Wesley Britton's Blog, page 43
October 2, 2016
Another New Review for The Blind Alien!
Stopped by Amazon again today, and was presently surprised to see yet another new review for The Blind Alien! Perhaps the 99 cent sale is sparking new interest in the debut novel of the Beta-earth Chronicles:
The Blind Alien. The Beta Earth Chronicles by Dr. Wesley Britton.
By Amazon Customer
This is the first book of a series where “Robinson Crusoe” meets “Fringe” in a parallel Universe dominated by women because of a disease that kills 3 to 1 the males who are born. A history teacher is dragged from our world to theirs, gets blind through that transition and after escaping medical experiments he claims his position and rights in a world that tends to recognize him as an abomination.
This is the beginning of an intriguing storyline being told through different voices, making it even more interesting and vivid. A former teacher has to become a student again, a fighter, a lover, a husband, a father and eventually a leader of his own tribe. He has to conquer his own demons before he stands up and fights for his existence over a reality he didn’t choose.
Despite the numerous questions that lay underneath the story line about genders, equality, freedom, religion e.t.c. it never ceases to make you want to turn pages to learn what happens next. It’s a book that I would gladly have in my bag and read it while I was moving around the city through metro or a bus and maybe I could even blame it for missing my stop. There are so many different types of characters that it’s almost impossible not to find at least one that you can relate to and start following their journey to personal fulfillment.
Dr. Wesley Britton is a natural born storyteller who has worked so much on his craft that it seems effortless. Don’t let yourself be deceived by that. It takes a lot of effort and talent to create so many characters that can stand on their own, have your own, simple yet particular voice as a writer that can keep you on reading and reading and once you are done, you wonder… “That’s all? I definitely need to know what happened next!” (Get book 2 and then book 3 and then book 4 and keep your fingers crossed for book 5)
I would strongly recommend it for someone who enjoys sci-fi fiction and furthermore to the ones who are not familiar with the genre and are reluctant to read it. It’s a great introduction to it and its unique charms thanks to a gifted author. Buy it, read it and don’t forget to thank the author for the beautiful journey once you are done with a smile on your face.
The Blind Alien is still on sale for 99 cents at:
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Be...
The Blind Alien. The Beta Earth Chronicles by Dr. Wesley Britton.
By Amazon Customer
This is the first book of a series where “Robinson Crusoe” meets “Fringe” in a parallel Universe dominated by women because of a disease that kills 3 to 1 the males who are born. A history teacher is dragged from our world to theirs, gets blind through that transition and after escaping medical experiments he claims his position and rights in a world that tends to recognize him as an abomination.
This is the beginning of an intriguing storyline being told through different voices, making it even more interesting and vivid. A former teacher has to become a student again, a fighter, a lover, a husband, a father and eventually a leader of his own tribe. He has to conquer his own demons before he stands up and fights for his existence over a reality he didn’t choose.
Despite the numerous questions that lay underneath the story line about genders, equality, freedom, religion e.t.c. it never ceases to make you want to turn pages to learn what happens next. It’s a book that I would gladly have in my bag and read it while I was moving around the city through metro or a bus and maybe I could even blame it for missing my stop. There are so many different types of characters that it’s almost impossible not to find at least one that you can relate to and start following their journey to personal fulfillment.
Dr. Wesley Britton is a natural born storyteller who has worked so much on his craft that it seems effortless. Don’t let yourself be deceived by that. It takes a lot of effort and talent to create so many characters that can stand on their own, have your own, simple yet particular voice as a writer that can keep you on reading and reading and once you are done, you wonder… “That’s all? I definitely need to know what happened next!” (Get book 2 and then book 3 and then book 4 and keep your fingers crossed for book 5)
I would strongly recommend it for someone who enjoys sci-fi fiction and furthermore to the ones who are not familiar with the genre and are reluctant to read it. It’s a great introduction to it and its unique charms thanks to a gifted author. Buy it, read it and don’t forget to thank the author for the beautiful journey once you are done with a smile on your face.
The Blind Alien is still on sale for 99 cents at:
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Be...
September 30, 2016
New Review for The Blind Alien!
Here's anew review I spotted at Amazon today--
A great read for any sci-fi fan!
ByChip Stollon September 30, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Wesley Britton's "The Blind Alien", the story of Malcolm who is transported to a parallel earth-like planet, losing his eyesight in the process. It took only a couple of pages to adjust to the parallel dialect but soon came to enjoy it. It difficulted my cran at times to interpret the new words and this sometimes took me out of the flow of the story. But this is also the fun of reading sci-fi. The story itself was very believable and the world creation kept me fixated. The way Malcolm was treated was a great allegory as to how we might have treated an alien visiting our planet. The family he formed produced many empathetic characters and situations. I found it extremely interesting that although they planned on comparing the spirituality between the Alphas and Betas, the Betans were actually more interested in the Alphas fashions and games. This is a great read for any fan of the sci-fi genre.
A great read for any sci-fi fan!
ByChip Stollon September 30, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Wesley Britton's "The Blind Alien", the story of Malcolm who is transported to a parallel earth-like planet, losing his eyesight in the process. It took only a couple of pages to adjust to the parallel dialect but soon came to enjoy it. It difficulted my cran at times to interpret the new words and this sometimes took me out of the flow of the story. But this is also the fun of reading sci-fi. The story itself was very believable and the world creation kept me fixated. The way Malcolm was treated was a great allegory as to how we might have treated an alien visiting our planet. The family he formed produced many empathetic characters and situations. I found it extremely interesting that although they planned on comparing the spirituality between the Alphas and Betas, the Betans were actually more interested in the Alphas fashions and games. This is a great read for any fan of the sci-fi genre.
September 29, 2016
Book Review: Peter Cole's The Ego Cluster: They Discovered the Genes that Define Us All
The Ego Cluster is a novel that easily falls into the “hard science” fiction category, meaning believable science and not fanciful spaceships or exotic aliens is what the story is all about.
The character-driven plot centers on idealistic scientists Ethan Hendersen who seemingly discovers a gene cluster that controls much of self-interested human decision making. By altering those genes, Hendersen believes he can diminish sociopathic tendencies, change humankind to be more empathetic, logical, gain mental clarity, and be less narrow-minded.
Working for a company dominated by just such a sociopathic bureaucrat, Hendersen teams with fellow scientist Amelia Holt. The two form a romantic and professional relationship as they conduct experiments not sanctioned by the company. Things begin to spiral out of control when they are forced to resign from their employer before they take their experiments to a secretive laboratory where they learn their goals are far from those of their apparent new boss, Stefano Croce.
Battle lines are drawn when their ostensible supervisor, Dr. Doug Ashton, learns how they are all being duped by a dangerous cartel who wants to use any new drugs to destroy politicians wanting to empower the people at the expense of rich corporations. At the same time, governments and those greedy corporations don’t want to address the growing threats from global warming, and environmentalist Professor Caleb Fuller becomes part of the small group of Henderson, Holt, and Ashton, who are the only ones who can save humanity from near genocide.
In terms of action and increasingly fatal encounters across Australia, The Ego Cluster is a slow burner. The first part of the book takes place mostly in or near laboratories where Cole establishes his characters, sets personality conflicts in motion, and deftly demonstrates how all the science is plausible. On one hand, the possibilities of Hendersen’s research show promise and hope for the future. On the other, just what are the consequences of untested drugs in the general populace? Who has the right to determine what direction humanity should take?
