Subject: Review of Telzey Amberdon

From: [email-masked] (Samuel Lubell)
Date: 25 May 2000 11:13:05 -0400

[The following review was first published in the WSFA Journal
 http://www.wsfa.org/journal/index.htm
 Reprinted by kind permission of the WSFA]

	Telzey Amberdon, James H. Schmitz
	Review Copyright 2000 Samuel Lubell

Older Science Fiction, especially in the 50's and 60's, was a male genre
with male authors writing about muscular men shooting aliens and battling
starships.  Women generally were part of the scenery, there either to be
rescued or to be a reward for the hero.  Even the rare female hero had to
be an exception to her own society's rules, such as the four female
Children of the Lens.  But this was not the case in the fiction of James
H.  Schmitz, who wrote strong female characters in a society full of them.
His best was Telzey Amberdon, a psi whose extraordinary telepathy caused
her to have all sorts of adventures in the far-future, galaxy spanning
Federation of the Hub.

These stories were collected into three books, The Universe Against Her,
and The Lion Game -- which were assembled to appear as novels -- and The
Telzey Toy which collected four additional stories.  The books were
reprinted in the 1980s and then have been out of print since, as has the
author generally except for a NESFA Press edition of the Best of James
H. Schmitz.  Despite the original popularity of this series, some of the
later Telzey stories have never appeared in print, until now.  Eric Flint
somehow talked Baen Books into letting him edit the complete Hub stories
of James Schmitz in four volumes.  Telzey Amberdon is the first of these,
containing the contents of The Universe Against Her, The Lion Game, the
never before reprinted story "Poltergeist," plus two non-Telzey stories.

The Internet has been abuzz with complaints about the editing on this
book, which include chopping out a third of "Poltergeist" and tampering
with the ending of "Undercurrents," which was the bulk of The Universe
Against Her.  My own opinion is that, while I would have preferred to have
the stories presented as the author originally intended, or at least an
appendix describing what was left out and why, I'd rather have the stories
available in a trimmed form than not at all.  If the editor thought it
necessary to make changes so these books would appeal to a modern
audience, then the price was worth it.

The book starts with the first Telzey story in which the heroine is
described as "Fifteen years old, genius level, brown as a berry and not at
all bad looking in her sunbriefs, she was the youngest member of one of
Orado's most prominent families and a second-year law student at one of
the most exclusive schools in the Federation of the Hub.  Her physical,
mental, and emotional health, she'd always been informed, were excellent."
In this story, she reveals incredible competency as she gradually develops
the ability to understand the "crest cats" of a vacation planet and plots
to use her law expertise to save them.  But her powers develop further
than the cats intended.  She is able to use these powers to save her
college roommate from killers, stop a telepathic serial killer, and
ultimately defeat an invasion by genetically engineered aliens in a very
complex plot.

Schmitz wasn't known for his style.  His prose does the job and nothing
more.  But his characters are fun people to be with through their
interesting adventures.  Telzey's main quality, common to all his
heroines, is an ability to triumph over everything that life sends her,
grabbing every chance to make a difference and exploiting every mistake
made by her opponents.  In short, this book is not deep but fun.  It makes
an excellent starter to hook teenage girls on science fiction and is very
enjoyable for adults as well.

A second book of Telzey stories, focusing on her adventures with Trigger
Argee, and which should include the stories from The Telzey Toy plus
uncollected stories and possibly a couple of semi-related stories, is
expected to be out in a few months.  I strongly recommend that anyone
interested in classic sf pick up these books.  In today's publishing
environment, fans need to show publishers that there are readers
interested in keeping classic sf in print.

%A James H. Schmitz
%T Telzey Amberdon
%I Baen
%O $6.99