From /tmp/sf.4258 Tue Feb 1 03:50:28 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!trane.uninett.no!nntp.uio.no!ifi.uio.no!sgiblab!swrinde!gatech!psuvax1!coral.bucknell.edu!macg58.bucknell.edu!user From: fwilson@coral.bucknell.edu (Frank Wilson) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Review: Best of James H. Schmitz Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 29 Nov 1993 21:16:43 GMT Organization: Philosophers Unlimited Lines: 210 Distribution: world Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: macg58.bucknell.edu Review of The Best of James H. Schmitz This is a selection of stories by an old SF hand who got his start back at the end of the Ògolden ageÓ of science fiction (the period dominated by the likes of Heinlein and Clarke and Asimov and DeCamp), and continued to develop his craft into the '70s. James H. Schmitz died in 1974, but his work has retained a solid following among readers of science fiction. He was a writer of carefully plotted, subtle, and wittily ironic stories built upon the Òspace operaÓ tradition, as represented by the story with which he first achieved prominence (ÒAgent of Vega,Ó _Astounding_, July 1949). (Though perhaps many of his recent or younger readers have come to him through his more comic E. E. Smith-like novel _The Witches of Karres_, (1966; reprinted 1988), an expansion of his 1949 story of the same title.) In terms of contemporary parallels, the writer who perhaps most resembles Schmitz is probably C. J. Cherryh, particularly in regard to their similar interests in the spatial expansion and cultural growth of human societies, their tendency to use the viewpoints of alien species to illuminate human characteristics, and their fondness for combat and cats. (I can't help but think that Schmitz would have particularly enjoyed Cherryh's "Chanur"/Trading Compact stories centering on the lion-like hani.) Most of his novels are still in print, but many of his short stories, even those reprinted a number of times in other collections (as many were), are difficult to find. For this reason, as well as for the homage to his work which it represents, it is a pleasure to applaud the NEFSFAÕs initiation of their new ÒNESFAÕs ChoiceÓ series with this volume. The collection consists of nine stories, nearly all of which easily qualify as among SchmitzÕs best, together with a spritely and entertaining Introduction by Janet Kagan. There is also a Bibliography, as well as a brief Òcharacter keyÓ chart for SchmitzÕs ÒFederation of the HubÓ series compiled by the editor. In an uncommonly self-effacing move, the editor has provided no preface of his own, and partly because of this the basis for the selection of the stories is not clear to the reader, nor is the reason for the order of their presentation in the collection. The most reasonable principle of selection, one is led to suspect, is probably a desire to distribute the choices somewhat representatively over the span of SchmitzÕs career. The stories ÒGrandpaÓ and ÒBalanced Ecology,Ó as well as ÒThe Second Night of Summer,Ó are near-classics of SchmitzÕs style, and are thematically similar in their focus on problems of human interaction with the often unpredictable and sometimes dangerous inhabitants of ecologies on alien planets. In content they tend to be more from the early period of SchmitzÕs writing. (The same theme is present, though not as occurring on an alien planet, in SchmitzÕs first published story, a Òswamp monsterÓ tale with romantic interludes printed in _Unknown_ in 1943.) Most of the remaining stories deal with his ÒFederation of the HubÓ series. Two of them (ÒNoviceÓ and ÒGoblin NightÓ) are samplings of the Telzey Amberdon thread in that series, about the efforts of a young genius level xenotelepath and psionic to learn to control her abilities and survive potentially lethal competition with other psis while avoiding the efforts (largely benevolent, but nonetheless despotic and occasionally ruthless) of the Hub authorities to control her life. The other two (ÒLion LooseÓ and ÒSour Note on PalayataÓ) explore the functionings of various institutional arms of the Hub Overgovernment, and center around the doings of Quillan of Space Scout Intelligence and Pilch of the Psychology Service, respectively. (These are recurring characters in other stories of the Hub series.) The remaining novella, ÒThe Custodians,Ó while not a part of the Hub series, could (like a number of other stories and novels by Schmitz, e.g., _The Eternal Frontiers_) be read as taking place in the early period of human interstellar expansion prior to the formation of the Hub Federation. (Though Schmitz has given no explicit Òfuture historyÓ scheme in his stories, of the sort developed by Heinlein, Anderson, Niven, Cherryh, and others, he has deftly sketched in broad strokes as historical background the periods of human expansion into the galaxy and the establishment of the Hub civilization in the course of these stories.) Motivationally rather weak in terms of its characterization, ÒThe CustodiansÓ is a tale of attempted space piracy and mercenary assault operations, set in the framework of a somewhat didactic examination of the political and economic intrigues occurring in the period when mankind was breaking out of a civilization centered on Earthplanet and developing a more wide-ranging galactic culture. Finally, the Òodd man outÓ in this collection is a curiosity entitled (aptly enough) ÒJust Curious,Ó a brief piece originally published in _Alfred HitchcockÕs Mystery Magazine_ (December 1968). It is a Black Mask style mystery which intriguingly combines a Hammettesque setting and plot (industrial espionage, entrepeneurial combat) with science fiction themes (telepathy, communication with the dead, etc.) about which we are all curious. While nicely understated and cunningly built up to the kicker at the end, it is probably the weakest of the volumeÕs tales, and its inclusion lends support to the notion that the editorÕs purpose is to representatively display the variety of SchmitzÕs writings. Janet KaganÕs Introduction, enchantingly titled ÒMischief in the Spaceways,Ó deserves special mention. She takes her task to be that of conveying her own enthusiasm for SchmitzÕs writings, and of giving some of her reasons for that, and in the short compass of seven pages she does a marvelous job of enticing the reader into the stories and providing a helpful overview. She sees SchmitzÕs writings as exhibiting a "mischievous" outlook on the hackneyed conventions and cliches of the Òspace operaÓ tradition, maintaining that many of his artistic choices stem from an interest in overturning and rethinking such Òdefault settingsÓ or uncritically accepted assumptions of the literature or even the culture of the time. Kagan backs up her contention nicely with shrewd (and thoughtfully ÒspoilerÓ-free) observations on SchmitzÕs treatment of heros, villains, monsters, family and friends, and his style and plots. Her brief but insightful remarks about SchmitzÕs writing strategies and style illuminate new aspects of SchmitzÕs work for old fans, as well as providing guidance and stimulation for new readers of Schmitz. I hope that in the future Ms. Kagan develops her views on Schmitz further, showing as they do that he is not a mere ÒformulaÓ writer, but a disciplined and imaginative artist with both literary and philosophical depth. Mark Olson, the editor, is to be commended for his choice of her to write the Introduction. The cover art is by Frank Kelly Freas, the renowned science-fiction illustrator, and in fact was originally the cover for the issue of _Analog_ (December 1968) in which ÒThe CustodiansÓ appeared. (There is no mention of this on the book jacket or in the book itself, and many a reader might find the relevance of the scene depicted a matter for mild puzzlement until they have read the stories.) Again, the choice of Freas as cover artist is a splendid move by the editor, especially since he has done a number of other covers for _Astounding_/_Analog_ dealing with Schmitz stories. In addition, Mr. Olson has included three new interior illustrations by Merle Insinga which nicely depict the varieties of interplay between humans and some of SchmitzÕs alien pets and threats. While each reader will have his or her fondly remembered favorites among an authorÕs stories, and as editor Mr. Olson must be allowed the prerogative of his own preferences, I confess some disappointment that my personal choices, ÒGone FishingÓ and ÒThe Other Likeness,Ó are not to be found in a volume entitled _The Best of James H. Schmitz_. I would rank them the equals of any of the other titles in the present volume. Other candidates that might have been chosen would include: ÒThe End of the Line,Ó ÒTrouble Tide,Ó ÒThe Winds of Time,Ó ÒThe Searcher,Ó ÒBeacon to Elsewhere,Ó and even ÒGreenface.