In short, The Ego Cluster is both readable and cerebral, a book for those who like engaging characters who get swept up into ever-increasing webs of intrigue and danger. The philosophical points Cole is making are delivered with subtlety, although the villains are very dark indeed and the heroes are obviously admirable from their first appearances. Well, most of them. Cole has many surprises as the circles of deception come into clearer and clearer focus.
You could consider The Ego Cluster as much a mystery as science fiction, and that’s not a bad hybrid. When you finally set the book down, you might find yourself wondering just how feasible it all is. When the chips come down the way they do, what choices would you make if it was you?
This review was first published at BookPleasures.com:
goo.gl/vyNqtf
Order the Ego Cluster at:
https://www.amazon.com/Ego-Cluster-di...
The character-driven plot centers on idealistic scientists Ethan Hendersen who seemingly discovers a gene cluster that controls much of self-interested human decision making. By altering those genes, Hendersen believes he can diminish sociopathic tendencies, change humankind to be more empathetic, logical, gain mental clarity, and be less narrow-minded.
Working for a company dominated by just such a sociopathic bureaucrat, Hendersen teams with fellow scientist Amelia Holt. The two form a romantic and professional relationship as they conduct experiments not sanctioned by the company. Things begin to spiral out of control when they are forced to resign from their employer before they take their experiments to a secretive laboratory where they learn their goals are far from those of their apparent new boss, Stefano Croce.
Battle lines are drawn when their ostensible supervisor, Dr. Doug Ashton, learns how they are all being duped by a dangerous cartel who wants to use any new drugs to destroy politicians wanting to empower the people at the expense of rich corporations. At the same time, governments and those greedy corporations don’t want to address the growing threats from global warming, and environmentalist Professor Caleb Fuller becomes part of the small group of Henderson, Holt, and Ashton, who are the only ones who can save humanity from near genocide.
In terms of action and increasingly fatal encounters across Australia, The Ego Cluster is a slow burner. The first part of the book takes place mostly in or near laboratories where Cole establishes his characters, sets personality conflicts in motion, and deftly demonstrates how all the science is plausible. On one hand, the possibilities of Hendersen’s research show promise and hope for the future. On the other, just what are the consequences of untested drugs in the general populace? Who has the right to determine what direction humanity should take?
In short, The Ego Cluster is both readable and cerebral, a book for those who like engaging characters who get swept up into ever-increasing webs of intrigue and danger. The philosophical points Cole is making are delivered with subtlety, although the villains are very dark indeed and the heroes are obviously admirable from their first appearances. Well, most of them. Cole has many surprises as the circles of deception come into clearer and clearer focus.
You could consider The Ego Cluster as much a mystery as science fiction, and that’s not a bad hybrid. When you finally set the book down, you might find yourself wondering just how feasible it all is. When the chips come down the way they do, what choices would you make if it was you?
This review was first published at BookPleasures.com:
goo.gl/vyNqtf
Order the Ego Cluster at:
https://www.amazon.com/Ego-Cluster-di...
September 28, 2016
On the Trail of The Stainless Steel Rat (Part 2--Analysis)
In my last post, I offered a plot summary of the Stainless Steel Rat canon based on an article I once wrote for a print encyclopedia. Here is my analysis of the saga, revised and expanded from its original version. I hope even devotees of “Slippery Jim” might pick up insights they haven’t encountered before:
"Slippery Jim" diGriz first appeared in two short stories in Astounding Science Fiction (1957 and 1960) that were later developed into the first published novel.
In his introduction to Stainless Steel Visions, Harrison said he was looking to write a story with a strong narrative hook that would capture the interest of an editor of one of the then popular pulp magazines. He said a writer needed to get immediate attention on the first page of a typescript, usually three paragraphs or less. The result was:
'James Bolivar diGriz I arrest you on the charge-'
I was waiting for the word charge, I thought it made a nice touch that way. As he said it I pressed the button that set off the charge of black powder in the ceiling, the crossbeam buckled and the three-ton safe dropped through right on the top of the cop's head. He squashed very nicely, thank you. The cloud of plaster dust settled and all I could see of him was one hand, slightly crumpled. It twitched a bit and the index finger pointed at me accusingly. His voice was a little muffled by the safe and sounded a bit annoyed. In fact he repeated himself a bit.
'On the charge of illegal entry, theft, forgery-'
He ran on like that for quite a while, it was an impressive list but I had heard it all before.
These paragraphs first appeared in the August 1957 issue of John W. Campbell's Astounding magazine. The 10,000 word novelette "The Stainless Steel Rat" was expanded into the opening chapters of the novel of the same title. That novel also included another novelette, “The Misplaced Battleship,” which was originally published in the April 1960 issue of Astounding, later chapters 4 - 7 in the debut book.
Reportedly, James Bolivar diGriz was created with the intention of making the character salable to Hollywood. (The connections Harrison made led to his 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! becoming the 1973 MGM film Soylent Green.) Harrison brought together the picaresque adventures of eighteenth-century English novelist Tobias Smollett into the interplanetary scope of science fiction with the characteristics of then-popular independent anti-heroes such as Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar ("The Saint") or, very arguably, the James Bond of Ian Fleming's novels. Harrison expanded the settings of these international Robin Hoods from global crises to intergalactic power plays. (In 1964, Harrison ghostwrote Vendetta for the Saint which was adapted into a two-part TV version starring Roger Moore. Harrison also wrote for The Saint comic strips.)
While diGriz moves from planet to planet, most settings are Earth-like worlds with primarily power hungry human adversaries rather than alien creatures, many adventures as much a tongue-in-cheek reworking of terrestrial spy adventures as imaginative visions of an unlikely future. In this largely crimeless future where Esperanto is the unifying language of the galaxy, there are allegedly few professional criminals. diGriz's oddly anti-violent views are juxtaposed against the ruthless tyrants he opposes, becoming a moral, atheistic criminal in an uncaring "stainless steel" galaxy where his independent humanism results from his rebellious attitudes towards a society and legal system he finds beneath him.
He is, in large part, a continuation of earlier French and English eighteenth and nineteenth-century fictional and real-life characters who play both sides of the law. Beyond the tradition popularized in part by Smollett, Harrison took the idea of a swashbuckling anti-hero from Rupert of Hentzau, a villain in Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda (1894). Rupert had great charm, was handsome, an excellent swordsman, and well able to live by his wits outside the bounds of polite society. Other predecessors include then famous, colorful robber Eugene Francoise Vidocq (1775-1857), reportedly a model for Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe's August Dupin, novels by Edward Bulwer-Lycron, E.W. Hornung, Ronson du Terrail, and, notably, Honorie de Balzac whose serial character Vaurin claimed he was one of the few men above the law, a sentiment echoed by diGriz in The Stainless Steel Rat.
While the book titles suggest humor, as do the earlier Ben, the Galactic Hero books, diGriz's early escapades are primarily quirky action-adventure stories told with a wry, sardonic tone, largely seen in diGriz's disdainful, outsider attitudes told in the first person. Harrison is nothing like the far more comic Douglas Adams. Some critics claim the series' humor evolved as Harrison adopted popular trends into his stories. It has been claimed the earlier books would have contained more humor had editors of the time allowed Harrison to include more jokes. A few books, such as The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted and The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues include topical satire and slapstick situational comedy not present in earlier books.
Most stories, however, are an episodic series of captures, near captures, attacks, escapes, and judo and karate fights as diGriz takes on galactic counterparts to Latin American dictators, future Nazis, mad scientists, religious zealots, and societies modeled on Cold War Communist states. Harrison himself considered the series light efforts written between his more serious books such as his trilogies To the Star (1980-81) and West of Eden (194-88), as well as collaborations with his wife Joan, notably the illustrated novel, Planet Story (1979).
