II. Time Line + Recommended Reading Order
a quick overview

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This is in part a thematic reading order. It closely follows the main divisions of the timeline, but within those divisions some titles are ordered by common themes rather than absolute chronology. The Story Review page follows the same order.

All books and series in this collection are marked as ‘read together’ or ‘stand-alone read’

  • Some titles are very obviously continuing stories with a common protagonist. Some are tales more loosely connected by a common location, theme or time period. Such series should imo be read together for a more enjoyable reading experience.  I made the deliberate choice to keep series together, even when other books would fit in between chronologically. 

  • Other titles have such different locations, societies or subjects that they seem like completely unrelated stories, except for including references to the F-U. These can very well be read as stand-alone novels in that greater context of the F-U.

Reading the stories in the order as listed here will place them within the social and historical frameworks of the Forerunners Universe and may give the reader better understanding of the changing context that Norton had in mind when she wrote these books.

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I. 2000- 3500  A.D.
Star Flight; Atomic Wars; Barbarism (6 titles)

series: Pax/Astra x2

  1. The Stars are Ours (1954)
  2. Star Born (1957)

series: Post-nuclear Barbarism x4

  1. [Sea Siege (1957) would need fix-up ]
  2. Daybreak 2250 A.D. (1952)
  3. No Night without Stars (1975)
  4. Moon Called (1982)

II. 2900-4000 A.D. -
Sol System and Beyond (6 titles)

series: Sol system and Beyond x3

  1. Wizard’s World (1967)
  2. Mousetrap (1954)
  3. All Cats are grey (1953)

series: Alien Encounters x3

  1. Star Guard (1955) 
  2. Secret of the Lost Race (1959) aka Wolfshead
  3. The Sioux Spaceman (1960)

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III.  4000 - 4500 A.D. 
A Time of War (20 titles)

series: The Dipple Books x2

  1. Catseye (1961) 
  2. Night of Masks (1964) 

series The Janus Books x2

  1. Judgment on Janus (1963)
  2. Victory on Janus (1966)

series: Star Stones x2

  1. The Zero Stone (1968)
  2. Uncharted Stars (1969)

series:   Warlock Magic / Lantee cycle x3

  1. Storm over Warlock (1960)
  2. Ordeal in Otherwhere (1964)
  3. Forerunner Foray (1973) 

Also during this era: x1

  1. Brother to Shadows  (1993)

series: Lost Worlds x5

  1. [Star Gate (1959) ] = a lost colony tale
  2. Iron Cage (1974) 
  3. Eye of the Monster (1962)
  4. Dark Piper (1968) 
  5. Dread Companion (1970)

series: Beast Master x5

  1. The Beast Master (1959)
  2. Lord of Thunder (962)
  3. Beast Master’s Ark  (2002) with Lyn McConchie
  4. Beast Master’s Circus  (2004) with Lyn McConchie 
  5. Beast Master’s Quest  (2006) with Lyn McConchie

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IV.  4500 - 7500 A.D. 
A Time of Peace (22 titles)

series: Solar Queen x7

  1. Sargasso of Space (1955)
  2. Plague Ship (1956)
  3. Voodoo Planet (1959)
  4. Postmarked the Stars (1969)
  5. Redline the Stars (1993) with P. M. Griffin
  6. Derelict for Trade (1997) with Sherwood Smith
  7. A Mind for Trade (1997) with Sherwood Smith

series: Forerunner planets x3

series   Forerunner Simsa x2

  1. Voorloper (1980)
  2. Star Hunter (1961)
  3. The X Factor (1965)
  4. Forerunner (1981) 
  5. Forerunner: The Second Venture (1985) 

series: Criminal Minds x6

  1. Ice Crown (1970)
  2. Android at Arms (1971)
  3. Toys of Tamisan (1969)
  4. Ship of Mist (1976)
  5. Get Out of my Dream (1976)
  6. Nightmare (1976)

series: Moon Singer x4

  1. Moon of Three Rings (1966)
  2. Exiles of the Stars (1971)
  3. Flight in Yiktor (1986)
  4. Dare to Go A-hunting (1990)

V. 7800-8300 A.D. 
Death of an Empire (1 title)

  1. Star Rangers (1953) 

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VI. 8500-??? A.D. -
A Post-Human Earth (2 titles)

series: Post-human Earth x2

  1. London Bridge (1973)
  2. Breed to Come (1972) 

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For more details and comments, see the Story Review page.

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CONTENTS

Word Searches, Quotes, etc.
Word-searches I used to figure out what books belong in this collection. This is rough draft text that has not been cleaned up, but you're welcome to review it. 

  1. I. Introduction
  2. II. Recommended Reading Order
  3. III. Story Review