Ó I list these titles primarily to indicate that there is enough material of comparably high quality available for a second volume of _The Best of James H. Schmitz_. (Indeed, it is startling to observe, on the basis of the Bibliography, how large a proportion of SchmitzÕs total production is of such high quality. He was clearly a conscientious craftsman who did not simply grind out his product for the magazines as quickly as he could.). In passing, then, I would suggest that possibility to Mr. Olson and NEFSA for future consideration. Another suggestion I would broach is to seek out for such a volume, or for a separate tome, appreciative, critical, and analytical pieces on SchmitzÕs work, in which the literary ingenuity and philosophical range of his fiction indicated by KaganÕs essay would be explored in greater detail. My own experience of reading and re-reading Schmitz over the years has convinced me that there is much material for fruitful critical discussion, literary and otherwise, contained in SchmitzÕs writings, which students and scholars might profitably pursue. (The bearing of KantÕs and MillÕs moral philosophies on his thought, or of MachiavelliÕs writings, or the implications for it of AristotleÕs conception of politics, or more recently of RawlsÕ work in political philosophy, are a few philosophical topics which come readily to mind as worthy of investigation.) As mentioned above, I also felt the absence of an editorÕs preface, in which the compiler of the anthology would talk to us about how and why the work came to be as it is, and where we would meet him as more than merely a cypher behind a name on the title page, i.e., as a living, thinking individual making known his own point of view. Such a preface would have nicely complemented Janet KaganÕs Introduction, and given more of a sense of the rationale and structure of the collection. An editorÕs preface is not indispensable to an anthology like this, to be sure, but having one goes a long way toward giving the reader an idea of the editorÕs perspective on the work. Perhaps as part of such a preface, furthermore, or even as a separate essay, some remarks on SchmitzÕs biography and writing career, as well as on the reasons for the continuing interest in his work, could have been included. The inside flap of the back book jacket does contain a brief sketch of SchmitzÕs life and works, perhaps written by the editor. But still, little is known about the details of his personal life, though what few facts are known suggest an intriguingly cross-cultural background and cosmopolitan outlook. The Bibliography of SchmitzÕs complete sf writings is Òextracted from the Whole Science Fiction DatabaseÓ (p. 236), and contains the size, date and source of original publication, and reprintings and revisions of each of his writings. The editor has included, after the Bibliography, a brief account of SchmitzÕs two main series and a helpful chart marking the stories in which the main characters of the series appear. (One question arises upon scanning the chart: Is ÒBeacon to ElsewhereÓ really part of the Hub series? Though there is mention in that story of the ÒOvergovernment,Ó it is not clear that this refers to the same ÒOvergovernmentÓ present in the Hub stories. Events in that story seem to take place at a more technologically and socially undeveloped stage than in the Hub series. Perhaps if this story is regarded as occurring during the early period of formation of the Hub civilization, when ties with Earth were more central, it can be placed compatibly in relation to the Hub series, as could ÒThe CustodiansÓ and _The Eternal Frontiers_, but the story itself seems to contain little explicit evidence that it belongs to the Hub series of Pilch, Telzey, Holati Tate, Trigger and Quillan, etc.) The book is handsomely produced, with a durable binding and an attractive bookjacket, and is printed on acid-free paper in readable type. All in all, this collection is an excellent volume with which to introduce a reader to James H. SchmitzÕs science fiction, or as a gift for an established reader, and constitutes an admirable tribute to his memory and lasting influence from readers who have clearly enjoyed his work. %A James H. Schmitz %B The Best of James H. Schmitz %E Mark L. Olson, editor %I New England Science Fiction Association (NEFSA) Press %C Cambridge, MA %D 1991 %G ISBN 0-915368-46-3 %P xii + 243 pp. %O $18.95 hardcover %S NESFAÕs Choice %V No. 1 in series From /tmp/sf.4258 Tue Feb 1 03:55:32 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: fwilson@coral.bucknell.edu Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Review of _The Best of James H. Schmitz_ Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <9311290158.AA19688@coral.bucknell.edu> Date: 30 Nov 93 02:53:18 GMT Lines: 214 Review of The Best of James H. Schmitz This is a selection of stories by an old SF hand who got his start back at the end of the "golden age" of science fiction (the period dominated by the likes of Heinlein and Clarke and Asimov and DeCamp), and continued to develop his craft into the '70s. James H. Schmitz died in 1974, but his work has retained a solid following among readers of science fiction. He was