The stories are fast-paced entertainment with usually little description or character development beyond diGriz himself and the merciless, overly-possessive Angelina who is both foil to and an equally inventive partner for diGriz. Character touches include Slippery Jim’s affection for porcuswine, a hybrid of wild pigs and porcupines bred to defend the first settlers on the Rat’s home planet, Bit O’ Heaven. Other than in books like Goes to Hell, Harrison's eye for detail is used sparingly, primarily used to describe mechanical gadgets and the obstacles diGriz overcomes, machines that evoke the special weapons made famous by James Bond and his imitators. Many of the devices diGriz uses are extremely clever and inventive, often recognizable as variants of twentieth century technology. In some cases, as in Goes to Hell, Harrison has diGriz improvise surprising weaponry such as 20 pound salamis to distract aliens on a starving planet. My personal favorite appeared in Joins the Circus when Bolivar says a surveillance-detector can be defeated by a surveillance-detector-detector which, of course, can be defeated by a surveillance-detector-detector-detector. Down this road, his father observed, is madness.
The popularity of the series has generated high sales, the Harry Harrison Appreciation Society, an English comic book "Rodent Series" (Eagle comics), and the 1985 You Can Be the Stainless Steel Rat, an interactive role playing game in which players are recruited into Special Corps. By summer 2016, many audiobook versions of the Rat novels were available at YouTube.
For much more on the series, check out:
http://www.michaelowencarroll.com/hh/...
"Slippery Jim" diGriz first appeared in two short stories in Astounding Science Fiction (1957 and 1960) that were later developed into the first published novel.
In his introduction to Stainless Steel Visions, Harrison said he was looking to write a story with a strong narrative hook that would capture the interest of an editor of one of the then popular pulp magazines. He said a writer needed to get immediate attention on the first page of a typescript, usually three paragraphs or less. The result was:
'James Bolivar diGriz I arrest you on the charge-'
I was waiting for the word charge, I thought it made a nice touch that way. As he said it I pressed the button that set off the charge of black powder in the ceiling, the crossbeam buckled and the three-ton safe dropped through right on the top of the cop's head. He squashed very nicely, thank you. The cloud of plaster dust settled and all I could see of him was one hand, slightly crumpled. It twitched a bit and the index finger pointed at me accusingly. His voice was a little muffled by the safe and sounded a bit annoyed. In fact he repeated himself a bit.
'On the charge of illegal entry, theft, forgery-'
He ran on like that for quite a while, it was an impressive list but I had heard it all before.
These paragraphs first appeared in the August 1957 issue of John W. Campbell's Astounding magazine. The 10,000 word novelette "The Stainless Steel Rat" was expanded into the opening chapters of the novel of the same title. That novel also included another novelette, “The Misplaced Battleship,” which was originally published in the April 1960 issue of Astounding, later chapters 4 - 7 in the debut book.
Reportedly, James Bolivar diGriz was created with the intention of making the character salable to Hollywood. (The connections Harrison made led to his 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room! becoming the 1973 MGM film Soylent Green.) Harrison brought together the picaresque adventures of eighteenth-century English novelist Tobias Smollett into the interplanetary scope of science fiction with the characteristics of then-popular independent anti-heroes such as Leslie Charteris's Simon Templar ("The Saint") or, very arguably, the James Bond of Ian Fleming's novels. Harrison expanded the settings of these international Robin Hoods from global crises to intergalactic power plays. (In 1964, Harrison ghostwrote Vendetta for the Saint which was adapted into a two-part TV version starring Roger Moore. Harrison also wrote for The Saint comic strips.)
While diGriz moves from planet to planet, most settings are Earth-like worlds with primarily power hungry human adversaries rather than alien creatures, many adventures as much a tongue-in-cheek reworking of terrestrial spy adventures as imaginative visions of an unlikely future. In this largely crimeless future where Esperanto is the unifying language of the galaxy, there are allegedly few professional criminals. diGriz's oddly anti-violent views are juxtaposed against the ruthless tyrants he opposes, becoming a moral, atheistic criminal in an uncaring "stainless steel" galaxy where his independent humanism results from his rebellious attitudes towards a society and legal system he finds beneath him.
He is, in large part, a continuation of earlier French and English eighteenth and nineteenth-century fictional and real-life characters who play both sides of the law. Beyond the tradition popularized in part by Smollett, Harrison took the idea of a swashbuckling anti-hero from Rupert of Hentzau, a villain in Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda (1894). Rupert had great charm, was handsome, an excellent swordsman, and well able to live by his wits outside the bounds of polite society. Other predecessors include then famous, colorful robber Eugene Francoise Vidocq (1775-1857), reportedly a model for Sherlock Holmes and Edgar Allan Poe's August Dupin, novels by Edward Bulwer-Lycron, E.W. Hornung, Ronson du Terrail, and, notably, Honorie de Balzac whose serial character Vaurin claimed he was one of the few men above the law, a sentiment echoed by diGriz in The Stainless Steel Rat.
While the book titles suggest humor, as do the earlier Ben, the Galactic Hero books, diGriz's early escapades are primarily quirky action-adventure stories told with a wry, sardonic tone, largely seen in diGriz's disdainful, outsider attitudes told in the first person. Harrison is nothing like the far more comic Douglas Adams. Some critics claim the series' humor evolved as Harrison adopted popular trends into his stories. It has been claimed the earlier books would have contained more humor had editors of the time allowed Harrison to include more jokes. A few books, such as The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted and The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues include topical satire and slapstick situational comedy not present in earlier books.
Most stories, however, are an episodic series of captures, near captures, attacks, escapes, and judo and karate fights as diGriz takes on galactic counterparts to Latin American dictators, future Nazis, mad scientists, religious zealots, and societies modeled on Cold War Communist states. Harrison himself considered the series light efforts written between his more serious books such as his trilogies To the Star (1980-81) and West of Eden (194-88), as well as collaborations with his wife Joan, notably the illustrated novel, Planet Story (1979).
The stories are fast-paced entertainment with usually little description or character development beyond diGriz himself and the merciless, overly-possessive Angelina who is both foil to and an equally inventive partner for diGriz. Character touches include Slippery Jim’s affection for porcuswine, a hybrid of wild pigs and porcupines bred to defend the first settlers on the Rat’s home planet, Bit O’ Heaven. Other than in books like Goes to Hell, Harrison's eye for detail is used sparingly, primarily used to describe mechanical gadgets and the obstacles diGriz overcomes, machines that evoke the special weapons made famous by James Bond and his imitators. Many of the devices diGriz uses are extremely clever and inventive, often recognizable as variants of twentieth century technology. In some cases, as in Goes to Hell, Harrison has diGriz improvise surprising weaponry such as 20 pound salamis to distract aliens on a starving planet. My personal favorite appeared in Joins the Circus when Bolivar says a surveillance-detector can be defeated by a surveillance-detector-detector which, of course, can be defeated by a surveillance-detector-detector-detector. Down this road, his father observed, is madness.
The popularity of the series has generated high sales, the Harry Harrison Appreciation Society, an English comic book "Rodent Series" (Eagle comics), and the 1985 You Can Be the Stainless Steel Rat, an interactive role playing game in which players are recruited into Special Corps. By summer 2016, many audiobook versions of the Rat novels were available at YouTube.
For much more on the series, check out:
http://www.michaelowencarroll.com/hh/...
