Star Hunter

Imagine a sad boy named Vye who feels nothing inside, like a robot. He goes on a super exciting hunt with a cool hunter named Ras on a wild jungle planet full of big scary cats. But sneaky bad guys trick them to catch a magical mind-reading creature that looks like a cat! Vye discovers he has secret powers too, fights the baddies, escapes on a spaceship with friendly traders, and learns to feel happy again. It's like a space jungle adventure where boys become heroes!

In Andre Norton's 'Star Hunter,' young Vye Lance, a traumatized 'nul' from Terra lacking emotional responses, seeks purpose by joining master hunter Ras Hume's expedition on the primitive jungle planet Khohara, known as the Jaguar World, to track a legendary elusive cat-beast. Posing as novice hunters, they are unwittingly entangled in a scheme orchestrated by a Thieves' Guild agent disguised as client Brock, who aims to capture a powerful psychic entity mistaken for the beast, using advanced esper detectors and guild resources amid Khohara's deadly wildlife and ancient alien ruins. As the hunt escalates, Vye's latent psychic abilities awaken during a confrontation in a mysterious tower, revealing Brock's treachery and forcing an alliance with Free Traders aboard the Solar Queen. The narrative unfolds into a high-stakes interstellar chase involving mind-probing, beast-human hybrids, and moral redemption, culminating in Vye's transformation from emotional void to hero, exposing the corrupt underbelly of galactic commerce while celebrating the raw bond between hunter and prey in uncharted frontiers.