a writer of carefully plotted, subtle, and wittily ironic stories built upon the "space opera" tradition, as represented by the story with which he first achieved prominence ("Agent of Vega," _Astounding_, July 1949). (Though perhaps many of his recent or younger readers have come to him through his more comic E. E. Smith-like novel _The Witches of Karres_, (1966; reprinted 1988), an expansion of his 1949 story of the same title.) In terms of contemporary parallels, the writer who perhaps most resembles Schmitz is probably C. J. Cherryh, particularly in regard to their similar interests in the spatial expansion and cultural growth of human societies, their tendency to use the viewpoints of alien species to illuminate human characteristics, and their fondness for combat and cats. (I can't help but think that Schmitz would have particularly enjoyed Cherryh's "Chanur"/Trading Compact stories centering on the lion-like hani.) Most of his novels are still in print, but many of his short stories, even those reprinted a number of times in other collections (as many were), are difficult to find. For this reason, as well as for the homage to his work which it represents, it is a pleasure to applaud the NEFSFA's initiation of their new "NESFA's Choice" series with this volume. The collection consists of nine stories, nearly all of which easily qualify as among Schmitz's best, together with a spritely and entertaining Introduction by Janet Kagan. There is also a Bibliography, as well as a brief "character key" chart for Schmitz's "Federation of the Hub" series compiled by the editor. In an uncommonly self-effacing move, the editor has provided no preface of his own, and partly because of this the basis for the selection of the stories is not clear to the reader, nor is the reason for the order of their presentation in the collection. The most reasonable principle of selection, one is led to suspect, is probably a desire to distribute the choices somewhat representatively over the span of Schmitz's career. The stories "Grandpa" and "Balanced Ecology," as well as "The Second Night of Summer," are near-classics of Schmitz's style, and are thematically similar in their focus on problems of human interaction with the often unpredictable and sometimes dangerous inhabitants of ecologies on alien planets. In content they tend to be more from the early period of Schmitz's writing. (The same theme is present, though not as occurring on an alien planet, in Schmitz's first published story, a "swamp monster" tale with romantic interludes printed in _Unknown_ in 1943.) Most of the remaining stories deal with his "Federation of the Hub" series. Two of them ("Novice" and "Goblin Night") are samplings of the Telzey Amberdon thread in that series, about the efforts of a young genius level xenotelepath and psionic to learn to control her abilities and survive potentially lethal competition with other psis while avoiding the efforts (largely benevolent, but nonetheless despotic and occasionally ruthless) of the Hub authorities to control her life. The other two ("Lion Loose" and "Sour Note on Palayata") explore the functionings of various institutional arms of the Hub Overgovernment, and center around the doings of Quillan of Space Scout Intelligence and Pilch of the Psychology Service, respectively. (These are recurring characters in other stories of the Hub series.) The remaining novella, "The Custodians," while not a part of the Hub series, could (like a number of other stories and novels by Schmitz, e.g., _The Eternal Frontiers_) be read as taking place in the early period of human interstellar expansion prior to the formation of the Hub Federation. (Though Schmitz has given no explicit "future history" scheme in his stories, of the sort developed by Heinlein, Anderson, Niven, Cherryh, and others, he has deftly sketched in broad strokes as historical background the periods of human expansion into the galaxy and the establishment of the Hub civilization in the course of these stories.) Motivationally rather weak in terms of its characterization, "The Custodians" is a tale of attempted space piracy and mercenary assault operations, set in the framework of a somewhat didactic examination of the political and economic intrigues occurring in the period when mankind was breaking out of a civilization centered on Earthplanet and developing a more wide-ranging galactic culture. Finally, the "odd man out" in this collection is a curiosity entitled (aptly enough) "Just Curious," a brief piece originally published in _Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine_ (December 1968). It is a Black Mask style mystery which intriguingly combines a Hammettesque