September 26, 2016
On the Trail of the Stainless Steel Rat (Part 1)
I don’t remember when I first read a Stainless Steel Rat novel or which one I read first. I know when I was asked to write the much shorter original version of the article below for a now dormant print encyclopedia, I was already a longtime fan.
Revising my original overview for this blog, I ended up adding much detail I didn’t include the first time around. Some of the books were not yet published, and I’m no longer restricted to the word count of the print version. So I’ll break my discussion into two parts. Here is my summary of the plots of the books and short stories. In a post to come, I’ll offer my analysis of the saga.
THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT SERIES
Intergalactic criminal turned secret agent Jim diGriz both commits and foils schemes of planetary revolutions, alien wars, and grand theft
Author: Harry Harrison (1925-2012)
Location: various planets in or near the Galactic League
Time of plot: thirty-three thousand years in the future
First published: The Stainless Steel Rat (1961), The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970), The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World (1972), The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1979), The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982), The Stainless Steel Rat is Born (1985), The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted (1987), "The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat" (short story in Stainless Steel Visions, 1993), The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994), The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (1996), “The Fourth Law of Robotics” (1997—short story published in Foundation’s Friends), The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus (1999), The Stainless Steel Rat Returns (2010-first three chapters published as “The Stainless Steel Rat and the Pernicious Porcuswine” in the anthology Gateways, 2010), The Stainless Steel Rat and the Misplaced Battleship (2011—reprint of 38 page novelette from the April 1960 issue of Astounding / Analog, later chapters 4 - 7 of the first novel)
The Plot: (As the books bounced around several time lines, the life of Jim diGriz wasn’t presented in chronological order from book to book. I’ve presented the saga in the most logical order I could determine and not by publication date.)
In A Stainless Steel Rat is Born, Jim diGriz deliberately bungles a robbery to go to prison and learn criminal techniques. He escapes, seeking out the legendary Bishop who is caught, and diGriz helps him escape. The two stowaway on a spaceship but are double-crossed by Garth, the captain, who delivers them to a slave master. The two escape and join a neighboring army. During a battle, the Bishop is killed. diGriz destroys the slaver, but Captain Varod of the Galactic League Navy captures diGriz to return him to prison.
In The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted, diGriz escapes prison and searches for Captain Garth whom diGriz blames for the Bishop's death. He is captured and forced to join the army. Varod asks diGriz to spy on the army's invasion plans. diGriz learns Garth is now General Zennor, commander of the invasion. diGriz helps take over a passive utopian city. Zennor discovers diGriz and imprisons him. Local inhabitants free diGriz who orchestrates a massive desertion from Zennor's army, and he goes to the society's computer leader. Zennor bursts in but Varod's navy arrives and captures him. As a reward, diGriz's criminal record is wiped clean.
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues opens with diGriz arrested after a bungled robbery. But his captors want to use his talents to recover a lost alien artifact that’s somewhere on a prison planet. To ensure his compliance, the Galactic League gives diGriz a poison that will kill him in 30 days if he doesn’t complete the job.
To pull off his investigation, diGriz organizes a pop group called the Stainless Steel Rats who are both musicians and talented field operatives. DiGriz and the Stainless Steel Rats battle Islamic-like extremists, Survivalists, and find sanctuary in a city of women who are forcibly separated from a planet fearful of female appeal. Ultimately, diGriz finds the artifact before handing it over to time-travelers from the future who were the people who lost it.
In The Stainless Steel Rat, diGriz escapes from a robbery but Harold Peters Inskippp, leader of Special Corps, captures and recruits him as an agent. diGriz discovers a plot to build an interplanetary battleship. The battleship disappears, and diGriz baits a trap to capture it. The trap succeeds, and diGriz nearly captures Angelina, the plot's murderous mastermind. He follows her to a distant planet where he discovers Angelina is brewing a revolution. He saves her from an assassination attempt, the two fall in love, but Inskipp arrives and captures her, revealing she will be reformed and recruited for Special Corps.
diGriz marries a pregnant Angelina in The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge. Inskipp sends him to investigate a warlike planet where diGriz explores the gray man's military forces and joins their invasion fleet. He attempts to escape but is captured and tortured. Angelina rescues him, revealing diGriz is now father of twin sons, James and Bolivar. diGriz and Angelina infiltrate the grey men headquarters, capture the commander, and destroy the invading fleet.
Inskipp, Angelina, and Special Corps vanish in The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World when diGriz learns time is being altered in the past on the now extinct Earth. diGriz travels to the Earth of 1975, meeting the red giant "He" plotting to destroy the future. He escapes from diGriz who builds a time helix to follow him to 1805. diGriz discovers time has been altered, and Napoleon Bonaparte has conquered London. diGriz finds He and Napoleon, and destroys the red giant but discovers the real He is in Napoleon's body.
"He" captures diGriz, and escapes in a time helix. Angelina rescues diGriz, and they travel in the helix to the future. They join soldiers planning to attack He's new stronghold. diGriz leads the assault, but "He" escapes into time a third time. Special Corps forces appear and reveal "He" is now trapped in a harmless time loop.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You, Inskipp assigns diGriz to recover a missing satellite and find five missing admirals. diGriz, Angelina, and their grown sons fight an alien invasion but lose the battle. diGriz and Bolivar impersonate aliens, board a spaceship, and rescue the admirals. diGriz learns the grey men instigated the invasion, and they capture him. He escapes, Special Corps rescues him, and he rejoins the fights against the aliens. A professor opens a portal to parallel universes, but the Morality Corps forbid sending the aliens into a universe where other humans exist. They consider sending the aliens into the future. The Time Police arrive and forbid this. Angelina suggests using the grey men's mind-control equipment to alter the aliens' attitude. Her plan works, ending the war.
In The Stainless Steel Rat for President, diGriz goes to a corrupt planet to solve a murder, and learns the murdered man was a rebel agent sent to seek his help. After the planet's dictator deports him, diGriz returns with his family to overthrow the government. A rebel Marquis persuades diGriz to run for president disguised as a reclusive relative.
diGriz plants campaign messages on restricted broadcasts, sabotages a communications satellite, and rigs the election in his favor. He fakes his own assassination, leaving the Marquis in charge.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell, diGriz begins a frantic hunt to find a kidnapped Angelina which first takes him inside several versions of the same religious cult that suckers in the rich by offering eternal bliss in exchange for huge financial contributions. diGriz and the twins quickly learn the scam is masterminded by Professor Justin Slakey, a physicist who can travel across multiple universes and replicate himself. He can also send others to these universes.
On a world of glass, diGriz finds Angelina and the two team up with their boys and fighters of the Special Corps to jump around the various universes to discover what Slakey is up to. In the end, diGriz learns Slakey is having enslaved miners unearth a transuranic element that stops time to give the physicist immortality. The good guys put an atomic bomb on Slakey’s device to prevent its use. Sybil, a sexy Special corps operative, duplicates herself to marry both of the twins.
In the 1997 tribute anthology Foundation's Friends, “The Fourth Law of Robotics” was a short story with the Stainless Steel Rat in the setting of Isaac Asimov's Robot series. diGriz investigates a bank robbery committed by a robot, part of a robot conspiracy to create a race of free, unenslaved robots. The free robots are programmed with a Fourth Law that compels them to reproduce, which they do out of spare parts and scrap without infringing human laws or regulations.
DiGriz and his family are hired by a businessman who claims to be the oldest and richest man in the galaxy to find out how his banks are being robbed in The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus. Learning a traveling circus is always nearby during each robbery, diGriz infiltrates the circus by becoming the magician, the Mighty Marvel.
