fantasy book reviews science fiction book reviewsThe Defiant Agents by Andre NortonThe Defiant Agents by Andre Norton

The Defiant Agents is the third book in Andre Norton’s TIME TRADERS series about a secret United States government program that uses time travel to solve geopolitical problems, especially those involving the Cold War with the Russians. In the first book, The Time Traders, we met Ross Murdock, a criminal who avoided his sentence by signing on with the Time Traders and discovering the source of the Russians’ new powers. In the second book, Galactic Derelict, we met Travis Fox, an Apache who joined the Time Traders and was sent to recover an alien spaceship.

In this third book, the United States has tossed all ethics out the window and decided that the end justifies the means. They’ve used a process called Redax on Travis Fox and some other unknowing Apache volunteers which causes them to forget their modern selves and embrace their inner Apache. The government sends them to a newly discovered primitive planet where they hope the Apaches, now channeling their ancestors, will be able to subdue it. Meanwhile the Russians have used the same process on the descendents of the Mongols and sent them to the same planet. Thus we have a U.S. /Russian war being fought between Apaches and Mongols on a distant world.

Sounds a little silly, but if you can get past the premise (which I had trouble doing), you’ll find a story containing the kind of action and angst that Andre Norton’s fans love. There are even telepathic wolves, which is really cool. This is not one of Norton’s best stories, however. It doesn’t at all feel organic and, with the exception of Travis Fox, the “Reds” and “Mongols” are simply stereotypes. It feels more like Norton wanted to write a story about Native Americans in a science fiction context and, indeed, I’ve read in several places that this book was written after one of Norton’s friends complained that there were no science fiction books where Native Americans were the protagonists.

I’m looking forward to book four, Key Out of Time, which again focuses on Ross Murdock. I want to find out about the advanced alien race that may be providing technology to the Russians.

All of the books in the TIME TRADERS series are now in the public domain and can be found for free online. I bought the free Kindle version and then used the Whispersync deal to buy the audio version with Paul Boehmer’s narration for $1.99. I’d recommend this version if you want to read The Defiant Agents.

The Time Traders — (1958-2002) Series started by Andre Norton. Last two novels co-authored by Sherwood Smith. Publisher: DRAFTED INTO THE ARMY OF TIME. Intelligence agents have uncovered something which seems beyond belief, but the evidence is incontrovertible: the USA’s greatest adversary on the world stage is sending its agents back through time! And someone or something unknown to our history is presenting them with technologies — and weapons — far beyond our most advanced science. We have only one option: create time-transfer technology ourselves, find the opposition’s ancient source… and take it down. When small-time criminal Ross Murdock and Apache rancher Travis Fox stumble separately onto America’s secret time travel project, Operation Retrograde, they are faced with a challenge greater than either could have imagined possible. Their mere presence means that they know too much to go free. But Murdock and Fox have a thirst for adventure, and Operation Retrograde offers that in spades. Both men will become time agents, finding reserves of inner heroism they had never expected. Their journeys will take the battle to the enemy, from ancient Britain to prehistoric America, and finally to the farthest reaches of interstellar space….

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  • Kat Hooper

    KAT HOOPER, who started this site in June 2007, earned a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology at Indiana University (Bloomington) and now teaches and conducts brain research at the University of North Florida. When she reads fiction, she wants to encounter new ideas and lots of imagination. She wants to view the world in a different way. She wants to have her mind blown. She loves beautiful language and has no patience for dull prose, vapid romance, or cheesy dialogue. She prefers complex characterization, intriguing plots, and plenty of action. Favorite authors are Jack Vance, Robin Hobb, Kage Baker, William Gibson, Gene Wolfe, Richard Matheson, and C.S. Lewis.