total, which were released between the years 1960 and 1985. In the series, Norton has described a powerful alien raced called The Forerunners. This race of aliens is considered to be very incomprehensible and has now vanished completely. But, they are now surviving by their artifacts. Some sections of this series are linked to the Dipple and Janus books as well. Norton has depicted different main characters in each of the books. The settings are on fictional planets named Warlock and Demeter. Andre Norton started her career by writing adventure & juvenile historical fiction books. Later, she changed over to fantasy and then into science fiction. These two genres helped her in achieving the most success in her life. More often, Norton’s works include the theme of alienated outsiders going on adventurous journeys and realizing somewhere down the path about their actual potential. Because of this emphasis on passage rite, Norton was able to remain associated with the minds of the readers interested in young adult stories for a very long time. However, she went on to achieve her bestselling status with adult novels. In most of the novels that author Andre has written, the plot usually happens in open countryside. The city environments are described very less and are seen only for short episodes. The protagonists of Andre’s books usually appear as single characters or sometimes they move in groups of a few people. Whenever a conflicting situation arises, the protagonists often come in the roles of spies, guerrillas, or scouts as opposed to soldiers and other military formations. Also, such characters tend to have the capability of handling the situations independently and very resourceful. Some of the her books showed the protagonists already possessing such characteristics, while in several others the young protagonists get indulged in such situations where the characteristics are developed by them as they grow and face the situations. With all that said, in spite of the recurring themes, Andre’s novels still prove to be highly enjoyable. A major part of the credit goes to the unique style of writing of author Andre.

The debut book of the Forerunner series is entitled ‘Storm Over Warlock’. It was released by the Ace Books publication in 1960. The primary protagonist depicted in this novel is Shann Lantee, who lives in a survey camp in Terran, on a planet called Warlock. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that the survey camp gets attached by the task force of Throg one fine morning when everybody was still asleep. The attack was well planned and was laid down with great precision. The Whole base was covered with eye searing energy lances, giving clear indication that no human would have been able to survive the attack. Shann Lantee was the only one remaining alive. He was all alone and without any weapons on the hostile land and didn’t know what to do. Shann Lantee appears to be an undersized man, who resides in the Terran and earns his living by showing street-smartness. He is uneducated and poor. However, somehow he manages to join the Survey Corps, which is tasked with searching and settling the colonizable planets. The whole of Terran works under the fear of an alien species called Throgs. This species often indulges in the activities of murdering the Terrans and taking away all that they can from their bases. When Shann Lantee is carrying out one of his routine tasks, his base also gets attacked. The Throgs make sure that no one comes out alive, but Shann is the only person to live. Following the deadly attack, Shann teams up with another Terran resident and several Warlock natives to fight against the Throgs. He succeeds in throwing away the tyrannical rule of Throgs and makes sure that Warlock becomes a safe place for democracy. This space opera describes the journey of a man, who remains mostly underestimated, but successfully proves to be in the possession of highly valuable skills. These skills help him in overcoming the miserable situations that he lands himself in. Shann Lantee not only succeeds in making friendly contacts, but also defeats the enemies with his courageous efforts. This book’s tale appears to be tightly plotted, fairly written, and very well characterized. Andre Norton was highly motivated by the book’s success.

Another mind blowing book of this series is known by the title ‘Ordeal In Otherwhere’. The Ace publication released this novel too in the year 1985. Andre has mentioned the central lead of this novel as Charis Nordholm, who resides on a colonial planet called Demeter. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that the colonies on Demeter get seized by an outlaw. Consequently, the growing violence forces Charis Nordholm to give up her home and leave Demeter. She goes on to contact a trader from another world and gives herself in his service. The traders assigns Charis Nordholm to purchase cloths from the Wyverns. They are the alien species ruling Warlock and look quite attractive. Charis Nordholm too was attracted towards them and wished to learn the secrets of the Wyverns. However, before she could get trapped by the Wyverns, Charis learned about Warlock’s menaces. So, she decides to withdraw all her business with the Wyverns and runs for her life. After the deadly plague hit Demeter, leaving mostly the government people dead, Charis felt very heartbroken. The ones left unaffected by the plague were persuaded by a fanatical man for taking out a government machinery. And as Charis Nordholm was the daughter of an education expert, she too was at their target. She runs off from Demeter, but gets caught anyhow. The fanatic wants Charis to sign the labor contract under which she will accept to work as an agricultural slave for him. But, she doesn’t approve of this. Charis escapes secretly and reaches Warlock. There, she is used by a Free Trader for establishing trade relations with Wyverns. Charis experiences many more discoveries and complications with the progress of the storyline. Charis Nordholm seems to have done an excellent job in the role of a strong heroine. Her portrayal has been very well described by Andre. It is only in this particular book that Charis Nordholm goes on to meet Shann Lantee and the two give birth to Ris Lantee, who carries the series forward by playing the main male lead in the rest of all the stories.