Product Description
Mel just wanted to enjoy his stay-at-home vacation in his mostly quiet apartment. But when a he looked into a birdhouse and saw beautiful slanted golden eyes staring back at him his vacation was going to be anything but boring.

They were certainly alive! One was green, a tiny body of jade, and the other was silkily human-colored, which was why he had been confused on that point. The wings could hardly be anything else, though they were very odd-looking, almost like thin, flexible glass.

Soon he is sharing his apartment with a couple of fairy-like beings. Where did they come from? What we're they doing on Earth? And were they friends of something a whole lot more dangerous?
... Read more

Product Description
James Henry Schmitz (1911-1981) was an American writer born in Hamburg, Germany of American parents. He is best known for space opera and strong female characters (such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee) that didn't fit into the damsel in distress stereotype typical of science fiction during the time he was writing.

Included in this volume are "An Incident on Route 12," "Watch the Sky," "The Winds of Time," and "Lion Loose." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Schmitz' second book about Telzey is a fine read
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 and biotech. The TV series Babylon 5, and the recent Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold, owe something to the excellent legacy of Schmitz and especially the Telzey character of this and other Schmitz books.

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. He created a different universe in the "Federation of the Hub" series which includes over two dozen stories and novels (this is the second novel set in that environment). His writings exist as eight novels and fifty-odd stories in several collections, most of which have thankfully been reprinted by Baen books.

This is a fun read, and it's even more fun if you've also previously read THE UNIVERSE AGAINST HER - Telzey Amberdon Book (1) One (by the author of The Witches of Karres).

The Lion Game's two long episodes about Telsey Amberdon seem to follow directly after the The Universe Against Her. The lion story is partly mystery, with horror and science fiction thrown in. I found this book very scary the first time I read it.

This novel was first published as a two-part story in ANALOG in August and September of 1971.The first episode is easy to digest. Some people find the second one somewhat complex and hard to follow.

MILD SPOILERS:

In the first story of The Lion Game, Telsey sneaks off from her friends during a camping trip to investigate a distress cry which she sensed. The story is all about what happens to her as a result. The second story is about the (somewhat later) aftermath to the first episode. Telsey finds herself hunted by the master minds she foiled in the earlier story, and she ends up travelling to another planet to confront them at the source.

Excellent, more please!
A wonderful book. Recommended for all ages. A real shame that it is out of print. Definitely deserves reprinting, as do the other two in the series. Telzey is a wonderful, original heroine. Would love to read more of heradventures. A must read for all scifi/fantasy fans!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Too many conspiracies.
The stories in the universe of "Agent of Vega" are passable, but I found that the author likes conspiracies a little too much. Some of them, like in "Gone Fishing" are both inherently creepy and presented as protagonists, which if frankly disturbing. The stories, with the exception of a horror-short "Greenface" are very convoluted and strongly based on revelations that the characters are not privy to, which make them difficult to be involved with.

My Favorite Sci-Fi author is available again! Sigh...
It gives me great joy that Schmitz's books are being released again for a new generation to ohh and ahh and chuckle over. I purchased mine at the same time as I landed a hardback library copy of "A Nice Day For Screaming and Other Tales of the Hub", and believe me, my poor copies been revisited until they are horrendously tattered.

Schmitz was light-years ahead of his time; his heroes are often thinking-persons' heroines, with the most 'normal' male hero-figures (at least per the male-dominated writing formulasof that era) being relegated to the support roles in the stories and books. His prose was insightful, exciting, AND suspenseful without being over-wrought, and all the while very much character driven. I cannot recommend this author highly enough. His characters may be talented, but mostly they are ethical and intelligent folks doing their best under circumstances that are pretty heart-thumping.

This is not perhaps the greatest of his works, but I still want a Tee shirt with "GO GRANNY WANATEL" on it, so we can put it out to the universe that even if you aren't young and pretty any more, you can STILL kick some serious ass!

Horrible cover. Ignore it, and just read and let your imagination supply the graphics for you.

Super Reader
An earlier series of stories by James Schmitz, with a compilation of other tales that Baen's head compiler of old SF, Eric Flint has decided to include in this particular volume. Some of these are from the 50s (Vegan Agent stories, for example), and even one from the 40s.

There's an introduction by Mercedes Lackey, clearly a fan:
"So, thanks to James Schmitz, I became an authorfirst an under-the-bed author (who hid my notebooks full of illustrated stories under the bed where my brother wouldn't find them), then turning in my stories to high-school literary contests, then writing as a hobby in collegethen writing fanfic and actually getting published (!!!)."

You can certainly see some of the more polished style of later work showing its face in some of these earlier stories.

More fun stuff, indeed.

Agent of Vega : 01 Agent of Vega - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 02 The Illusionists [Space Fear] - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 03 Second Night of Summer [Vegan Agents] - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 04 The Truth About Cushgar [Vegan Agents] - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 05 The Custodians - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 06 Gone Fishing - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 07 The Beacon to Elsewhere - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 08 The End of the Line - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 09 Watch the Sky - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 10 Greenface - James H. Schmitz
Agent of Vega : 11 Rogue Psi - James H. Schmitz

A new operative for an alien telepathic race uses her favored status to call in a Zone Agent to help. Space Pirate leaders and bodysnatching aliens await.

Not to mention some action any Lensman would be happy to take a crack at.

3.5 out of 5


Pagadan is now a horribly cheerful and sure of herself Zone Agent, breaking in some large newbies while fighting the bad guys.

3.5 out of 5


Grandma has a pony. All the better to help her defeat alien invastions.

4 out of 5


An unexpected victory thanks to a star Zone Agent.

3.5 out of 5


An asteroid housing some surprising research is raided by a pair, including an alien with some nasty built-in hunter-killer weaponry.

