**spoiler alert** Reading this almost 35 years after the last time I was surprised that this book strands Ross back in time! Now that is what I call good writing. ( )

Set fairly soon after 'The Defiant Agents', we're back with the original team of Murdock and Ashe as Ashe recovers from his struggles with the senior members of the Project's management over their treatment of the Apaches. In this book, Ashe and Murdock have come along with a group of Polynesians as they set up their colony on the watery world of Hawaika. Murdock doesn't like a lot of things about this mission; the changes in Ashe after he nearly quit the project, the sloth of the colonists after the initial frantic efforts to set up the colony, but mostly the presence of Karara who companioned the dolphins who were also part of the colonising effort. Another world on the Baldies' tapes, Murdock and Ashe were there to see what had been left behind, but larger geographical changes than usual had made co-ordinating the ancient maps to current geography more difficult than usual. After a nearly fatal encounter with some of the local wildlife, Murdock finds the first signs of Baldie activity and the team set up the time viewer. Their first view brought up a view of a mediaeval castle and three boats that could have been from the age of Vikings and Ashe makes the decision to launch a mission with none of their usual premission study when it becomes clear that the ships had engines... Back in the past, dragged through by a strange force emanating from the past. Murdock nearly finds himself bashed to death on rocks during a storm in the past and fears for Ashe, who was even nearer the misbehaving portal. He hadn't expected Karara but the dolphins were a welcome addition to the impromptu mission. Murdock's first attempts to find Ashe are almost defeated when he sees a group of the locals looting a couple of wrecked Raider ships but he gains hope that Ashe is still alive as a spy on the exiles' camp is turned to their side. This is probably one of the more mystical books that are supposed to be pure science fiction. ( )

Trapped when the time portal breaks, Ross and Murdoch help a world fight the blue aliens. ( )

Another fast romp to and through one of the alien worlds that are part of the galactic empire of the "Baldies", the aliens Ross Murdock met for the first time in "Time Traders". Of course this time they're up to no good either, and as Ross and Ashe are stranded not only in space, but also in time, they have a hard time to sort that out. A nice addition in this installment of the series was Karara, a Polynesian woman who has telepathic connection to dolphins. It's rare to see women with powers and agency of their own, especially in SF of this time.

SPOILER:
At the end of this 4th part of the series, both protagonists - Ross Murdock and Travis Fox - are stranded on worlds far away from Earth, with seemingly no way to ever get home again. I really have to hunt down the later parts of the series to find out what happens with them. ( )

Originally posted at Fantasy Literature: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/key-out-of-time/

Key Out of Time is the fourth book in Andre Norton�??s TIME TRADERS series. Ross Murdock is once again the hero (he was not present in the previous book). This time heƒ??s on the planet Hawaika which is being settled by the United States. Ross is accompanied by Gordon Ashe and, because this planet has a lot of ocean, Karara, a Polynesian girl who has telepathic dolphin companions.

When Hawaika turns out to be different from what they expected, Ross, Ashe and Karara begin to investigate. What happened to the people who used to live there? Could the enigmatic aliens they call the ƒ??Baldiesƒ? have anything to do with their disappearance? The trio decides to go back in time to learn about the planetƒ??s history, but when the time gate is destroyed in a storm, they end up in the past with no way to get back. There they get split up, have separate adventures, get caught in the middle of a war between the two native races, meet some witches who are a lot like the witches in Nortonƒ??s WITCH WORLD series, and discover that the Baldies have been tampering with the planet. Will the Time Traders find each other again? Can they help defeat the Baldies? Can they get back to their own time?

Iƒ??ve always found it fascinating that Alice Mary Nortonƒ??s young adult science fiction adventures, which she wrote in the 1960s under the name Andre Norton, were so clearly written for young men, the main target audience for young adult science fiction at the time. In fact, Iƒ??ve heard several men who loved these books when they were teenagers say they would never have picked one up if the name ƒ??Aliceƒ? had been on the cover. They report that they were quite surprised when they found out years later that Andre Norton was a woman. Perhaps thatƒ??s because Norton mostly conforms to expectations ƒ?? most of her protagonists are young men and men are always in leadership positions. But, unlike many of the male authors of her age, Nortonƒ??s female characters are strong and competent, even if they donƒ??t break out of normative gender roles. Here she gives us Karara, a talented young woman who, despite Ross Murdockƒ??s concerns, is perfectly capable of being a Time Trader.

After recently reading a couple of the previous books in the TIME TRADERS series, Key Out of Time feels a little redundant. Though itƒ??s a new setting, so many of the same elements are used ƒ?? two primitive races on a deserted planet being manipulated by the aliens, telepathic animals helping the modern humans, scary wild animals to fight, Time Traders getting separated by some sort of disaster, Time Traders getting captured by people who may or may not be enemiesƒ??. However, Key Out of Time still makes an appealing adventure story for young adults and I wouldnƒ??t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who likes old young adult science fiction adventures. Karara and her dolphins are a nice addition, and this is classic Andre Norton.

I enjoyed the audio version read by Mark F. Smith. You can purchase the Kindle version for free (itƒ??s in the public domain) and then add the narration for $2.99. Quite a bargain! ( )