The Stars Are Ours

This adventure tale has a great premise and decent pace and an abrupt political ending.

The world of this story is one where scientists are blamed for atomic weapons, and most other weapons of war. This plus a charismatic leader equals a fanatical purge of scientists. Only a few have escaped, hiding out.

Living in this world are the remaining Nordis family - Lars (a chemist and scientist in hiding), Dessie his nature-loving daughter, and Lars' younger brother Dard. Through the eyes of this youth, an expert woodsman, the entire tale is told. Some of his adventures include escaping a manhunt, secret messages and finding an enclave of hidden scientists who are building a spaceship to escape this world. The second half of the book details Dard and the scientists adventures on a new world, far from Earth.

This book was originally published 60 years ago, and some parts of it feel dated. The adventures keep the plot moving, and chapter breaks seem to be more on a whim than a change of scene or action. The ending is very abrupt and feels like a political statement against war. While somewhat fitting the world described in the beginning, it is a change of pace for the characters, who have been busy surviving and growing their new colony to this point. Andre Norton wrote a sequel to this book, and perhaps this ending was adjusted to tie them together.

That sequel, "Star Born", was released just three years later. Later on, an omnibus edition titled "Star Flight" combined both this story and its sequel. Both of the original works are out of print but not difficult to find in used science fiction and fantasy sections.