Schmitz, James H.

Average customer rating:

Fast Paced, Clean Wholesome Fun
Fun stuff!
"You! What you do?!"
My favorite book...ever.
My favorite books

The Witches of Karres
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Book Description

Captain Pausert thought his luck had finally turned-but he did not yet realize it was a turn for the worse. On second thought, make that a turn for the disastrous! Pausert thought he had made good with his battered starship, successfully selling off odd-ball cargoes no one else could sell. And then he made the mistake of freeing three slave children from their masters (who were suspiciously eager to part with them). No good deed goes unpunished, and those harmless-looking young ladies were just trying to be helpful, but those three adorable little girls quickly made Pausert the mortal enemy of his fiancée, his home planet, the Empire, warlike Sirians, psychopathic Uldanians, the dread pirate chieftain Laes Yango-and even the Worm World, the darkest threat to mankind in all of space. And all because those harmless-looking little girls were in fact three of the notorious and universally feared Witches of Karres. A rollicking novel from the master of space adventure.</p>

Customer Reviews:

Fast Paced, Clean Wholesome Fun.......2007-02-11

This is an excellent space opera. Captain Pausert is an interplanetary merchant who chances to acquire/rescue three sisters who are being kept in slavery (by three different masters). His life quite rapidly becomes more exciting (and it wasn't exactly dull to start with).
The plot shifts from one dilemma to another over the course of the book, so if you prefer long thought provoking novels to a series of obstacles this may not be your cup of tea. One reviewer commented that the dialogue was "hokey." Personally I prefer the old space operas to some of the pretentious fare we get these days. Many modern science fiction authors recognize Schmitz as one of the greats, so it also seems a bit pretentious to trash on his writing style.
Another reviewer complained that Eric Flint edited the new printing, another said that it probably made the book more readable for modern people. I have read the book many times and have copies of both printings. I am usually pretty fussy about that sort of thing. If Mr. Flint actually changed anything I failed to notice it.
This is my favorite Science Fiction novel.
Just for the record "The Lord of the Rings" is not science fiction.

Fun stuff!.......2007-01-11

This book is both a fun read and a taste of old style science fiction. The adventure is the thing, and the bad guys just keep coming as fast as they're brought low. Captain Pausert is an officer and a gentleman, who doesn't space his troublemakers even though they threaten his ship and crew. The three witches he rescues are each clearly their own girl, altho I liked the Leewit best and she didn't get as big a part as I'd have liked. No sex, no foul language, just a solid story. If you enjoy the old hands of adventure sci-fi, like Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton and H. Beam Piper, you'll like this book. Similar books recommended: Star Beast; Have Space Suit, Will Travel; Star Ka'at; Beast Master; Little Fuzzy and Fuzzy Sapiens.

"You! What you do?!".......2006-08-24

I first read this delightful space-operatic romp when it was first published. I was taking a required Young Adult Literature course in library school, one of the requirements of which was writing and doing a book talk before the class. Since I was (and still am) a serious science fiction fan, I picked this one, based on the reviews I'd seen. The funny thing is, while it certainly is a good book to recommend to adolescents, most libraries shelve it in the Adult Fiction section, where it has been doing equally well for forty years. Captain Pausert is the archetypal protagonist, a well-meaning, slightly stuffy, reasonably competent skipper of an interstellar trading vessel. Only he comes across three young sisters who were kidnaped and sold by slavers and are making life very difficult for their respective new owners. The girls, ranging in age from six to sixteen, are inhabitants of Karres, the "witch world," and though young, they're far from defenseless. The witches are the Good Guys, though, and the Bad Guys, who slipped into our universe accidentally, are very bad indeed. Pausert has his hands full, sometimes because of the girls -- especially the middle one, who has set her cap for him -- and sometimes despite them. But the Captain has unknown talents himself. It's a light and easy read of less than 240 pages, and it has generally aged quite well. But you should ignore the Velez jacket illustration on the Baen hardcover reprinting because it bears no resemblance whatever to the characters as described.

My favorite book...ever........2006-08-21

I have the original 1966 paperback. I have to buy a new copy so that it won't fall apart. (A 40-year-old paperback can only take so much use, after all!)

The word for this book is rollicking. You have high adventure, amusing characters, lighthearted moments and good triumphing over evil. If you liked Princess Bride (movie or book) this is similar in tone. I just wish they'd make the movie, already!

My favorite books.......2005-06-11

Witches of Karres ranks right up there with Chronicles of Amber for the number of times I reread them. Witches is a complete delight. I'm always sorry to see it end so quickly. Currently, I'm on my nth reread of this delightful novel. My favorite line? "Beak Wock" by the Leewit.

Telzey Amberdon (Telzey Amberdon (Baen))

Average customer rating:

A nostalgic trip to the future that still inspires me!
Telzey returns, FINALLY!!
Almost forgotten, still important.
Explore the Hub -- Sci-Fi at its Best
A great FEMALE protagonist from an early MALE author

Telzey Amberdon (Telzey Amberdon (Baen))
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671578510

Book Description

Telzey Amberdon was only in her teens when she discovered that she was a telepath. Not only a telepath, but a xenotelepath, able to communicate mentally not just with humans, but with alien intelligences. And she turned out to be one of the most powerful telepaths in the history of the galactic civilization called the Hub.

