Brother to Shadows

Brother to shadows marks the triumphant, long-awaited return of one of the most distinctive voices in the realm of the future-possible - the first sf novel in over a decade by the incomparable Andre Norton, winner of the Science Fiction Writers of America's prestigious Grand Master Award.
At the end of the history of Ho-Le-Far Lair, a young Shadow named Jofre is cast out in disgrace - cruelly forsaken by the illustrious Brotherhood of spies, bodyguards and assassins to whom he has dedicated his life...and damned to wander Asborgan alone.
Then Destiny unveils her grand designs for Jofre in the Stinkhole - haven of the vilest scum to follow the star lanes. For there he is blood-oathed to the off-worlder Zurzal - a gentle, reptilian knowledge-seeker on a quest to penetrate the mystery of time itself.
There are others, however, intently interested in the progress of the lizard-being and his newly acquired guardian: the lord of a contentious world who would harness their powers to crush a revolution...the bloodthirsty minions of the dreaded interplanetary Thieves Guild...and a beautiful, issha-trained Shadow-sister, entrusted with the destruction of one with whom she shares an unbreakable bond.
But a Shadow, once oathed, may not question his mission. And Jofre must be faithful to the path he has chosen - embarking upon an exrtraordinary journey through strange worlds and unknown perils...and toward an unforeseen magnificence that awaits him in the terrible Shattered Land.