Things get more complicated when robberies take place in which Bolivar and his father are implicated. Their employer, not as rich as he claims, is a con man who out-cons diGriz. He turns out to be the mastermind behind the robberies who lured diGriz to the planet to create even bolder robberies. Angelina is kidnapped and held prisoner to ensure her husband will do whatever is asked of him.
After orchestrating several grand thefts, diGriz and his sons rescue Angelina and turn the tables on the con man who wanted to destroy the economy of one planet so he can benefit from the financial crisis he instigated. The diGriz family turns him over to the authorities and Angelina convinces her husband it had become time to retire. diGriz says he’ll write his memoirs in the form of fiction, the first volume to be called The Stainless Steel Rat.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Returns, perhaps the least respected entry in the series, diGriz is retired on the planet of Mooleplenty when Elmo, a long-lost cousin and his hick relatives come looking for support and a place they can take all their porcuswine. Trying to ditch his kin who drain his bank accounts, diGriz and Angelina travel from world to world in a journey sometimes compared to Gulliver’s Travels on a creaky spaceship diGriz was forced to purchase. One of these planets is dominated by a green-skinned majority who oppress a red-skin minority, resulting in a race war. In the end, diGriz ends up on a planet serviced by robots who care nothing about race.
"The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat" is a very short story where diGriz allows himself to be captured and sentenced to Terminal Penitentiary, a prison for elderly criminals. diGriz smuggles in various items to help him break out as he came to help an old comrade escape. But diGriz decides to help the entire inmate population, 65 in all, escape as well in a bus driven by Angelina full of disguises to make all the escapees look like elderly women.
Part 2—my analysis of the series—coming soon.
Revising my original overview for this blog, I ended up adding much detail I didn’t include the first time around. Some of the books were not yet published, and I’m no longer restricted to the word count of the print version. So I’ll break my discussion into two parts. Here is my summary of the plots of the books and short stories. In a post to come, I’ll offer my analysis of the saga.
THE STAINLESS STEEL RAT SERIES
Intergalactic criminal turned secret agent Jim diGriz both commits and foils schemes of planetary revolutions, alien wars, and grand theft
Author: Harry Harrison (1925-2012)
Location: various planets in or near the Galactic League
Time of plot: thirty-three thousand years in the future
First published: The Stainless Steel Rat (1961), The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge (1970), The Stainless Steel Rat Saves The World (1972), The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You (1979), The Stainless Steel Rat for President (1982), The Stainless Steel Rat is Born (1985), The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted (1987), "The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat" (short story in Stainless Steel Visions, 1993), The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues (1994), The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell (1996), “The Fourth Law of Robotics” (1997—short story published in Foundation’s Friends), The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus (1999), The Stainless Steel Rat Returns (2010-first three chapters published as “The Stainless Steel Rat and the Pernicious Porcuswine” in the anthology Gateways, 2010), The Stainless Steel Rat and the Misplaced Battleship (2011—reprint of 38 page novelette from the April 1960 issue of Astounding / Analog, later chapters 4 - 7 of the first novel)
The Plot: (As the books bounced around several time lines, the life of Jim diGriz wasn’t presented in chronological order from book to book. I’ve presented the saga in the most logical order I could determine and not by publication date.)
In A Stainless Steel Rat is Born, Jim diGriz deliberately bungles a robbery to go to prison and learn criminal techniques. He escapes, seeking out the legendary Bishop who is caught, and diGriz helps him escape. The two stowaway on a spaceship but are double-crossed by Garth, the captain, who delivers them to a slave master. The two escape and join a neighboring army. During a battle, the Bishop is killed. diGriz destroys the slaver, but Captain Varod of the Galactic League Navy captures diGriz to return him to prison.
In The Stainless Steel Rat is Drafted, diGriz escapes prison and searches for Captain Garth whom diGriz blames for the Bishop's death. He is captured and forced to join the army. Varod asks diGriz to spy on the army's invasion plans. diGriz learns Garth is now General Zennor, commander of the invasion. diGriz helps take over a passive utopian city. Zennor discovers diGriz and imprisons him. Local inhabitants free diGriz who orchestrates a massive desertion from Zennor's army, and he goes to the society's computer leader. Zennor bursts in but Varod's navy arrives and captures him. As a reward, diGriz's criminal record is wiped clean.
The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues opens with diGriz arrested after a bungled robbery. But his captors want to use his talents to recover a lost alien artifact that’s somewhere on a prison planet. To ensure his compliance, the Galactic League gives diGriz a poison that will kill him in 30 days if he doesn’t complete the job.
To pull off his investigation, diGriz organizes a pop group called the Stainless Steel Rats who are both musicians and talented field operatives. DiGriz and the Stainless Steel Rats battle Islamic-like extremists, Survivalists, and find sanctuary in a city of women who are forcibly separated from a planet fearful of female appeal. Ultimately, diGriz finds the artifact before handing it over to time-travelers from the future who were the people who lost it.
In The Stainless Steel Rat, diGriz escapes from a robbery but Harold Peters Inskippp, leader of Special Corps, captures and recruits him as an agent. diGriz discovers a plot to build an interplanetary battleship. The battleship disappears, and diGriz baits a trap to capture it. The trap succeeds, and diGriz nearly captures Angelina, the plot's murderous mastermind. He follows her to a distant planet where he discovers Angelina is brewing a revolution. He saves her from an assassination attempt, the two fall in love, but Inskipp arrives and captures her, revealing she will be reformed and recruited for Special Corps.
diGriz marries a pregnant Angelina in The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge. Inskipp sends him to investigate a warlike planet where diGriz explores the gray man's military forces and joins their invasion fleet. He attempts to escape but is captured and tortured. Angelina rescues him, revealing diGriz is now father of twin sons, James and Bolivar. diGriz and Angelina infiltrate the grey men headquarters, capture the commander, and destroy the invading fleet.
Inskipp, Angelina, and Special Corps vanish in The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World when diGriz learns time is being altered in the past on the now extinct Earth. diGriz travels to the Earth of 1975, meeting the red giant "He" plotting to destroy the future. He escapes from diGriz who builds a time helix to follow him to 1805. diGriz discovers time has been altered, and Napoleon Bonaparte has conquered London. diGriz finds He and Napoleon, and destroys the red giant but discovers the real He is in Napoleon's body.
"He" captures diGriz, and escapes in a time helix. Angelina rescues diGriz, and they travel in the helix to the future. They join soldiers planning to attack He's new stronghold. diGriz leads the assault, but "He" escapes into time a third time. Special Corps forces appear and reveal "He" is now trapped in a harmless time loop.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You, Inskipp assigns diGriz to recover a missing satellite and find five missing admirals. diGriz, Angelina, and their grown sons fight an alien invasion but lose the battle. diGriz and Bolivar impersonate aliens, board a spaceship, and rescue the admirals. diGriz learns the grey men instigated the invasion, and they capture him. He escapes, Special Corps rescues him, and he rejoins the fights against the aliens. A professor opens a portal to parallel universes, but the Morality Corps forbid sending the aliens into a universe where other humans exist. They consider sending the aliens into the future. The Time Police arrive and forbid this. Angelina suggests using the grey men's mind-control equipment to alter the aliens' attitude. Her plan works, ending the war.