3 out of 5


Transport tube con extrasolar psych experiment.

4 out of 5


A few geniuses and their illegal time travel experiment turn up some aliens and surprising side effects, after a solar police investigation.

3 out of 5


Wild Variant humans prove a little surprising for all involved, Dominator or commander.

4 out of 5


Interstellar war records.

2.5 out of 5


Almost getting too big to toast.

3 out of 5


"Sending the best of our game telepaths after him was like setting spaniels on a tiger."

3.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5

some of the best sci-fi stories ever
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
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. ... Read more

Product Description
An Excerpt from the book-


Gefty Rammer came along the narrow passages between the _Silver Queen's_
control compartment and the staterooms, trying to exchange the haggard
look on his face for one of competent self-assurance. There was nothing
to gain by letting his two passengers suspect that during the past few
minutes their pilot, the owner of Rammer Spacelines, had been a bare
step away from plain and fancy gibbering.

He opened the door to Mr. Maulbow's stateroom and went inside. Mr.
Maulbow, face very pale, eyes closed, lay on his back on the couch,
still unconscious. He'd been knocked out when some unknown forces
suddenly started batting the _Silver Queen's_ turnip-shape around as the
_Queen_ had never been batted before in her eighteen years of
spacefaring. Kerim Ruse, Maulbow's secretary, knelt beside her employer,
checking his pulse. She looked anxiously up at Gefty.

"What did you find out?" she asked in a voice that was not very steady.

Gefty shrugged. "Nothing definite as yet. The ship hasn't been
damaged--she's a tough tub. That's one good point. Otherwise ... well, I
climbed into a suit and took a look out the escape hatch. And I saw the
same thing there that the screens show. Whatever that is."

"You've no idea then of what's happened to us, or where we are?" Miss
Ruse persisted. She was a rather small girl with large, beautiful gray
eyes and thick blue-black hair. At the moment, she was barefoot and in a
sleeping outfit which consisted of something soft wrapped around her
top, soft and floppy trousers below. The black hair was tousled and she
looked around fifteen. She'd been asleep in her stateroom when something
smacked the _Queen_, and she was sensible enough then not to climb out
of the bunk's safety field until the ship finally stopped shuddering and
bucking about. That made her the only one of the three persons aboard
who had collected no bruises. She was scared, of course, but taking the
situation very well.

Gefty said carefully, "There're a number of possibilities. It's obvious
that the _Queen_ has been knocked out of normspace, and it may take some
time to find out how to get her back there. But the main thing is that
the ship's intact. So far, it doesn't look too bad."

... Read more

Product Description
An Excerpt from the book-



He was already a thief, prepared to steal again. He didn't know
that he himself was only booty!


Phil Garfield was thirty miles south of the little town of Redmon on
Route Twelve when he was startled by a series of sharp, clanking noises.
They came from under the Packard's hood.

The car immediately began to lose speed. Garfield jammed down the
accelerator, had a sense of sick helplessness at the complete lack of
response from the motor. The Packard rolled on, getting rid of its
momentum, and came to a stop.

Phil Garfield swore shakily. He checked his watch, switched off the
headlights and climbed out into the dark road. A delay of even half an
hour here might be disastrous. It was past midnight, and he had another
hundred and ten miles to cover to reach the small private airfield where
Madge waited for him and the thirty thousand dollars in the suitcase on
the Packard's front seat.

If he didn't make it before daylight....

He thought of the bank guard. The man had made a clumsy play at being a
hero, and that had set off the fool woman who'd run screaming into their
line of fire. One dead. Perhaps two. Garfield hadn't stopped to look at
an evening paper.

But he knew they were hunting for him.

He glanced up and down the road. No other headlights in sight at the
moment, no light from a building showing on the forested hills. He
reached back into the car and brought out the suitcase, his gun, a big
flashlight and the box of shells which had been standing beside the
suitcase. He broke the box open, shoved a handful of shells and the .38
into his coat pocket, then took suitcase and flashlight over to the
shoulder of the road and set them down.

There was no point in groping about under the Packard's hood. When it
came to mechanics, Phil Garfield was a moron and well aware of it. The
car was useless to him now ... except as bait.

But as bait it might be very useful.

Should he leave it standing where it was? No, Garfield decided. To
anybody driving past it would merely suggest a necking party, or a drunk
sleeping off his load before continuing home. He might have to wait an
hour or more before someone decided to stop. He didn't have the time. He
reached in through the window, hauled the top of the steering wheel
towards him and put his weight against the rear window frame.

The Packard began to move slowly backwards at a slant across the road.
In a minute or two he had it in position. Not blocking the road
entirely, which would arouse immediate suspicion, but angled across it,
lights out, empty, both front doors open and inviting a passerby's
investigation.

Garfield carried the suitcase and flashlight across the right-hand
shoulder of the road and moved up among the trees and undergrowth of the
slope above the shoulder. Placing the suitcase between the bushes, he
brought out the .38, clicked the safety off and stood waiting.

Some ten minutes later, a set of headlights appeared speeding up Route
Twelve from the direction of Redmon. Phil Garfield went down on one knee
before he came within range of the lights. Now he was completely
concealed by the vegetation.



... Read more

Product Description
Vol. LXX, No. 1. Cover by Solonevich for "A Life for the Stars" (pt. 1 of 2; 'Cities in Flight' series) by James Blish. Includes "The Winds of Time" by James H. Schmitz; "Good Indian" by Mack Reynolds; "The Professional Approach" by Leonard Lockhard (Ted Thomas); "Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Christopher Anvil; "Beyond Pandora" by Robert J. Martin. Article: "The First Science" by Joseph F. Goodavage, MAFA. Illustraed by Schoenherr, Brotman, Douglas, and Brey. ... Read more