First she had to deal with an alien race that humans hadn't realized were intelligent, and who were about to eliminate those troublesome humans who thought they were colonizing an uninhabited world. Then, she had to fend off the secret psi agents of the Psychological Corps who took a dim view of any telepath, let alone one with Telzey's powers, operating outside of their control. Next, she stumbled across a telepathic serial killer, who used an unstoppable predator, under his mental control, to hunt and kill his victims -- and Telzey was to be the catch of the day.

It was fortunate for the human race that she survived, since she next found herself in the middle of a secret war between two hidden races of genetically engineered humans. They called it the "Lion Game," and they made the mistake of thinking that in this clash of predators, Telzey was just a harmless kitten. But when the dust settled, Telzey would be the only one purring....

Customer Reviews:

A nostalgic trip to the future that still inspires me!.......2005-06-19

As a female who has appreciated SF/F since the age of twelve, I have been in a very small minority for most of my life. Along came validation in the form of Telzey Amberdon, the Nancy Drew of Science Fiction for her day, and suddenly I felt that I had a place in our speculative future.

Telzey is cool. Telzey is brilliant, beautiful, and a very independent-minded fifteen-year-old; and apparently, also a powerful latent psi (psychic). She's the genius daughter of some powerful politicians several hundred years into the future when humanity had expanded into the stars and founded homes on countless planets in a system called the Hub. Somehow our intrepid heroine ends up getting pulled into several mysteries and thrillers during the course of this book, and of course she handles herself with wit and self-confidence against the universe's fiends, human and non-. But the worst threat to this budding psi is the ever-watchful Psychology Service, which has its own agenda for her powerful talents even as it purports to protect and serve all the citizens of the Hub. Telzey has to learn a lot of psychic self-defense on the fly against her own in addition to everything else on her plate.

This is a collection of the short novellas that Schmidt wrote at various points in his career for magazines, and as such they had to be combined to make a novel hefty enough for publishing by today's standards. I rather enjoyed this format, as Telzey's character can be explored in chunks of chronological development rather than skimmed as one would through the plot of a larger novel. It works well on the level of light entertainment and gave me more natural reading breaks than the standard Chapter format.

I was also appreciative of the slightly retro flavor of stories that were written mostly during the `60s and `70s. Now and then an anachronism caught me off guard, such as a reference to a rotary dial-up communication system. But in many ways Schmidt was so ahead of his time, with the subtly feminist flavor of his themes and main characters, that I can gloss over those tiny lapses without skipping a beat. Mostly, I just have fun exploring this speculative future through Telzey.

Gosh I enjoyed getting back into the Hub universe; now I want more. Happily there are more Telzey stories out there, and soon I will be reacquainting myself with all of them and some others I had never met. It's good to live in the age of Internet bookstores!
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

Telzey returns, FINALLY!!.......2003-08-25

I first read the Telzey Amberdon stories back when Ace Books reissued them in the early 1980's. Unfortunately, I lost my copies over the course of several moves, and for a long time was not able to find replacements. Well, thank goodness Baen (which is gaining a good reputation for reissuing old classic SF authors) has stepped in, with the first volume of its compendium of the works of James H. Schmitz. Telzey Amberdon is back, and the stories are just as good as I remember them.

For those who are unfamiliar, Telzey is a rather precocious 15-year old girl who, over the course of several stories, discovers that she is also a rather powerful telepath. And not just any telepath, but one who can read the minds of non-humans as well as humans. This brings her into contact with a number of alien races, and hence forms the gist to some very good adventure writing.

In "Novice", Telzey's abilities are triggered by a race of psionic cats who no one knows are intelligent; in "Undercurrents", Telzey uses her new-found abilities to try to thwart both the Psychological Corp and some unsavory people who are trying to kill her best friend; "Poltergeist" offers an unusual turn on an old ghost story idea; and the "Goblin Night", "Sleep No More", and "The Lion Game" sequence (probably the most well known of the Telzey Amberdon stories) puts Telzey in the middle of a power struggle between multiple alien factions. This collection also contains two other Schmitz stories, "The Blood of Nalakiaï" and "The Star Hyacinths", neither of which contain Telzey but do provide background for many the stories in the series (Schmitz, after all, set nearly all of his novels and short stories in the same universe).

All together, this is a very good collection of short stories from an author who is unfortunately not as well known today as he should be. Perhaps this and the subsequent volumes in Baenï¿½s series will rectify that matter; one can hope. In the mean time, pick this book up and read; you wonï¿½t be disappointed. Highly recommended.

Almost forgotten, still important........2002-05-28

James Schmitz is perhaps the classic SF author who is simultaneously most important and least remembered by the average modern fan. Schmitz began his writing in 1943, when many of the other greats were just starting out. Clearly influenced by Doc Smith in some areas (his "Agent of Vega" series even has some definitely Smithian prose), Schmitz was best known for the fact that he wrote stories featuring strong, believeable, effective female lead characters, in an era when many SF stories -- even those by the greats such as Heinlein and Asimov -- rarely even acknowledged the existence of women except by an occasional reference to a character's mother or a token girlfriend. Schmitz' characters, by contrast, lived in a world populated equally by men and women, and had no trouble interacting with either sex (any more than they do in the real world, at any rate).

In the Telzey Amberdon stories, we get to see all three of the things Schmitz became known for: strong female characters, an interesting and consistent use of psionic powers, and solid universe design. Telzey's adventures take place in the Hub, perhaps Schmitz' best known setting and certainly his most detailed. Often the Telzey stories are criticized for making her a superwoman, but I think this is often a reaction without consideration. She is no more superior to her opposition than many a male hero, and as a general rule is much more in need of subtlety and caution than male heroes common in the SF of the time. Not to say you couldn't call her a superwoman -- she's certainly got enough talent, power, and so on to qualify -- but her opposition is always formidable enough to REQUIRE a superwoman to defeat.

These stories have been somewhat edited from their original form; for the most part the editing involved minor terms, removal of redundant punctuation (which Schmitz himself tended to do upon re-issues), and so on. A few have had noticeable changes. Personally I do not agree with a few of them, but the resulting stories are still clearly Schmitz' work, and the overall volume is more than merely worth the money; this is an excellent collection, and all the ones in the Schmitz re-issue series are must-haves for any SF fan.

Explore the Hub -- Sci-Fi at its Best.......2002-01-09

James Schmitz wrote well-crafted stories with strong characters. The background settings are intriguing and the stories have unusual plot twists. These volumes maintain their freshness and appeal, even after more than a quarter of a century. If you haven't met Telzey and Trigger or explored the Federation of the Hub, you will enjoy discovering this new world. (Even if you have read Schmitz' work before, it's well worth the re-visit.)

A great FEMALE protagonist from an early MALE author.......2001-12-22

Snap up this book even if you haven't met Telzey before: if you have, you'll want the new material in this edition. Eric Flint does not disappoint fans of Schmitz in this first of 4 volumes of tales of the Hub. Some PSI, plenty of action, but most of all,
FUN! Definitely worth reading many times.

TNT: Telzey & Trigger (Federation of the Hub, 2)

Average customer rating:

a little dated, but still enjoyable
Great stories, but the cover...!
More Stories From the Federation of the Hub
An Ending and a Beginning
Dynamite Heroines Take On Galaxy

TNT: Telzey & Trigger (Federation of the Hub, 2)
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671578790

Customer Reviews:

a little dated, but still enjoyable.......2001-04-28

I've always enjoyed this author's book "witches of Karres" so it has been interesting to read some of his other, long out of print works. This book should be read after the first book in this series "Telzey Amberdon" to bring it into perspective.

Essentially, this is a series of linked short stories and novelettes. The writing sytle is simple and easy to read. All the main characters are polite, even the the bad guys! They would easily be suited to younger readers.

This second book introduces the readers to Trigger Argee, who doesn't have the mental "super powers" that make Telzey such a striking figure, but who is never-the-less very capable.

These books have been enjoyable so far, but really bring home how much SF has changed in recent decades. These characters are much less introspective than most modern SF characters, even in short stories, and the emphasis is definitely on action!

I also agree about the cover. "TNT" is really on the corny side - ignore it and concentrate on the contents.

Great stories, but the cover...!.......2000-11-19

I read my parents' copies of these stories in the seventies and eighties. They have long been among my favorite short stories, and I'm definitely a James Schmitz fan. I'm glad to see that the stories are being republished. In this collection, I was also glad to see the pairing of Schmitz's "Pork Chop Tree" and "Compulsion" into the single story they are, especially because "Pork Chop Tree" is so hard to find.

This series has definitely been edited, and the more anachronistic technical elements of Schmitz's stories (microfilm, etc) have been suppressed. Other than that, the stories are as Schmitz wrote them.

My one major complaint are the covers, which are a big letdown, especially compared to the covers of the '80s editions. And T'Nt! Give me a break! These books should be packaged to attract new readers to Schmitz's work. The title of this volume strikes me as a cheesy in-joke that will attract people who already know about the stories but which will repel everyone else. These stories are truly classic SF, and they should have classier jackets!

Other than that, buy this book!

More Stories From the Federation of the Hub.......2000-10-19

An excellent book. This the second of four books that Baen Books is publishing that are compilations of the short stories my James Schmitz. While I normally am not a fan of short stories, these are some of the finest that I have read.

An Ending and a Beginning.......2000-07-24

This second reprint volume of Schmitz's Hub tales lives up to the promise of the first. It finishes up the Telzey stories and introduces Trigger Argee, an agent for the Psychology Service. Schmitz was finally hitting his stride with the Telzey stories in these tales, and this volume includes what I regard as some of the best. Resident Witch, Company Planet, Ti's Toys, and Child of the Gods are much better than most of the prior Telzey stories, with only Goblin Night being their equal. She meets Trigger in Compulsion and their relationship is developed further in Glory Day, and The Symbiotes. That is the last Telzey story Schmitz wrote, and I wonder what he might have done further with her character. Her Matri twin, Gaziel, from Ti's Toys, certainly offered opportunity for more story lines. Trigger, by contrast, is not an active psi, and relies on wit, cunning, intelligence, training, and pluck to get out of predicaments. In many ways she is a much more mature, complex, and interesting character. While Telzey is fascinating, powerful (in more ways than one) and has what Flint calls a "solitary splendor" Trigger is more humanly fallible, and humanly competent, despite her latent psi ability. The next volume will feature her, her husband (a married Sci -Fi Heroine? How unusual, human, and normal.) and various associates, and I look forward to it.

Dynamite Heroines Take On Galaxy.......2000-06-29

Telzey Amberdon is the scion of an ultra-rich, politically connected family on the central world of Orado. She lives an outwardly normal life as a privileged college student, studying and taking exams, or accompanying a friend to a luxurious body remodeling resort planet. She is also one of the galaxy's most powerful and versatile psi talents (especially regarding alien beings), essentially a loner but cooperating informally with the shadowy yet powerful Psychology Service. Telzey was featured in the first volume of this Baen reissue series.

Trigger Argee comes from much humbler, possibly hardscrabble, origins, and though a latent psi, as we find out in this volume, relies on quick thinking, resourcefulness, a champion level ability with her beloved Denton pistol, and a wide range of personal connections (she seems to know and work with just about every major character of Schmitz's galactic Hub universe). We'll find out more about Trigger in the third volume.

James H. Schmitz wrote a series of stories about each of these engagingly competent heroines in the 1960's and early 1970's, and brought them together in two tales included in this second volume ("Compulsion" and "Glory Day"). A third tale, "The Symbiotes," is primarily Trigger's, though Telzey does appear briefly; sadly, this was the last significant work by Schmitz, and we'll never find out the results of Trigger's decision at the very end to develop her psi powers. The rest of the seven stories (short novels, really, at over 50 pages each) are devoted to Telzey.

Baen is to be devoutly thanked for their project bringing much of Schmitz's work (the stories set in a human dominated "Hub") back into print. Devotees have for too long been forced to lurk in used book stores, waiting for the rare tattered paperback. Schmitz writes with vigor and verve, and absolute clarity. The characters are well realized, including the truly alien aliens who are among the best ever. Though there are plenty of twists and turns (one can never be too sure who the good guys and bad guys are), the reader never feels cheated.

THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME - Volume (2) (ii) Two B: The Moon Moth; The Big Front Yard; In Hiding; E for Effort; The Witches of Karres; The Midas Plague; The Machine Stops; The Spectre General; Rogue Moon; Earthman Come Home; The Martian Way
Average customer rating:

Titles in this Volume_ Two-B

THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME - Volume (2) (ii) Two B: The Moon Moth; The Big Front Yard; In Hiding; E for Effort; The Witches of Karres; The Midas Plague; The Machine Stops; The Spectre General; Rogue Moon; Earthman Come Home; The Martian Way
Ben (editor) (Jack Vance; Clifford D. Simak; Wilmar H. Shiras; T. L. Sherred; James H. Schmitz; Frederik Pohl; E. M. Forster; Theodore Cogswell; Algis Budrys; James Blish; Isaac Asimov) Bova
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One: The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of All Time Chosen by the Members of the Science Fiction Writers of America (SF Hall of Fame)

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two A: The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time Chosen by the Members of The Science Fiction Writers of America (SF Hall of Fame)

ASIN: B000GW0PKM

Customer Reviews:

Titles in this Volume_ Two-B.......2007-02-22

The Greatest Science Fiction Novellas of All Time: Titles as follows: SF Hall of Fame, The: Vol Two B
Asimov, Isaac Martian Way, The
Blish, James Earthman, Come Home
Budrys, Algis Rogue Moon - Psychological thriller
Cogswell, Theodore Spectre General, The
Forster, E.M. Machine Stops, The
Pohl, Frederik Midas Plague, The
Schmitz, James H. Witches of Karres, The
Sherred, T.L. E For Effort
Shiras, Wilmar H. In Hiding
Simak, Clifford D. Big Front Yard, The - a clever tale
Vance, Jack Moon Moth, The

Average customer rating:

Little known but deserves to be read
Schmitz was a master of short fiction
An obscure Schmitz gem
Invaluable collection of obscure Schmitz stories

Eternal Frontier
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0743471903

Customer Reviews:

Little known but deserves to be read.......2007-03-23

I think this one dates from 1973. It is a very good crime story. It has always been obscure and difficult to find but deserves more light of day. I couldn't put this down when I read it. Recommended!

Schmitz was a master of short fiction.......2004-03-06

This is a comprehensive collection of short works, written between the 40s and the 70s (but mostly in the 40s and 50s). Unlike many of the short stories from that period, these could have been written yesterday.

Even the novel included in the book is very short by today's standards, and would be considered a modern "novella".

These are all non-Hub, non-Vega, non-Karres stories. Some are even not Science Fiction. But they are all great. As the co-editor Guy Gordon wrote in an earlier book, "There's just something about a Schmitz story..."

This is the sixth of a seven-book reissue of all of Schmitz's work. Get it. Get two, in fact, if you even plan to loan it out. It probably won't come back to you if you let someone else get their hands on it!

An obscure Schmitz gem.......2003-12-17

This novel is one of my two favorite Schmitz titles (the other being The Demon Breed). I last read it back in the early 80's - my hometown public library had a copy, titled "The Eternal Frontier" - and have been looking for it ever since; I'm delighted to see it back in print.

It's the story of a group of colonists on an unexplored world, who confront a mysterious and malevolent alien presence. My strongest memory of the book is the creeping sense of suspense the author builds throughout the novel.

Unlike the huge majority of Schmitz stories, [The] Eternal Frontier is not part of the Federation of the Hub cycle, so you won't see these characters in any of his other work. Still, it's one of his very best.

Invaluable collection of obscure Schmitz stories.......2002-10-03

_Endless Frontier_ is the sixth book in Eric Flint and Guy Gordon's project to return James H. Schmitz' work to print. From my perspective this has been a successful and welcome undertaking. This book is particularly welcome, not because it is the best (it is not, not by a long shot), but because it contains some of the most obscure of Schmitz' stories. Fans of Schmitz, like me, spent much time in used book stories finding his work before the recent reprint series -- and in that way it was relatively easy to collect most of the Telzey stories, the Trigger stories, and books like _Agent of Vega_ and _The Demon Breed_. But it was much harder to find stuff like "The Ties of Earth", a long novella only published as a two-part magazine serial, or "Captives of the Thieve-Star", a novelette which prefigures in some way Schmitz' later female characters, but which was only ever published in a 1951 issue of the classic pulp Planet Stories. But _Endless Frontier_ collects all of Schmitz' short fiction that had not previously been reprinted -- including some stories from mystery magazines. It also includes Schmitz last (and by far weakest) novel, _The Endless Frontiers_. My rating for the book is based more on its appeal to its intended audience -- Schmitz fans -- than on its intrinsic merits. It's fair to say that the earlier Baen reprints gathered the bulk of his best work -- it's easy to see why some of these stories haven't seen the light of day in a while. But for those of us who have learned to love his work, this is an invaluable way to get those tantalizing few stories we haven't yet found.

That said, there are some very fine pieces here. The above-mentioned longer stories, "The Ties of Earth" and "Captives of the Thieve-Star", are both very uneven, but even if they don't work completely, they have some nice bits. And among the shorter stories are some first-rate pieces. Many of these are in the section the editors have called "Dark Visions" -- Schmitz usually went for fairly conventional happy endings, but in these stories the horrific implications of some of Schmitz' ideas are fully explored. Especially good is "We Don't Want Any Trouble", a very neat SF horror story about an alien invasion. Another fine alien invasion story is "These are the Arts". Schmitz wrote some crime fiction as well, often for the SF magazines, but also in mystery magazines. Stories like "Ham Sandwich", about a slick operator running a psi scam, and "Where the Time Went", about a very different SFnal crime, are clever and enjoyable.

Book Description

IF BUREAUCRACIES HAD STARSHIPS

Con games. Corrupt governors. Deadly rivalries between departments of the same government. And, of course, the long arm of the Mob. Even in our future among the stars, some things never change -- except that the governors run (and ruin) planets, the rivalries are fought with spacecraft and energy bolts, and the mobsters smuggle real illegal aliens and make their getaways with subspace portals. It's all just another day in that bastion of galactic peace and democracy, the Federation of the Hub --

-- and somebody has to clean up this mess!

Join secret agent Trigger Argee, scout adventurer Heslet Quillan and Holati Tate, master of intrigue, as they battle the criminal element on its own interstellar turf...and make the future a little safer for the rest of us.

Customer Reviews:

Hang onto your hats!.......2007-03-10

James Schmitz was a very popular science fiction writer in the 60s, but since has fallen off the map. Why? Because he didn't much write novels - he wrote short stories and novellas. I'm happy that Eric Flint worked to bring us the Hub series as a set of books, bringing together the short stories of Schmitz for the first time in years.

Trigger & Friends revolves around Trigger Argee (obviously). It is impossible to really devolve the plot into a review; suffice it to say that the short stories in this book are a great deal of fun - this is what science fiction should be all about!

Interstellar Action & Intrigue.......2001-08-11

This third volume of the Hub Stories reveals more of Trigger Argee and those around her. Heslet Quillan is here. He's a sixties sort of wise-cracking secret agent gunman transported to the Hub Universe. He first appears in Lion Loose and tangles with a monster and two mobs of the Interstellar Underworld. The story is basically a gangster story but the monster is interesting, one of Schmitz's more interesting ones. Schmitz did good monsters. He reappears in Legacy, along with Trigger. Legacy is a complex story with interesting, unusual, and believable aliens. It also gets into the inner workings of the Federation and the lives of the people who live in it, work in it, and keep it going. An interesting look. The Hub was one of the more interesting backgrounds in Science Fiction, and it's fun to visit. A good Saturday afternoon read.

Agents of the Hub.......2001-04-10

The first two volumes of the Hub series published by Baen Books presented the experiences of the teen-aged Telzey Amberdon. The other volumes gather together stories centered on other characters of the Hub civilization (including in one case an ecology!). Volume 3 presents the adventures of Trigger Argee, Pilch, and Hezlet Quillan, agents of the Hub Overgovernment. In these stories, we have some background filled in and begin to understand how the Hub culture deals with an unfriendly galaxy. Strongly recommended.

Welcome Back to a Friend.......2001-01-09

I am delighted to welcome back these stories by James Schmitz featuring his wonderful character, Trigger Argee, and her friends. James Schmitz had the knack of creating futurescapes and characters which are deep, insightful, and riveting -- especially female characters. Trigger feels like a friend by the time an Argee story ends.

I had promised myself ONE STORY PER DAY, but I could not put this book down. This is the third of four collections featuring the stories of James Schmitz which are edited by Eric Flint -- this one co-edited with Guy Gordon. In this book you will find Trigger and Holati facing off the top eschelon of government. You'll find Quillan, well named "Bad News", getting some bad news of his own. You'll find Professor Mantelish giving one interview too many. All have the flow of a good story -- one that feels like reality and moves at a fast clip.

Customer Reviews:

some of the best sci-fi stories ever.......2007-03-23

I'm a long-standing fan of the writings of James H. Schmitz, the author of a number of remarkable science fiction novels and stories originally published between 1960 and 1974. I enjoy them for their bold female characters (surprising even by today's standards), for the author's deft handling of psionics, and for his surprisingly accurate forsight of certain technologies such as cell phones.

Many of Schmitz' writings fall into one of two universes and have many interlocking characters. He wrote one set of tales set in the universe of the "Agent of Vega" series (the one in this book). He created a different universe in the "Federation of the Hub" series which includes over two dozen stories and novels. His writings exist as eight novels and fifty-odd stories in several collections, most of which have thankfully been reprinted by Baen books.

Agent of Vega was originally published as a book-sized collection of four stories based on material originally published 1949-51 in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine. It was subsequently published as a book several times. The four stories in the original book were Agent of Vega, The Illusionists, The Truth about Cushgar, and The Second Night of Summer.

Those of us who had treasured flea-bitten old copies of the original books were thrilled when Baen books republished these stories.

MILD SPOILERS:

The first three stories center around Iliff, a seasoned Zone Agent who is an expert trouble-shooter in the employ of the powerful but over-extended Psychology Service. His assignments are doled out by the Third Coordinator, a highly competent boss whom Iliff loves to despise. The Third Coordinator sends Pagadan, a representative of a new species, to apprentice with Iliff. And when she arrives, Iliff finds himself trailing after his old nemesis, U-1. Iliff is extremely well-balanced mentally about everything except U-1, who once defeated him and left him for dead. The Third Coordinator has evaluated, and uses, Iliff's sensitivity about this humiliation. Iliff knows how he is being manipulated and hates it, but he hates U-1 enough to endure it.

Zone Agent Iliff's disgruntled cynicism, and the razor-sharp dialogue between him and his boss, the Third Coordinator, make this a very fun read. The situations which the Zone Agents investigate are also quite intriguing. These are "good" psi cops chasing "very bad" runaway psi's who are menacing those around them and could only be stopped by other psi's. The bad gize have to get very bad indeed before the Psychology Service gets motivated to send someone after them. As usual, Schmitz' plots become very creative yet stay within rational boundaries.

I found the first three stories very rewarding, and the last one a little less so. The last one deals with a different Zone Agent who is not quite as captivating as Iliff.

An answer to a prayer.......2003-01-29

I have an original Pocket paperback of Agent of Vega. It came out in 1962, which makes my copy more than seven years older than I am. I found it on the shelf of a mechanic's office in Pickens, Mississippi, while waiting with my father for the overhaul of some cotton picker parts. I was 8 or 9. I started reading the book, and then begged to have it. My father was angry, but the mechanic was amused and let me have it.
That book has been loved. Not only by me, but I have loaned it to many people.
If this volume was nothing but a reprint of that earlier one, it would be enough for me to jump with joy and give copies to all my friends who love science fiction. But it is better than that. The four stories that comprise Agent of Vega are only about one third of this volume. The other two thirds are stories I have NEVER seen before.
Schmitz was one of THE most popular SF writers of his time. Unfortuantely for posterity, his work was mostly at shorter lengths. Even his only full length novel, the wonderful Witches of Karres, was an expansion of an earlier novella.
Kudos to Baen for reissuaing in seven volumes the complete works of this master. Schmitz was one of the first SF writiers to have female characters who not only solved their problems without male assistance, but were "total badasses" on their own.
Which brings me to my favorite story in this book, called "The Second Night of Summer." Not only is the undercover galactic agent female, not only is she unflaggingly competent, she is also old enough to be a grandmother. How many SF writers even now would risk this, let alone in the fifties when the story was written?
If you are a fan of classic science fiction, you owe it to yourself to check out these reissues of one of the masters.

The Best Ever.......2001-11-11

I haven't bought this book yet, and so don't know what other stories it has other than the four "Agent of Vega Stories". It doesn't matter. These four stories (collected in 1960 and issued as a book called "Agent of Vega"), constitute my favorite science fiction book of all time. I own all of the pulp stories and the First Edition and all paperback editions of this collection. It's utterly spectacular.

This is not a novel; but four separate stories about these future galactic secret agents known as "Galactic Zone Agents". They all possess "psi" (telepathic) powers and communicate mentally with their robot ships; each agent having a ship which is to some extent bonded with the agent's mind.

In these stories Schmitz displayed, 50 years ago, a concept which would dominate his writing; the hero who is female. He was soundly critized for this, in those sexist days, but as a male I accepted them wholeheartedly and immediately. They are magnificent, deadly, intelligent, and ruthless.

The third story, "The Truth About Cushgar", is my favorite story in all of science fiction.

The imagination and descriptive prose Schmitz displays in these stories is incredible, and the excitement and characters unforgettable.

I picked up a paperback of this book in 1962, when I was 15, and nothing has ever compared to this work of science fiction for me. Most famous for his Telzey Amberdon stories, and his "Witches of Karres" novel (my favorite Sci-fi novel); Schmitz created these Agent of Vega stories in the span of a few years around 1950, and never again returned to this "universe" or these amazing creations. I've always lamented this, though a jewel is often more brilliant for its rarity.

The first story has a male hero, but soon we are introduced to a young female humanoid alien known as "Pagadan", who has feathers for hair. She is in the first three stories, and stars in the second one. In the third story we meet "Zamm", a different type of humanoid alien female who is the most ruthless killer of all the Zone Agents. In the fourth we meet a harassed old woman on a primitive world known as Grandma Wannatel; but she also happens to be a Zone Agent, and she is something tough.

The villains are fascinating, and the technology spectacular in these books, which are as good today as they were half a century ago. Battles and weapons and mental contests abound in these stories.