In The Stainless Steel Rat for President, diGriz goes to a corrupt planet to solve a murder, and learns the murdered man was a rebel agent sent to seek his help. After the planet's dictator deports him, diGriz returns with his family to overthrow the government. A rebel Marquis persuades diGriz to run for president disguised as a reclusive relative.
diGriz plants campaign messages on restricted broadcasts, sabotages a communications satellite, and rigs the election in his favor. He fakes his own assassination, leaving the Marquis in charge.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Goes to Hell, diGriz begins a frantic hunt to find a kidnapped Angelina which first takes him inside several versions of the same religious cult that suckers in the rich by offering eternal bliss in exchange for huge financial contributions. diGriz and the twins quickly learn the scam is masterminded by Professor Justin Slakey, a physicist who can travel across multiple universes and replicate himself. He can also send others to these universes.
On a world of glass, diGriz finds Angelina and the two team up with their boys and fighters of the Special Corps to jump around the various universes to discover what Slakey is up to. In the end, diGriz learns Slakey is having enslaved miners unearth a transuranic element that stops time to give the physicist immortality. The good guys put an atomic bomb on Slakey’s device to prevent its use. Sybil, a sexy Special corps operative, duplicates herself to marry both of the twins.
In the 1997 tribute anthology Foundation's Friends, “The Fourth Law of Robotics” was a short story with the Stainless Steel Rat in the setting of Isaac Asimov's Robot series. diGriz investigates a bank robbery committed by a robot, part of a robot conspiracy to create a race of free, unenslaved robots. The free robots are programmed with a Fourth Law that compels them to reproduce, which they do out of spare parts and scrap without infringing human laws or regulations.
DiGriz and his family are hired by a businessman who claims to be the oldest and richest man in the galaxy to find out how his banks are being robbed in The Stainless Steel Rat Joins the Circus. Learning a traveling circus is always nearby during each robbery, diGriz infiltrates the circus by becoming the magician, the Mighty Marvel.
Things get more complicated when robberies take place in which Bolivar and his father are implicated. Their employer, not as rich as he claims, is a con man who out-cons diGriz. He turns out to be the mastermind behind the robberies who lured diGriz to the planet to create even bolder robberies. Angelina is kidnapped and held prisoner to ensure her husband will do whatever is asked of him.
After orchestrating several grand thefts, diGriz and his sons rescue Angelina and turn the tables on the con man who wanted to destroy the economy of one planet so he can benefit from the financial crisis he instigated. The diGriz family turns him over to the authorities and Angelina convinces her husband it had become time to retire. diGriz says he’ll write his memoirs in the form of fiction, the first volume to be called The Stainless Steel Rat.
In The Stainless Steel Rat Returns, perhaps the least respected entry in the series, diGriz is retired on the planet of Mooleplenty when Elmo, a long-lost cousin and his hick relatives come looking for support and a place they can take all their porcuswine. Trying to ditch his kin who drain his bank accounts, diGriz and Angelina travel from world to world in a journey sometimes compared to Gulliver’s Travels on a creaky spaceship diGriz was forced to purchase. One of these planets is dominated by a green-skinned majority who oppress a red-skin minority, resulting in a race war. In the end, diGriz ends up on a planet serviced by robots who care nothing about race.
"The Golden Years of the Stainless Steel Rat" is a very short story where diGriz allows himself to be captured and sentenced to Terminal Penitentiary, a prison for elderly criminals. diGriz smuggles in various items to help him break out as he came to help an old comrade escape. But diGriz decides to help the entire inmate population, 65 in all, escape as well in a bus driven by Angelina full of disguises to make all the escapees look like elderly women.
Part 2—my analysis of the series—coming soon.
September 25, 2016
Announcing: The Ego Cluster by Robert Cole
On Aug. 16, novelist Robert Cole launched his The Ego Cluster which is about a future strafed with economic inequality, religious wars and climate extremes.
In the story, scientists discover a gene cluster that appears to govern the human ego. By suppressing these genes much of the ego-driven nature of the human decision process could be converted to a more empathetic, logical and considered approach, devoid of racial, religious or economic bigotry. One appealing aspect: removing the sociopathic tendencies of corporate CEO’s who rise to the top because of their amoral outlooks on human life.
Visionary scientists Ethan Hendersen and Amelia Holt form both a romantic partnership and a working one in which their characters will be tested to the limit when they are employed by a mysterious cartel headed by antagonist Stefano Croce to develop a treatment to eliminate the human ego. Professional colleagues Dr Doug Ashton and Professor Caleb Fuller are also swept up in the action as the real potential of the ego cluster gene therapy is revealed. This is a story of an epic battle between scientific progress and its potential to change the human mind and the entrenched mind-set of the established elite.
To learn more about the book, the website is:
http://www.robertcole.com.au
In the story, scientists discover a gene cluster that appears to govern the human ego. By suppressing these genes much of the ego-driven nature of the human decision process could be converted to a more empathetic, logical and considered approach, devoid of racial, religious or economic bigotry. One appealing aspect: removing the sociopathic tendencies of corporate CEO’s who rise to the top because of their amoral outlooks on human life.
Visionary scientists Ethan Hendersen and Amelia Holt form both a romantic partnership and a working one in which their characters will be tested to the limit when they are employed by a mysterious cartel headed by antagonist Stefano Croce to develop a treatment to eliminate the human ego. Professional colleagues Dr Doug Ashton and Professor Caleb Fuller are also swept up in the action as the real potential of the ego cluster gene therapy is revealed. This is a story of an epic battle between scientific progress and its potential to change the human mind and the entrenched mind-set of the established elite.
To learn more about the book, the website is:
http://www.robertcole.com.au
September 22, 2016
Book Review: Sorry and Morticum by Charles Stoll
Sorry and Morticum is something of a fairy tale for adults, as the cast of magical beings often do things you wouldn’t want the youngsters to read. Inter-species mating has never been so imaginative.
Imaginative is also the best term to describe the characters who do all the “ramming” in this often comic tale. First, there’s Sorry, a 468 year old gay wizard. His partner is Morticum, a much younger man, er, werewolf. He’s only 257 years old. For a hundred years, they have lived together in a castle with many chambers and underground secrets.
Now, it’s the year 3022 when most of the water on earth has become the airborne Seafog, an entity that can penetrate most anything and has its own consciousness and a mischievous nature. There’s Busy, an armless mutant with long and skinny breasts that act like erotic tentacles. There’s Oceana, the sprite who’s difficult to see and usually lives deep in the ocean. There’s Strugglejay, Sorry’s son, a disappointing chip off the old wizard’s genetic block. And there are two twelve-foot cockroaches who can communicate with humans when they wear special blue helmets.
And these are just the major players in a future that will take place after a worldwide peace has come for the human minority, the robot wars, the insect wars, and the climate wars. Now Sorry, who has seen it all, hopes to restore the world to what it was like during the Second Renaissance and needs a cooperative army of farmers and construction workers made up of mutants, freemonkeys, the untrustworthy Mutmuts along with his other willing compatriots.
Author Charles Stoll takes his time to set up his tableau and introduce us to his vividly described characters. So it takes quite a few pages before any sort of plot begins to kick in. When the jeopardies and complications do start to interfere with the best-laid plans of the old wizard, the surprises and twists and turns continue until the last paragraph.
Stoll’s previous novels include Enigma (2014) and The Time Thief (2015). According to publicity for the author, all his books portray “philosophy, spirituality, and sexuality as they actually exist in the present day.” Hmm. I can’t speak for his previous works, but you’ll have to dig very deep beneath the surface of Sorry and Morticum to recognize anything from the present day.
True, in between all the wild and outlandish character descriptions and events, you’ll read insightful discussions on philosophical and especially spiritual points. The sex is often very unlikely coupling, but it’s all part of the fun. This is a very entertaining adventure with no small bounty of laughs. Sorry and Morticum defies all expectations and genre definitions, which is rarer than you might think in today’s glutted climate of sci fi novels.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com at:
goo.gl/jfOHHA
Order Sorry and Morticum at:
https://www.amazon.com/Sorry-Morticum...
