I really like that Baen has been reprinting Andre Norton’s works (though there are times when I wonder why they chose the novels they did to combine into each of the omnibuses). This would almost be one of those times, except that I can kind of see the logic since both novels deal with adults (or near adults) who are responsible for the welfare of children in a dangerous situation. Dark Companion is the omnibus edition of Dark Piper and Dread Companion. This is my first time reading both of these books because I generally kept to her Witch World novels with only occasional forays into her science fiction.


Dark Piper

Dark Piper is narrated by one of a handful of survivors of a research colony on a planet called Beltane. A war has recently ended and the inhabitants of the planet are anticipating peace--what they get instead are an influx of refugees, some of whom may have turned to piracy.


Dread Companion

In Dread Companion, a young woman named Kilda c’Rhyn with no options available to her (she's a girl so her options are very, very limited) decides to take a job as a governess. One of the kids is a fairly normal little boy named Oomark, the other is a very odd little girl named Bartare who has an “invisible friend.”


Dark Companion