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5.0 out of 5 stars
Eight OK stories, one good one - and one perfect one!, 29 Dec 2009
There are ten stories in this Schmitz anthology, of which the first eight are general and not particularly connected stories about Schmitz' Hub. This is the Federation of human-occupied planets, loosely connected and with only a rather remote Overgovernment. Plenty of scope for skullduggery and mayhem! Luckily for the Hub, there is often a capable young female about, to deal with such problems in a resourceful and unexpected manner.
James Schitz wrote these stories between 1955 and 1969. They are still pretty fresh, and the first eight are OK - some better, some weaker, but all OK. 3 to 3.5 stars, I would say. But then! Then we get to story number nine, on the watery planet of Nandy-Cline, where Nile Etland works for Giard Pharmaceuticals. She is yet another capable, resourceful, smart female, knowledgeable and decisive - and sometimes pretty scared, too, as she comes up against powerful forces. This 9th story is a 4-star one.
And then comes story nr 10: the Demon Breed. Again on Nandy-Cline; again with Nile and her two mutated hunting otters. This time the menace is extraterrestrial (or maybe extra-aquatic, for this water planet!). Schmitz has come up with a real cracker here, with not only the aliens very well-imagined, but even more so the ecology of the floating islands of Nandy-Cline. The plants and animals, many of them linked in interesting relationships, are described briefly and convincingly; and Nile, who has studied them for a long time, is able to use them in many unexpected ways. Her resourcefulness and her interaction with nature - and with the otters - makes this a delectable story.
James Schmitz has, in my opinion, written two wonderful and almost perfect stories: the Witches of Karres, and the Demon Breed. This second one is quite short - I re-read it once every eight or so years, and always I am full of admiration how well it hangs together, how good and succinct the writing is, how powerful the menaces; and how well Schmitz leaves things to the imagination, with just a short description setting off your own mind-dreams. The Demon Breed is among my all-time favourites, and I wish it were longer!
Oh, and as often is the case with Baen books, this is a truly awful cover...
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Nine stories in one book, 19 July 2005
This is a compilation of stories from 1955 to 1968. Strangely enough, they don't seem dated. Most of them could have been written today. I enjoyed all of the stories. Perhaps 3 stars is a bit severe. 3.5 would be a more correct review from my side.As with all of Schmitz's stories, these, too, are about the Hub. As the cover states, the Federation of the Hub consists of thousands of rough, ornery and tough-minded human worlds with only the subtlest of interstellar governments holding them all together. Stable at last after centuries of war, the Hub is now prime real estate, making it a merciless arena for the conflicting schemes of criminals, unscrupulous corparations and invaders from beyond the edges of Federation space. But the Hub is well-defended, and not only by professional heroes such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. In Hub Space a citizen is expected to stand up for herself, blaster in hand, as needs must; so when Trouble comes Hubward in large doses, there are an awful lot of armed citizens waiting for it. Enjoy the book. I certainly did.
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by James H. Schmitz
by James H. Schmitz
