Shakespeare's Planet

Shakespeare's Planet by Simak, Clifford D.. mass_market edition. ISBN: 9780345298706.

A world too far: Carter Horton was the last of his kind. His three companions died in hibernation during the thousand-year journey from Earth. But Hortons beautiful new home held all sorts of wonderful surprises. There was an alien named Carnivore who claimed to have learned English from Shakespeare, a defective tunnel from the stars that allowed people - well, creatures - one-way access to the planet, a dragon in aspic...and a very odd, curved hill. And, of course, there was the terror that froze all minds at regular intervals.