From Publishers Weekly
Telepathic beasts and the efforts of Laris, a young animal trainer, to escape her bondage to Dedran, a greedy Circus Master, add intrigue to this latest installment of Norton and McConchie's Beast Master series (Beast Master's Arc, etc.). Laris, an orphan and hardworking refugee, loves the creatures she cares for as much as she hates Dedran, who "owns" her until she can earn enough credits to buy her freedom. Fortunately, on the space-traveling freighter The Queen of the Circus and during its stops on various planets, she develops a special telepathic bond with Prauo, a big alien cat who joins her, along with Cregar, another unhappy circus employee, in trying to thwart Dedran's nefarious plan to assist fellow Thieves Guild Members in stealing and cloning gifted beasts. This big top of the future includes illegally obtained "tigerbats" and rare Terran dogs, as well as two colorful crooks, Ideena and Baris, who manage to infuse the somewhat stale plot with much-needed humor. The hints regarding Laris's true identity may be a bit too obvious for more clever readers, while older SF/fantasy fans will likely find the story too tame. Still, animal-loving young adults should be well satisfied. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


From Booklist
Some 50 years ago, Norton created Hosteen Storm, a beast master of Native American ancestry. A former soldier able to communicate with a team of animals, Storm now lives with his family on the planet Arzor, where he and his team protect the land and its residents. When a circus featuring exotic animals visits Arzor, the Storm family meets Laris, a young woman who performs exciting feats with a number of alien species. But Laris is bonded to the circus master, Dendran, who has ties to the interstellar Thieves Guild. At about the same time, word arrives of murders of beast masters on other planets and the loss of their teams. With McConchie's collaboration, Norton adds another fine tale to her long list of good stories with enthralling characters, one that can be enjoyed as much by those who are just encountering her work as by those who have read her with pleasure for half a century. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Praise for Beast Master's Ark:

"Neat, swift, and strongly detailed. Old fans will dance and howl for more..." --Kirkus Reviews

"An exciting climax that should have fans eager for the next installment." --Publishers Weekly

"Both authors mesh flawlessly to produce a long awaited continuation to the Beast Master saga." --Romantic Times Book Club

"Fitting well into the framework of Beast Master while incorporating the last 40 years' advances in genetics and biotechnology, the yarn can be read with enjoyment without prior knowledge of its predecessor." --Booklist



Book Description
Someone is kidnapping the animals of beast masters' teams. On planet after planet, telepathically gifted people are being attacked-some of them murdered-by a conspiracy to take their precious animals.

Laris, an orphan who trains exotic alien creatures for an interstellar circus, knows that somehow her employer is connected to the deadly plot. She also knows that those involved will kill her if she talks.

Beast master Hosteen Storm has heard about the plot, but when the circus comes to Arzor, he doesn't realize his mortal peril. The circus, with its many colorful acts, is danger cloaked in the swirling excitement of the show. Laris loves all animals, and is herself able to communicate with them. When she meets Hosteen and becomes friends with him and his family, she desperately wants to warn him, to save him and his animals. But as the circus nears the end of its stay on Arzor, the deadly plotters prepare to strike at those Laris cares about . . . and at her, if she interferes!



About the Author
For well over a half century, Andre Norton has been one of the most popular science fiction and fantasy authors in the world. Since her first SF novels were published in the 1930s, her adventure SF has enthralled readers young and old. With series such as Time Traders, Solar Queen, Forerunner, Beast Master, Crosstime, and Janus, as well as many stand-alone novels, her tales of action and adventure throughout the galaxy have drawn countless readers to science fiction.

Her fantasy, including the best-selling Witch World series, her "Magic" series, and many other unrelated novels, has been popular with readers for decades. Lauded as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, she is the recipient of a Life Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Convention. Not only have her books been enormously popular; she also has inspired several generations of SF and fantasy writers, especially many talented women writers who have followed in her footsteps. In the past two decades she has worked with other writers on a number of novels. Most notable among these are collaborations with Mercedes Lackey, the Halfblood Chronicles, as well as collaborations with A.C. Crispin (in the Witch World series) and Sherwood Smith (in the Time Traders and Solar Queen series). An Ohio native, Ms. Norton lived for a number of years in Winter Park, Florida, and now makes her home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she continues to write, and presides over High Hallack, a writers' resource and retreat.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Beast Master's Circus is the fourth book in a saga begun by Andre Norton almost half a century ago (The Beast Master, 1959). Coauthored by Norton and New Zealander Lyn McConchie, this newest installment pits Beast Master Hosteen Storm and his family against a space-faring circus that has been leaving a trail of dead Beast Masters and their animal teams in its wake.

Laris has been with the circus since she was a child. Orphaned by war and living in a work camp with no hope of a future, she jumps at the chance to train dangerous animals for the circus, even though it means she is basically signing herself into slavery. Although life with the circus has its advantages -- Laris has secretly and telepathically bonded with an exotic cat named Prauo -- she has been forced to help her boss, a rogue named Dedran who has been rumored to be working for the Thieves Guild, abduct (and usually kill) Beast Master animals for nefarious purposes. When the circus lands on the planet Arzor -- the home of Hosteen Storm, his family, and his animals -- Laris is told to befriend Storm and find out exactly where he keeps his highly intelligent animals, including Surra the dune-cat, Baku the African eagle, and Hing the meercat. Laris wants to save Storm and his animals, but her interference may lead to more gratuitous killing.

Fans of Norton will undoubtedly devour this fast-paced novel, which includes themes common in her other works: justice, honor, morality, and animal rights. Paul Goat Allen

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Since the dreaded Xik destroyed Earth, the corps of Beast Masters and the animal teams with which they have telepathic rapport have served as sentinels against the Xik and other threats to colony worlds throughout the galaxy.

Now a conspiracy with ties to the Thieves Guild is trying to kidnap the Beast Masters' team animals. On one world after another, they are attacking Beast Masters and targeting their animals, leaving a trail of dead or wounded Beast Masters and their animals in their wake. They haven't yet succeeded in capturing one alive... but they are still trying, and they're becoming more desperate - and bolder.

Laris is a young woman who works for a spacefaring circus, a bonded slave to its manager. An orphan with a troubled past, Laris is gifted with animals, a valuable asset to the circus and to her boss. But she's learned that somehow there's a connection between him and the Thieves Guild, and also the attempted abductions of Beast Masters' animals. She also knows that if her boss finds out what she has discovered, it would make her a problem, and he usually disposes of problems.

When the circus lands on Arzor, home to Beast Masters Hosteen and Tani Storm, Laris feels a kinship to them and to Hosteen's family, the Quades. She realizes, however, that she may be endangering them by exposing them to the dark interest of her boss and his ill-intentioned friends. Hosteen and Tani like Laris too, as does Logan Quade. She would give anything to tell them her dangerous secret but cannot. Because she knows that her friendship with the Beast Masters could be their downfall, as well as her own!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly