• Star Born

  • By: Andre Norton
  • Narrated by: Mark Nelson
  • Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (166 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Star Born  By  cover art

Star Born

By: Andre Norton
Narrated by: Mark Nelson
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.47

Buy for $17.47

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

"The two voyagers were neither of the same race nor of the same species, yet they worked together without words, as if they had established some bond which gave them a rapport transcending the need for speech."

When Raf Kurbi's spaceship from Earth burst into unexplored skies of the far planet Astra, it was made welcome by the natives of a once-mighty metropolis. But Kurbi was unaware of three vital things: (1) that Astra already harbored an Earth colony - descended from refugees from the world of the previous century; (2) that these men and women were facing the greatest danger of their existence from a new outburst of the inhuman fiends who had once tyrannized Astra; and (3) that the natives who were buying Kurbi's science know-how were those very fiends - and their intentions were implacably deadly for all humans, whether Earth born or star born!

Much of the planet's hopes lie with young Dalgard Nordis and his companion, Sssuri, a telepathic native of this alien world. If they fail, their planet will be subjugated and enslaved by that inhuman race.

Here is a top-notch planetary adventure novel by science fiction grand master Andre Norton.

©2008 Andre Norton (P)2008 Wonder Audio LLC

What listeners say about Star Born

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    66
  • 4 Stars
    48
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    48
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    60
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    22
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Be warned

I bought this solely on the recommendation I heard from Orson Scott Card, I did not listen to the sample first. Be warned. While the story itself might be good, the reader destroyed it for me. I could not get into the story, for me, the rendition just made the whole thing sound dull and lifeless.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Star Born

This is classic Norton in top form. The narration is well done and read. Norton authored some of the best sci fi of the era. Ranking up there with Robert Heinlein, Asimov, EE Doc Smith other great masters of sci fi. Star Born was a favorite for me growing up I must have read it 1000 times and the audio listen really brought the book to life for me. You wont regret this addition to your library! The Time Series is probably nortons top work altho its hard to find any Norton work thats ever been close to bad.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

painful

Like others, I got this on Orson Scott Card's recommendation. It's horrible. Narrator is the worst. Editing has some problems, too -- phrases that repeat, etc. Probably should read this one instead of listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Book is fine, even good, but narration kills it

I wanted to like this book after the review by Orson Scott Card, today's premier sci-fi writer. And I would find myself converting the narrator's awkward and unintended cadence into my own voice in my head. In the end, however, it was too much, and I would have prefered actually reading the book. This hasn't happened to me that much--usually a narrator will grow on me--but this one became more irritating as the book progressed. I suggest you buy the print copy, if you want to give it a try, though there are better books out there (note comment re Scott Card at beginning--anything by him is better than this one).
Rick Stockton

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Worth it just for being Andre Norton

While I didn't buy this because of Card's review, he was spot on in that Andre Norton along with Robert Heinlein was the gateway to science fiction for many readers and several well known authors in the genre. Norton in particular was responsible for many women discovering SciFi as many of her books featured strong women leads long before it was popular to do so. I could have wished for another of her books to introduce new readers to Norton, but Star Born is a solid example of Norton's storytelling. This is a sequel to an earlier work (The Stars Are Ours), but it is not necessary to read it first. I do consider that the better book.

I also could have wished for a better narrator, but in truth he did not bother me as I was wrapped up in reliving a well read favorite author. For a first time introduction to Norton, he added nothing, and for many may detract.

While this is a young adult title, I had a friend once remark that Robert Heinlein's young adult titles were better than many adult works out there. For me, Andre Norton falls into this category. Audio on Norton in next to impossible to find, so this effort is welcomed. But I urge that anyone who does not find this book to their taste to try reading some of her other work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

STOS Concepts?

This book was first published in the 1950s, and it makes me wonder if the concept of "the highest law of the service" in it, might not have been the inspiration for "The Prime Directive" in STOS? Also, I wonder if the "federation of free men" mentioned near the end of the book might not have influenced the naming of the United Federation of Planets? This book is conceptually interesting, particularly as social science fiction.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Ok story, horrible editing

On several occasions, the same phrase was read twice. This appears to be a simple quality control issue where someone did not check their work. The story was ok and the narration was ok. I accidentally got this book in a sale not realizing this was a series, so maybe I'm missing some information that would have made this more interesting. When I was younger I read several books by Andre Norton and this is not her best work or possibly this is a fairly simplistic tale and my expectations for stories has grown over the decades. Sadly, I have no want to get the other book(s) in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved the book, but narrator was in the way

rhythm, tone and inflection were completely wrong for this book. I couldn't finish the read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Star Born

Andre Norton tells a story of the planet Astra. It’s past, it’s political future. RAF and Dalgard are interesting characters! I don’t want to give up too much and ruin it for you. Andre Norton was ahead of her time, and a visionary. Space X could be right out of this novel. Described in the 50’s! Amazing. Great read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fun read

The issues with it repeating are true but it was a good clean story great for anyone.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!