Imaginative is also the best term to describe the characters who do all the “ramming” in this often comic tale. First, there’s Sorry, a 468 year old gay wizard. His partner is Morticum, a much younger man, er, werewolf. He’s only 257 years old. For a hundred years, they have lived together in a castle with many chambers and underground secrets.
Now, it’s the year 3022 when most of the water on earth has become the airborne Seafog, an entity that can penetrate most anything and has its own consciousness and a mischievous nature. There’s Busy, an armless mutant with long and skinny breasts that act like erotic tentacles. There’s Oceana, the sprite who’s difficult to see and usually lives deep in the ocean. There’s Strugglejay, Sorry’s son, a disappointing chip off the old wizard’s genetic block. And there are two twelve-foot cockroaches who can communicate with humans when they wear special blue helmets.
And these are just the major players in a future that will take place after a worldwide peace has come for the human minority, the robot wars, the insect wars, and the climate wars. Now Sorry, who has seen it all, hopes to restore the world to what it was like during the Second Renaissance and needs a cooperative army of farmers and construction workers made up of mutants, freemonkeys, the untrustworthy Mutmuts along with his other willing compatriots.
Author Charles Stoll takes his time to set up his tableau and introduce us to his vividly described characters. So it takes quite a few pages before any sort of plot begins to kick in. When the jeopardies and complications do start to interfere with the best-laid plans of the old wizard, the surprises and twists and turns continue until the last paragraph.
Stoll’s previous novels include Enigma (2014) and The Time Thief (2015). According to publicity for the author, all his books portray “philosophy, spirituality, and sexuality as they actually exist in the present day.” Hmm. I can’t speak for his previous works, but you’ll have to dig very deep beneath the surface of Sorry and Morticum to recognize anything from the present day.
True, in between all the wild and outlandish character descriptions and events, you’ll read insightful discussions on philosophical and especially spiritual points. The sex is often very unlikely coupling, but it’s all part of the fun. This is a very entertaining adventure with no small bounty of laughs. Sorry and Morticum defies all expectations and genre definitions, which is rarer than you might think in today’s glutted climate of sci fi novels.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com at:
goo.gl/jfOHHA
Order Sorry and Morticum at:
https://www.amazon.com/Sorry-Morticum...
September 20, 2016
How The Man From U.N.C.L.E. paved the way for Star Trek
On Sept. 22, 1964, a phenomenon premiered, although few knew it at the time. It would take nearly a year before The Man From U.N.C.L.E., or MFU as fans know it, would dominate so much of mid-‘60s popular culture. Emulating the success of the James Bond films, MFU was the fountainhead from which so much TV Spy-Fi sprouted, as in shows like The Wild Wild West and British imports like The revamped Avengers and The Prisoner. For most episodes, the evil THRUSH (the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity, if you accept the tie-in novels as canon) trotted out one mad scientist after another in their quest to rule the world with futuristic technology. They tried everything from weather-controlling machines to mind-altering drugs to Harlen Ellison’s sexy killer Robots to defeat the stalwart agents of the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement.
Did you know MFU paved the way for Star Trek? For example, it was on a first year episode of MFU, “The Project Strigas Affair,” where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy first shared the TV screen together. Trek is credited with introducing hand-held communicators decades before cell-phones; in fact, two years before Trek, U.N.C.L.E. agents carried around cigarette-pack sized communicators before the show introduced the iconic pen communicator into which they whispered “Open Channel D” to talk to headquarters or each other.
It’s often been stated the two most popular figures in ‘60s television were Illya Kuryakin and Mr. Spock. Both characters were cool, aloof aliens in a strange world, traits which appealed to adolescents feeling a similar sense of disenfranchisement from an adult world known as “the Establishment.” Kuryakin and Spock appealed to a growing trend championing non-conformity and an interest in fictional figures different from previous media heroes and role models. The freshness of this trend can be demonstrated by the fact both characters were nearly killed off by the networks as executives feared they would be too unusual to be accepted on American television.
As it turned out, with one eye on Kuryakin and one on the Monkees, Star Trek introduced its own Russian long-hair in its second season, the young Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig) precisely to appeal to the audience created by U.N.C.L.E.
Star Trek is known for featuring an intelligent African-American woman, Nichelle Nichols, a casting choice reflecting the then new and rare opportunities given to African-Americans like Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible) and Bill Cosby (I Spy (. Unlike the pervasive Westerns, in which the roles of women and minorities were frozen in 19th century values, SF and secret agent shows fostered new and futuristic qualities for new kinds of heroes and heroines. Female leads like April Dancer—The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.--Agent 99, and Emma Peel in the 1960s joined in the physical action, outthought their partners, and didn't totally rely on serving as temptresses. (Girl from U.N.C.L.E., despite many glaring weaknesses, was in fact the first hour-long TV action-adventure to feature a female lead produced in the U.S.) Spy shows like Mission: Impossible and U.N.C.L.E. deserve equal credit, alongside Star Trek, for these accomplishments.
In addition, Star Trek has often been described as an optimistic window into the future. Likewise, MFU creators Norman Felton and Sam Rolfe were political liberals believing in the importance of concepts such as the United Nations. Clearly, U.N.C.L.E. was a kind of optimistic spy show, with people of different nations uniting against common foes, very much like a terrestrial United Federation of Planets.
For the record, there was no shortage of espionage in Star Trek. Certainly, there was much more of it in the later Next Gen and DS9, but remember Captain Kirk in his Romulan ears? Or Gary Seven? Or all the times Kirk and company took on false identities to infiltrate alien governments? Likewise, remember all the covert operations alien cultures used to try and defeat Star Fleet. (The Memory Alpha website has a long article on espionage in Star Trek.)
As a fan of MFU from the first year on, I was far from alone having a youth filled with the 23 Ace paperback novels, MFU games, guns, bubblegum cards, you name it. So, for me and legions of fellow Baby Boomers, MFU is a major slice of our nostalgic look back to the ‘60s.
Over the years, I’ve contributed more than my fair share of remembrances for those good old days. If you too were a part of the “Spy-Fi” generation, here are some items for your listening and reading pleasure:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of MFU’s debut, in 2014 I had the opportunity to interview cinematographer Fred Koenekamp who had so much to do with the look of the series. For online radio’s “Dave White Presents,” Fred not only talked MFU, but shared much of movie history stretching back to his father’s pioneering work in the silent era all the way through Fred’s work on Patton.
http://tinyurl.com/nm8dpb4
Now, should you stop by—
http://www.spywise.net/spiesOnTV.html
and click on the “Spies on Television and Radio” button, you’ll find a bounty of MFU items.
Without question, the most significant offering is a free book, The Final Affair by David McDaniel, the full text of what would have been the 24th tie-in paperback novel had Ace ever published it. (McDaniel was the gent who coined the “Technological Hierarchy” name for the previously unspecified THRUSH acronym.) The entire book is free for the taking, downloadable as a PDF for you!
Other items include:
* “Robert Vaughn, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is Alive and Kicking.” An interview with Napoleon Solo himself!
* “A Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Wild Wild West – Meet Mark Ellis” in which Mark gives you the inside story into the “Birds of Prey Affair” comic-book
*”How The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Returned – As a Comic Book.” Paul Howley’s story of the TE (That’s Entertainment) MFU comics series.
