Forerunner - The Second Venture
Child of the burrows, Simsa again finds herself abandoned on a desolate world.  As she struggles to hold fast to her fierce independence, she continues to be forced from time to time to rely on “The Elder One”, a Forerunner spirit of the Simsa of a long dead remnant of a civilization predating even the remarkable Zacathans.  Simsa and Zass (her one and only trusted companion) find themselves yet again with fast dwindling supplies she was able to salvage from the wrecked lifeboat while they search for any kind of shelter on a hostile and increasingly dangerous world.  Even after finding a sanctuary of kind, Simsa continues her struggle to maintain her sense of self and not to be snared in yet another trap depriving her of her freedom, even if it means she may perish in the attempt.
Forerunners, American Science fiction, Fiction, science fiction, general
Andre Norton
Andre Norton was born Alice Mary Norton in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of rug company owner and his wife.  She began writing while she was in high school, and she was the editor of a literary page in the school's paper.  She also wrote her first novel, Ralestone Luck, which was published in 1938.  Her first published novel was The Prince Commands (1934).  She graduated from high school in 1930 and began studying teaching at Flora Stone Mather College of Western Reserve University.  In 1932 she dropped out early due to economic conditions and began working for the Cleveland Library System.  In 1934, she legally changed her name to Andre Alice Norton, the pen name she had adopted to increase her marketability since boys were the main audience for fantasy.  In 1941, she bought a bookstore called the Mystery House in Mount Rainier, Maryland, but the business failed and she returned to the Cleveland Public Library.  In 1950 she became a reader for the Gnome Press Co.  In 1958 she became a full-time author.  In 1966 she moved to Florida for health reasons, and then to Murfreesboro, Tennessee.  In 1977, she received the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society, and in 1983 she received the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.  She died in March of 2005 of congestive heart failure.

She has been called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy.  Over the course of her career, she published over 300 published titles read by four generations.  Shortly after her death, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America created the Andre Norton Award for outstanding work of fantasy or science fiction for Young Adults.