setting and plot (industrial espionage, entrepeneurial combat) with science fiction themes (telepathy, communication with the dead, etc.) about which we are all curious. While nicely understated and cunningly built up to the kicker at the end, it is probably the weakest of the volume's tales, and its inclusion lends support to the notion that the editor's purpose is to representatively display the variety of Schmitz's writings. Janet Kagan's Introduction, enchantingly titled "Mischief in the Spaceways," deserves special mention. She takes her task to be that of conveying her own enthusiasm for Schmitz's writings, and of giving some of her reasons for that, and in the short compass of seven pages she does a marvelous job of enticing the reader into the stories and providing a helpful overview. She sees Schmitz's writings as exhibiting a "mischievous" outlook on the hackneyed conventions and cliches of the "space opera" tradition, maintaining that many of his artistic choices stem from an interest in overturning and rethinking such "default settings" or uncritically accepted assumptions of the literature or even the culture of the time. Kagan backs up her contention nicely with shrewd (and thoughtfully "spoiler"-free) observations on Schmitz's treatment of heros, villains, monsters, family and friends, and his style and plots. Her brief but insightful remarks about Schmitz's writing strategies and style illuminate new aspects of Schmitz's work for old fans, as well as providing guidance and stimulation for new readers of Schmitz. I hope that in the future Ms. Kagan develops her views on Schmitz further, showing as they do that he is not a mere "formula" writer, but a disciplined and imaginative artist with both literary and philosophical depth. Mark Olson, the editor, is to be commended for his choice of her to write the Introduction. The cover art is by Frank Kelly Freas, the renowned science-fiction illustrator, and in fact was originally the cover for the issue of _Analog_ (December 1968) in which "The Custodians" appeared. (There is no mention of this on the book jacket or in the book itself, and many a reader might find the relevance of the scene depicted a matter for mild puzzlement until they have read the stories.) Again, the choice of Freas as cover artist is a splendid move by the editor, especially since he has done a number of other covers for _Astounding_/_Analog_ dealing with Schmitz stories. In addition, Mr. Olson has included three new interior illustrations by Merle Insinga which nicely depict the varieties of interplay between humans and some of Schmitz's alien pets and threats. While each reader will have his or her fondly remembered favorites among an author's stories, and as editor Mr. Olson must be allowed the prerogative of his own preferences, I confess some disappointment that my personal choices, "Gone Fishing" and "The Other Likeness," are not to be found in a volume entitled _The Best of James H. Schmitz_. I would rank them the equals of any of the other titles in the present volume. Other candidates that might have been chosen would include: "The End of the Line," "Trouble Tide," "The Winds of Time," "The Searcher," "Beacon to Elsewhere," and even "Greenface." I list these titles primarily to indicate that there is enough material of comparably high quality available for a second volume of _The Best of James H. Schmitz_. (Indeed, it is startling to observe, on the basis of the Bibliography, how large a proportion of Schmitz's total production is of such high quality. He was clearly a conscientious craftsman who did not simply grind out his product for the magazines as quickly as he could.). In passing, then, I would suggest that possibility to Mr. Olson and NEFSA for future consideration. Another suggestion I would broach is to seek out for such a volume, or for a separate tome, appreciative, critical, and analytical pieces on Schmitz's work, in which the literary ingenuity and philosophical range of his fiction indicated by Kagan's essay would be explored in greater detail. My own experience of reading and re-reading Schmitz over the years has convinced me that there is much material for fruitful critical discussion, literary and otherwise, contained in Schmitz's writings, which students and scholars might profitably pursue. (The bearing of Kant's and Mill's moral philosophies on his thought, or of Machiavelli's writings, or the implications for it of Aristotle's conception of politics, or more recently of Rawls' work in political philosophy, are a few philosophical topics which come readily to mind as worthy of investigation.) As mentioned above, I also felt the absence of an editor's preface, in which the compiler of the anthology would talk to us about how and why the work came to be as it is, and where we would meet him as more than merely a cypher behind a name on the title page, i.e., as a living, thinking individual making known his own point of view. Such a preface would have nicely complemented Janet Kagan's Introduction, and given more of a sense of the rationale and structure of the collection. An editor's preface is not indispensable to an anthology like this, to be sure, but having one goes a long way toward giving the reader an idea of the editor's perspective on the work. Perhaps as part of such a preface, furthermore, or even as a separate essay, some remarks on Schmitz's biography and writing career, as well as on the reasons for the continuing interest in his work, could have been included. The inside flap of the back book jacket does contain a brief sketch of Schmitz's life and works, perhaps written by the editor. But still, little is known about the details of his personal life, though what few facts are known suggest an intriguingly cross-cultural background and cosmopolitan outlook. The Bibliography of Schmitz's complete sf writings is "extracted from the Whole Science Fiction Database" (p. 236), and contains the size, date and source of original publication, and reprintings and revisions of each of his writings. The editor has included, after the Bibliography, a brief account of Schmitz's two main series and a helpful chart marking the stories in which the main characters of the series appear. (One question arises upon scanning the chart: Is "Beacon to Elsewhere" really part of the Hub series? Though there is mention in that story of the "Overgovernment," it is not clear that this refers to the same "Overgovernment" present in the Hub stories. Events in that story seem to take place at a more technologically and socially undeveloped stage than in the Hub series. Perhaps if this story is regarded as occurring during the early period of formation of the Hub civilization, when ties with Earth were more central, it can be placed compatibly in relation to the Hub series, as could "The Custodians" and _The Eternal Frontiers_, but the story itself seems to contain little explicit evidence that it belongs to the Hub series of Pilch, Telzey, Holati Tate, Trigger and Quillan, etc.) The book is handsomely produced, with a durable binding and an attractive bookjacket, and is printed on acid-free paper in readable type. All in all, this collection is an excellent volume with which to introduce a reader to James H. Schmitz's science fiction, or as a gift for an established reader, and constitutes an admirable tribute to his memory and lasting influence from readers who have clearly enjoyed his work. %A James H. Schmitz %B The Best of James H. Schmitz %E Mark L. Olson, editor %I New England Science Fiction Association (NEFSA) Press %C Cambridge, MA %D 1991 %G ISBN 0-915368-46-3 %P xii + 243 pp. %O $18.95 hardcover %S NESFA's Choice %V No. 1 in series From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon May 29 15:27:05 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!ptdnetP!newsgate.ptd.net!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Sender: wex@deepspace.media.mit.edu From: lubellNOTSPAM@cais.com (Samuel Lubell) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Review of Telzey Amberdon Organization: CAIS Internet Reply-To: lubellNOTSPAM@cais.com Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Date: 25 May 2000 11:13:05 -0400 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.4 Lines: 76 NNTP-Posting-Host: deepspace.media.mit.edu X-Trace: dreaderd 959267588 10902 18.85.23.65 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2729 [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 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue May 30 16:02:03 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!skynet.be!newsfeed.cwix.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Sender: wex@deepspace.media.mit.edu From: Richard Horton Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Telzey Amberdon, by James H. Schmitz Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Organization: Prodigy Internet http://www.prodigy.com Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Date: 29 May 2000 22:00:47 -0400 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.7/Emacs 20.4 Lines: 159 NNTP-Posting-Host: deepspace.media.mit.edu X-Trace: dreaderd 959652051 10879 18.85.23.65 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2736 _Telzey Amberdon_, by James H. Schmitz Edited and Compiled by Eric Flint (co-edited by Guy Gordon) Review Copyright 2000 by Rich Horton James H. Schmitz was one of SF's most popular writers of the 1960s and early 1970s. His stories were publish between 1943 and 1974, but despite early successes such as "The Witches of Karres" (1949), the _Agent of Vega_ stories in the early 1950s, and "Grandpa" (1955), his most significant work dates to the last 15 years of his career. This period included his five novels (I include the fairly unified "fix-up" _The Lion Game_ along with the four unambiguous novels), short stories like "Balanced Ecology" and "The Custodians", but most significantly, his closely linked stories about two young women: Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. These stories, appearing for the most part in Analog, were very popular indeed at the time, particularly the Telzey stories. But Schmitz' popularity hasn't really proved enduring, except among a dedicated small group. He was just good enough to last in the minds of a certain cadre of readers, but even at his peak he never attained quite the notoriety or sales to ensure enduring print runs. And after all the latter distinction is rare indeed. In 1990 the New England Science Fiction Association's publishing arm, NESFA Press, chose to make a collection of Schmitz' work, _The Best of James H. Schmitz_, the first book in their NESFA's Choice series, dedicated to restoring the work of neglected SF authors to print. This collection has sold fairly well over the past decade. Still, such a collection, satisfying as it is to those dedicated to reading the best older SF, will hardly reach a mass audience. Schmitz' fans wanted more: to see the novels back in print, to see more of the stories in print. Even, perhaps, to see Schmitz read again by casual readers of SF. Enter publisher Jim Baen, and editor Eric Flint, a fairly new writer of SF on his own. With the help of long-time Schmitz devotee Guy Gordon, they have assembled the bulk of Schmitz' "Federation of the Hub" stories into four collections, to be published in 2000 and 2001. These collections will include all of the Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee stories, as well as a number of additional Hub stories. The only important Schmitz left out, as I understand it, will be the fine early collection _Agent of Vega_, and the novel version of _The Witches of Karres_, the latter probably Schmitz' most famous work. Perhaps those will follow if the first books are successful enough. Baen and Flint decided that to make such a collection more accessible to new readers, certain presentation decisions needed to be made. The most obvious of these was to organize the books into what might be called "quasi-novels," short story collections being notoriously a drug on the market. To this end, the book at hand, the first to appear, contains six stories about Telzey Amberdon, arranged by internal chronology, and covering the first year or so of her awareness of her psi powers. Later books will cover Telzey and Trigger working together, Trigger by herself, and finally Niles Etland, heroine of the novel _The Demon Breed_. This book also includes two appended short stories, one of which -- "Blood of Nalakia" -- is an early story which hints at the origins of the villains of "The Lion Game," and the other -- "The Star Hyacinths" -- features Wellan Dasinger, who is a prominent character in the Telzey story "Undercurrents." A more controversial decision was to edit the stories somewhat for content. Some of these changes are entirely to be expected: normalization of tech references across stories written years apart, punctuation changes such as removal of exclamation points, correction of typos, choices of preferred readings when stories had been published in multiple editions. The other changes were more controversial: a few stories were cut fairly significantly, and in one case some expository paragraphs were moved from the beginning of the story to the middle. These editing decisions have been hashed and rehashed incessantly in various venues, and it doesn't seem worthwhile to reignite any controversy here. I will say that while it is certainly impossible to know for sure what Schmitz would have said if asked to approve the changes, a fair-minded look at the actual changes, the context in which they were made, and what we know of Schmitz' attitude towards editorial direction, would seem to me to indicate that he would not have disputed the decisions that editor Eric Flint made. I thought that the excision of a paragraph or two at the end of "Undercurrents" was fully justified because it implied a direction for the series that was not fulfilled. The cuts to "Poltergeist" were fairly reasonable: they speeded up a slow-paced story, and removed some repetitive exposition. Some early cuts in "Undercurrents" seem regrettable to me, but not wholly unreasonable. The movement of exposition from the beginning of "The Star Hyacinths" to the middle worked very well, I thought. A final set of changes, not obvious in a casual reading, involved reducing references to things like smoking. It's true that those references were once ubiquitous and implied nothing much, because our culture, at the time of the stories, regarded smoking quite differently than we do today. Thus it is fair to say that, to a new reader, constant references to characters smoking might be jarring. But I do regret such changes, because I think that in reading older stories, one of the minor pleasures is the immersion in the attitudes and "flavor" of the time they were written. I fear I've spent a long time discussing the apparatus and history of the _Telzey Amberdon_, and not enough time discussing the stories. The six Telzey stories are "Novice," "Undercurrents," "Poltergeist," "Goblin Night," "Sleep No More," and "The Lion Game." The first two have been published together as the novel _The Universe Against Her_, but they are really independent stories. The last three have been published as the novel _The Lion Game_, and in this case I think they work together pretty well as a novel: a problem introduced in the first story is not resolved until the last. "Poltergeist" has not previously been reprinted, and serves as a bridge between the two novels, hinting at the reason for a noticeable change in Telzey's attitude between "Undercurrents" and "Goblin Night." In my opinion the best of these stories is the last and longest, "The Lion Game." A series of unexplained murders have occurred, and Telzey, in "Goblin Night," seems to have escaped a comparable situation. She is sent by the Psychology Service to help investigate the situation on Tinokti, where four high-ranking individuals were recently murdered. Telzey and the Service both have postulated the existence of a secret organization of psis, and both have identified the Elaigar, "descendants of the historical mind masters of Nalakia," as the probable members of that organization. Tinokti is unique for being composed primarily of a network of linked portals (teleportation booths): thus, the planet is connected in a sort of virtual sense as opposed to a geographical sense. As Telzey finds, it's fairly easy to operate a secret network of portal links, in parallel with the ordinary network. Soon she is trapped in such a network, battling three different types of Elaigar, as well as several alien species. It's a neat story, with clever action, making good use of the portal system, some nice twists, and a solid ending. The other stories are mostly also pretty enjoyable, though both "Poltergeist" and "Sleep No More" are lesser stories, working better as bridges than as independent pieces. "Novice", the first Telzey story, is one of the best known, but while I liked the delayed first contact theme, and the view of relations with intelligent aliens, I was and remain a bit upset by Telzey's rather casual use of her powers to completely alter another's personality. This is treated again in "Poltergeist", with a deeper moral look at the rights of such a change. "Goblin Night" is a neat adventure piece with a very cool alien menace. "Undercurrents" is a pleasant and enjoyable piece, but not special. The two non-Telzey pieces are both solid middle-range efforts. "The Star Hyacinths" features Wellan Dasinger tracking down a pirate who stole the incredibly valuable title jewels using an unusual weapon. "Blood of Nalakia," never before reprinted, is a very early story (1953) about a woman escaping from a vampire who uses psi powers to control his cattle. There is a twist or two along the way, and a neat, scary, hint of the future right at the end. It's very nice to see this rare story reprinted. If you are a hard-core opponent of altering, in any way, a dead writer's work, your best course is to search out the stories in used-book stores. But if you are not such a hard-core opponent, in my opinion the editing has on the whole been a positive thing, given the goals of the Baen reprinting. It certainly hasn't hurt the stories, which are fun stuff, occasionally outstanding. Recommended. %A James H. Schmitz %T Telzey Amberdon %I Baen %C New York, NY %D March 2000 %P 436 pp. %G 0-671-57851-0 %O Mass Market Paperback, US $6.99, edited and compiled by Eric Flint %O with the help of Guy Gordon -- Rich Horton | Stable Email: mailto://richard.horton@sff.net Home Page: http://www.sff.net/people/richard.horton Also visit SF Site (http://www.sfsite.com) and Tangent Online (http://www.sfsite.com/tangent)