A sequel to Moon of Three Rings, this is unfortunately a somewhat weaker story than the first. I was able to predict the ending, but enjoyed reading it, nevertheless. ( )

Exiles of the Stars is the sequel to [Moon of Three Rings] by Andre Norton. Once again, the story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Krip Vorlund, Assistant Cargomaster of the Free Trader Lydis and Maelen, Moon-Singer of the Thassa. At the end of [Moon of Three Rings], Krip had lost his original spacer body and was now living in the empty shell of the Thassa man named Maquad, while Maelen had lost her original Thassa body and was living in the animal body of Vors the glassia.

This story takes place about a year after the events of the first book. Krip and Maelen are crewmembers of the Free Trader and have visited various worlds since they left Yiktor together. Now the ship has landed on the planet of Sekhmet on what was supposed to be a routine trade trip. But the theocratic rulers are defending against an imminent coup d'etat. The Free Trader can't afford to leave without a cargo, so they take the deal to transport the precious church relics to another planet in the system where the priests remain in power so that the rebels cannot take them. The relics are powerful Forerunner artifacts. However, there's a schism among the priesthood, and the ship is sabotaged, forcing a landing on a third planet in the system that's got little more than a Patrol beacon.

Once they land, mysterious things start to happen. Crew members lose contact, others appear to be mind controlled, and Krip and Maelen discover a Forerunner installation even larger than those long since excavated on the settled planets in the system. And it appears that the Survey scouts who named the system based on Egyptian mythology were subconsciously influenced by the Forerunner presence with ties to the long-distant Egypt on the fabled planet earth, specifically Bastet, Anubis, Sobek, and probably Horus. While the crew tries to get help from the Patrol, Maelen tries to resist a powerful force that wants to take over her mind, and Krip tries to rescue her. The title of the book is referenced on the last page of the story, as Krip and Maelen realize that they no longer fit in their old lives. Krip no longer has undivided loyalty to the ship and his crewmates, and Maelen can't go back to a simple planet-bound life. With the unprecedented discovery of a powerful Forerunner installation, all of them will be wealthy enough to pursue their own dreams.

It's a fun little story with lots of mystical and strange happenings. As in many other stories, esper (psychic) power is the basis of the alien technology, allowing people to teleport around the installation and operate various features, but also causing disorientation and confusion. This is similar to events in [Lord of Thunder] the follow-up to [The Beast Master], and probably a few other Norton stories that I can't remember right now.
[edited to finish incomplete sentence] ( )

Norton's books age fairly well; taking in to account current technology when they were written. She was my first Sci-Fi author back in the 50's and a major influence on many future SF authors. ( )

Norton's books age fairly well; taking in to account current technology when they were written. She was my first Sci-Fi author back in the 50's and a major influence on many future SF authors. ( )

Much better than Moon of Three Rings. The high-flown language has settled down, the plots - while still complicated and overlapping - make a lot more sense, and both Maelen and Krip seem a lot more like real people, not author's puppets. The fact that the enemy is able to thoroughly mess with perceptions makes things a little more complicated - what's real, what's dream, what's an attack... More body changing, not nearly as well-intentioned. And Krip learns what was pretty clear in the first book - he's not exactly who he was before, and the changes are taking him away from his well-regulated life. The various treasures are fascinating - though I don't understand the initial attack. Why bring the Lydis to the planet, if that's what was intended? What they had was small potatoes. Hmmm, though the timeline might explain it - if that was a Guild plot, before the rest was discovered. Oh, and I loved the casual mention of the treasures of Limbo, "discovery of a Free Trader in the earlier days" - the Solar Queen. Nice story, and yes, I want to see what happens next. ( )