I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough, and will soon buy it. Even without the additional non-Vegan stories, this book is priceless.

Sense of Wonder again.......2001-10-28

For golden age galactic space opera this is simply as good as it gets. Memorable, larger than life characers, awesome intrigues and really alien aliens. I loved the maverick agent with the yellow eyes and special ship the most. Don't miss these stories.

Average customer rating:

High time Schmitz was rediscovered
Contains possibly the very best of Schmitz.
A great wrap up
Otters, spooks, and ecologies

The Hub : Dangerous Territory
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671319841
Release Date: 2001-04-03

Customer Reviews:

High time Schmitz was rediscovered.......2002-10-16

These are nice collections of the works of James H. Schmitz. Some of the stories Eric Flint came up with for this series are new to me. So if you already have a few Telzy Amberdon's and the Witches of Karres floating around, this is still a useful addition.

If you haven't read him, then prepare yourself for a treat. What can I call it but intelligent space opera? The Miles Vorkosigian stories come to mind, and Jo Clayton's "Diadem" books, perhaps certain Keith Laumer... If you want a well-told, involving, and exciting tale showing tough intelligent people being tested to their limits, well, Schmitz is that story-teller.

You like the "one man army" exploits of Ahnold and Van Damm? Take a look at how a young marine biologist wages a devastating one-woman battle of psychological warfare against an alien invasion ("The Demon Breed"). And then there is the battle of wits as the captain of a tramp freighter has to defend against an alien rather more intelligent than he is ("The Winds of Time.")

At the risk of being misunderstood, I'd like to call the writings of James H. Schmitz "Golden Age as it should have been." Oh yes...and track down the "Witches of Karres"; one of the most perfect and delightful SF books ever written.

Contains possibly the very best of Schmitz........2002-05-31

As I noted in my review of _Telzey Amberdon_, James Schmitz was known for his strong female lead characters. In _The Hub_, we have a collection of stories set in his most famous universe, that of the star civilization called the Hub, and many of these feature the strong female characters for which he was known.

Perhaps most notable are the two stories featuring Nile Etland, a scientist on the rather remote world of Nandy-Cline, both hinging on some of the peculiar lifeforms native to that planet. My favorite has been listed under at least two titles -- "The Tuvela" and "The Demon Breed" -- and shows a unique method of dealing with an alien invasion. The ending is also unusual and gives us some very telling insight into the functioning of the Hub government.

Many of the other stories have similar links, in that they chronicle the interaction of people with the ecologies of other planets, giving us both a grasp of the characters and a sometimes startling glimpse into the way life on alien worlds could be at once very similar to our own and yet startlingly -- even dangerously -- different. Schmitz' alien lifeform design was always well-thought-out, and _The Hub_ showcases this skill. Many people who are good at convincing science-fictional detail tend to be weak at characterization, but Schmitz is strong on all fronts. This book shows clearly why he is considered one of the greats of his era.

A great wrap up.......2001-08-12

This is the last, and in some ways the best of the Baen re-issue of the Hub Stories. The range of stories is impressive. It starts with The Searcher, one of the best Schmitz stories. The Protagonists, Danestar Gems and Corwin Wergard, are from the Keth Interstellar Agency, which is a recurring character in the tales. By the way, Schmitz gave his characters great names. The searcher of the title is one very unusual and interesting monster with plausible motives. The human protagonists also have to deal with some human gangsters and corrupt U-League officials. The pacing is good, the story is fun and complex, and the resolution works. Recommended. A Nice Day for Screaming, Attitudes,The Winds of Time, Machmen, and The Other likeness all deal with five different types of alien invasion and with five different types of outcomes. Schmitz had a penchant for sly twists in his tales. Along with The Searcher, The Winds of Time would make a great horror SF movie. Much better than most of what Hollywood churns out. The other four stories in this book deal with ecology, a recurring theme in Schmitz's stories. Grandpa and Balanced Ecology are both good stories where the environment is a major character. The other two stories, Trouble Tide and The Demon Breed both feature Nile Etland, one of Schmitz's most fascinating characters. She is not psychic or immortal or more than human. Like trigger she depends on wits, courage, intelligence, and her gun skills. She also has a good working knowledge of the local (and dangerous) environment. Trouble tide introduces her, but she comes up to speed in The Demon Breed. The story was originally serialized as The Tuvela in the September and October 1968 issues of Analog. The amphibious invaders are calles Parahuans, the action takes place on a water world far from the Hub cnter called Nandy-Cline, and Nile is a biologist for a pharmaceutical company. One of the things I like about Schmitz's stories is that the characters have lives and jobs and are believable. Nile defeats the invaders with the help of some talking intelligent otters, both domestic and feral. There are interesting sidelights on the quest for immortality as well. The story is one of the best Science Fiction action-adventure stories I have ever read and I highly recommend it. Unlike many other SF writers Schmitz saw action (during WWII). Despite that, or maybe because of it, his stories are not particulary violent. His characters do not merely shoot their way out of trouble, but rely on wits, skills, and brains. Even Heslett Quillan, the wise-cracking gunman/secret agent and husband of Trigger Argee, uses brains and schemes to defeat his enemies. Although he is good with his Miam Devil blaster. In The Demon Breed Nile uses her considerable knowledge of the local ecology to mount a psychological campaign against the invaders and then to defeat them. The story ends with an exciting commando raid and space battle. But the ending really takes place off world, when the Psychology Service and an alien committee independently evaluate the events on Nandy-Cline. They cast a whole new light on the story. I recommend going to the James Schmitz website (after you read the story) for more background on the history of how the ending came to be written. My one quibble with the book is the cover. The original Scheonherr cover on the September 1968 Analog was much superior. I wish it had been used for this book. You can also find it on the website. All in all I heartily recommend this book.

Otters, spooks, and ecologies.......2001-04-10

This is the fourth and last of the Hub series being reprinted by Baen Books. James Schmitz was a science fiction writer of the 1950s-1970s known for his skill at characterization, interesting ideas, and a delightful style. In this volume, we encounter intelligent otters (The Demon Breed), horrible monsters (The Winds of Time), and an award-winning short story whose main character is an ecology (Balanced Ecology). Although this volume will be popular with long-time science fiction fans, everyone will enjoy his style. Strongly recommended.

Average customer rating:

The Lion Game (A Telzey Amberdon Novel)
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: DAW Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000F77VE6

Average customer rating:

It is nice to have these stories available again
A Book of Wonders
ood sampling of Schmitz
an excellent collection to begin an addiction

The Best of James H. Schmitz
James H. Schmitz
Manufacturer: Nesfa Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0915368463

Customer Reviews:

It is nice to have these stories available again.......2006-11-11

Schmitz was a very unusual author for his time, and each of his stories brings something new to the table. Even today, his work stands out for being so far in advance of our technology yet still shows the human (or some cases non-human) element within these technological worlds. While we see some of what he foresaw in the Internet and other similar inventions, he has carried them farther than we have been able to to date. On the human side, while many of his stories are the classic hero's journey, each one of them tells this classic model in a unique way - and with Schmitz, the end of the journey is rarely what you would expect!

A Book of Wonders.......2003-04-25

The Best of James H. Schmitz is a selection of stories published by NESFA as the first in their "Choice" series. Its genesis was a panel conducted by the editor, Mark L. Olson, during Boskone 27 "which proved that Schmitz still has fans out there". It contains an introduction by Janet Kagan and a bibliography of Schmitz's SF works in addition to nine stories.

The introduction provides a rather good analysis of Schmitz's characters, plots, and style, but doesn't much address his environments, probably due to length considerations. A more extensive analysis of these environments is provided by Eric Flint in the Baen editions of Schmitz's SF works.

"Grandpa" is a story of a Colonial team that found a surprise in the ecology of an unexplored planet. "Lion Loose" is a Quillan tale wherein he gains an unusual ally. "Just Curious" is about a unique mental ability and the reaction of a man who has been subjected to it. "The Second Night of Summer" tells what Grimp and Grandma did during summer vacation. "Novice" is another summer vacation story, in which Telzey drives her Aunt Halet to hysterics. "Balanced Ecology" is the story of an environent that adopts a human family. "The Custodians" is a tale of a hijacking and a man's conscience. "Sour Note On Palayata" is a Psychological Service story about consciousness and wisdom. "Goblin Night" is a yarn about Telzey, Chomir and a spook.

This collection is a fairly balanced selection of the author's short works, ranging from the quite familiar to the fairly obscure. Although not necessarily the "best" of his short stories, all are interesting and enjoyable and have that characteristic sense of wonder. While this is a good starting point for readers who have never before encountered this author, serious fans will also want to buy the Baen publications, which contain so much more.

Highly recommended to Schmitz fans and anyone who enjoys interstellar adventure with a sense of wonder.

ood sampling of Schmitz.......2000-04-26

I'm a long time fan of James H Schmitz from when his stories first appeared in the sixties and seventies, and so I was pleased to see his work coming back into print This volume is just a sampling of what he was capable of. It introduces several of the characters that appear in many of his other stories. Telzey Amberdon in here, in both Novice and Goblin Night. Heslet Quillan is in Lion Loose (along with one very interesting monster), Just Curious is not so much a Science Fiction story as a horror mystery, while the other stories show the broad range of his writing. One interesting aspect of Schmitz's writing was the way he wrote about ecology as a major factor in his stories. Grandpa and Balanced Ecology include the life forms of a world as major characters without being preachy or pedantic. In that line I strongly recommend his book The Tuvela (also titled The Demon Breed) if you can find it in used book stores. That book also features Nile Etland, one of Schmitz's very interesting female characters. Schmitz was using strong, and believable, female characters long before anyone else, and they are both realistic and sympathetic, much more so than most of the ones in print today. In case you think he did only strong female characters, this book also has The Guardians, one of his best stories, with a sympathetic, and believable, male space pirate. And of course, Heslett Quillan is here in Lion Loose. The bibliography at the end of the book, as well as the cross-reference of stories and characters is very helpful. But a major character in his stories is the background itself. The Federation of the Hub is a fascinating place. This book gives a glimpse of it. All in all, I recommend this book as a sampler and starting point for those wanting to know more about a very good, and seminal SF writer. And while they were not written as children's stories, their content, and relatively short length compared to the massive books out today, make them ideal ways to introduce young children, especially young girls, to SF.

an excellent collection to begin an addiction.......1998-01-05

I've read what I can easily find of Schmitz's longer works and greatly enjoyed them. This collection of some of his shorter works has induced a craving for what's not included here. A bibliography in the back of the book is a great aid for my search. All his stories I've ever read are an enjoyable way to pass an evening.

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