Telzey Amberdon [Paperback]

James H. Schmitz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Baen Books, New York (2000)
• ASIN: B00201EZJE
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Welcome reissue of a fine SF writer, June 8, 2000

By 

Richard R. Horton (Webster Groves, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telzey Amberdon (Telzey Amberdon (Baen)) (Mass Market Paperback)

James H. Schmitz was one of SF's most popular writers of the 1960s and early 1970s. His stories were published 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, 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.

This new edition, however, begins to bring some of Schmitz' best work back into print. Inclued are six Telzey stories: "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."

These stories are very fun reading (my favorite is "The Lion Game"), and they feature an engaging young heroine, and clever plots built around Telzey's psi powers. In addition to the Telzey stories, there are two fairly little known stories, both decent stuff, which have a tangential relation to the other stories in the book: "The Star Hyacinths" and "Blood of Nalakia".

Finally I should mention that these stories have been edited slightly from the original publications. Most of the editing is aimed at making the series of stories read more smoothly together. (More like a unified novel). I am familiar with the earlier printings, and in my opinion the editing has been done in a reasonable way, and the stories have not been harmed, and in some cases have been improved.

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Schmitz Back in Print!, April 22, 2000

By 

Harry Erwin (Sunderland, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telzey Amberdon (Telzey Amberdon (Baen)) (Mass Market Paperback)

James H. Schmitz was a well-known science fiction author of the 1950s-1970s who remains popular with older fans and many authors. His style is quietly liberal (in the old sense) while avoiding the strong material seen in much of modern SF. When John Campbell (the editor of Astounding and Analog) died, he lost his primary publishing outlet and disappeared from the scene in a few years, dying about 1981. About three years ago, some older fans organized the "Schmitz List" as a meeting place on the internet for people interested in seeing him back in print. Jim Baen, the publisher of Baen Books, was an old fan of Schmitz's and was intrigued by the possibility of putting Schmitz back in print, using word-of-mouth advertising to overcome the resistance of the major book store chains to stocking mass market books by dead authors. The final catalyst for this process was Eric Flint, also a Schmitz fan, who proposed to organize a four volume series around Schmitz's Hub stories. "Telzey Amberdon" is the first volume of this set. If you like the older style of SF, or if you have children you would like to introduce to SF, this is an excellent choice.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Classic light space-opera, starring a teenage supergirl, September 4, 2000

By 

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Telzey Amberdon (Telzey Amberdon (Baen)) (Mass Market Paperback)

______________________________________________
Telzey Amberdon, age 15, is a genius, a law student, and a psi supergirl who can save the Federation in a fortnight, and still make it home in time for her sixteenth birthday party. This is silly but engaging fluff, sort of a Nancy Drew in space -- but much better-written. It's a pleasure to see the Telzey stories back in print -- I'd forgotten the breezy assurance of Schmitz's voice. Besides six Telzey 'chapters', first published as short stories 1962-71, there are two related stories: the nasty, pulpy "Blood of Nalakia" (1953), & a nice (if routine) space-piracy thriller, "The Star Hyacinths" (1961). Plus, there's a great polychrome and foil cover (Telzey with a pride of crest cats) by Bob Eggleton.

Editor Flint has done a nice job of assembling the Telzey stories into a coherent fixup [note 1], and publisher Baen is to be commended for introducing a new generation of readers to the pleasures of reading Schmitz -- until this, there was only one Schmitz book still in print.

James H. Schmitz (1911-1981) is best-remembered for his wonderful Witches of Karres (1966) and the Telzey stories, all set in a far-future Federation of the Hub. Co-editor Guy Gordon wrote a nice overview of the Hub in an afterword, also available online: < http://www.white-crane.com/Schmitz/History_Hub.htm >. Baen plans to publish three more volumes of Schmitz stories -- I'm looking forward to them.
____________________
Note 1) Flint has been criticized for editing Schmitz with too heavy a hand, but I found no evidence of this -- the true Schmitz flavor came through loud and clear, complete with mid-century anachronisms....

Happy reading--
Pete Tillman