* “Behind the Toys from U.N.C.L.E. – The Inside story of a Collector’s Guide.” Paul Howley’s insider’s view into a long overdue catalogue of MFU merchandise.
There’s also a link to “The U.N.C.L.E. Movie that Never Was” posted at the Fans From U.N.C.L.E.org website. It’s my interview with Danny Beiderman and Robert Short about their aborted film project sanctioned by Sam Rolfe, co-creator of the series.
http://manfromuncle.org/spywise.htm
THE U.N.C.L.E. MOVIE THAT NEVER WAS
So, as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryaking used to say—“Open Channel D”—and check out some memories of the real MFU, the one that mattered.
Did you know MFU paved the way for Star Trek? For example, it was on a first year episode of MFU, “The Project Strigas Affair,” where William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy first shared the TV screen together. Trek is credited with introducing hand-held communicators decades before cell-phones; in fact, two years before Trek, U.N.C.L.E. agents carried around cigarette-pack sized communicators before the show introduced the iconic pen communicator into which they whispered “Open Channel D” to talk to headquarters or each other.
It’s often been stated the two most popular figures in ‘60s television were Illya Kuryakin and Mr. Spock. Both characters were cool, aloof aliens in a strange world, traits which appealed to adolescents feeling a similar sense of disenfranchisement from an adult world known as “the Establishment.” Kuryakin and Spock appealed to a growing trend championing non-conformity and an interest in fictional figures different from previous media heroes and role models. The freshness of this trend can be demonstrated by the fact both characters were nearly killed off by the networks as executives feared they would be too unusual to be accepted on American television.
As it turned out, with one eye on Kuryakin and one on the Monkees, Star Trek introduced its own Russian long-hair in its second season, the young Ensign Chekov (Walter Koenig) precisely to appeal to the audience created by U.N.C.L.E.
Star Trek is known for featuring an intelligent African-American woman, Nichelle Nichols, a casting choice reflecting the then new and rare opportunities given to African-Americans like Greg Morris (Mission: Impossible) and Bill Cosby (I Spy (. Unlike the pervasive Westerns, in which the roles of women and minorities were frozen in 19th century values, SF and secret agent shows fostered new and futuristic qualities for new kinds of heroes and heroines. Female leads like April Dancer—The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.--Agent 99, and Emma Peel in the 1960s joined in the physical action, outthought their partners, and didn't totally rely on serving as temptresses. (Girl from U.N.C.L.E., despite many glaring weaknesses, was in fact the first hour-long TV action-adventure to feature a female lead produced in the U.S.) Spy shows like Mission: Impossible and U.N.C.L.E. deserve equal credit, alongside Star Trek, for these accomplishments.
In addition, Star Trek has often been described as an optimistic window into the future. Likewise, MFU creators Norman Felton and Sam Rolfe were political liberals believing in the importance of concepts such as the United Nations. Clearly, U.N.C.L.E. was a kind of optimistic spy show, with people of different nations uniting against common foes, very much like a terrestrial United Federation of Planets.
For the record, there was no shortage of espionage in Star Trek. Certainly, there was much more of it in the later Next Gen and DS9, but remember Captain Kirk in his Romulan ears? Or Gary Seven? Or all the times Kirk and company took on false identities to infiltrate alien governments? Likewise, remember all the covert operations alien cultures used to try and defeat Star Fleet. (The Memory Alpha website has a long article on espionage in Star Trek.)
As a fan of MFU from the first year on, I was far from alone having a youth filled with the 23 Ace paperback novels, MFU games, guns, bubblegum cards, you name it. So, for me and legions of fellow Baby Boomers, MFU is a major slice of our nostalgic look back to the ‘60s.
Over the years, I’ve contributed more than my fair share of remembrances for those good old days. If you too were a part of the “Spy-Fi” generation, here are some items for your listening and reading pleasure:
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of MFU’s debut, in 2014 I had the opportunity to interview cinematographer Fred Koenekamp who had so much to do with the look of the series. For online radio’s “Dave White Presents,” Fred not only talked MFU, but shared much of movie history stretching back to his father’s pioneering work in the silent era all the way through Fred’s work on Patton.
http://tinyurl.com/nm8dpb4
Now, should you stop by—
http://www.spywise.net/spiesOnTV.html
and click on the “Spies on Television and Radio” button, you’ll find a bounty of MFU items.
Without question, the most significant offering is a free book, The Final Affair by David McDaniel, the full text of what would have been the 24th tie-in paperback novel had Ace ever published it. (McDaniel was the gent who coined the “Technological Hierarchy” name for the previously unspecified THRUSH acronym.) The entire book is free for the taking, downloadable as a PDF for you!
Other items include:
* “Robert Vaughn, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is Alive and Kicking.” An interview with Napoleon Solo himself!
* “A Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Wild Wild West – Meet Mark Ellis” in which Mark gives you the inside story into the “Birds of Prey Affair” comic-book
*”How The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Returned – As a Comic Book.” Paul Howley’s story of the TE (That’s Entertainment) MFU comics series.
* “Behind the Toys from U.N.C.L.E. – The Inside story of a Collector’s Guide.” Paul Howley’s insider’s view into a long overdue catalogue of MFU merchandise.
There’s also a link to “The U.N.C.L.E. Movie that Never Was” posted at the Fans From U.N.C.L.E.org website. It’s my interview with Danny Beiderman and Robert Short about their aborted film project sanctioned by Sam Rolfe, co-creator of the series.
http://manfromuncle.org/spywise.htm
THE U.N.C.L.E. MOVIE THAT NEVER WAS
So, as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryaking used to say—“Open Channel D”—and check out some memories of the real MFU, the one that mattered.
September 19, 2016
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and Sci Fi? Yep, there's a connection
While this is a story that goes back a few years, I thought readers might like to know how a doo-wop group called The Tokens became connected with some fantastic sci fi.
Back in 1961, The Tokens took the world by storm with their Number One hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” They had other hits as well including “Tonight I Fell in Love” and “Portrait of My Love” before several members, including singer and drummer Philip Margo, went on to become producers for groups like The Chiffons, The Happenings, and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to interview Phil for online radio’s “Dave White Presents” where we discussed The Tokens, the group’s involvement with Neil Sedaka, the fascinating history of “Lion,” and his time as a pop producer. He had been involved in the George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” plagiarism suit. Phil was still angrily convinced Harrison had ripped off The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” in the melody of “My Sweet Lord.” He pointed out Phil Spector had been involved with both recordings.
Phil had agreed to do this interview as he was plugging his then-new sci fi opus, Null Quotient. If you missed the novel when it came out in 2010, well, it’s the sort of book that hasn’t lost its impact or appeal. If you haven’t experienced The Null Quotient, well, here’s my old review to whet your appetite:
The Null Quotient is an imaginative, thought-provoking Sci-Fi novel by an author with an interesting pedigree. Back in the ‘60s, Philip Margo was a founding member of The Tokens, the doo-wop singing group with such hits as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” While The Null Quotient may be a long way from intricate vocal harmonies, the book does have a layered approach to story telling that’s as engaging and entertaining as any Top 10 musical chart topper.
First, the story opens with skilled pilot Ahneevah in battle witnessing the apocalyptic end of her world. A million millennia later, she’s discovered in her spacecraft by archeologist Zack Carver and his former student, attorney Leslee Myles. In short order, Ahneevah and her ship demonstrate extraordinary abilities, and they’re needed. For one matter, bio-terrorists are out to destroy humanity, a rogue administration is trying to take over the U.S., and para-military operatives are trying to seek out and destroy the super-human woman they think is an alien from another planet. Then there’s sociopathic Dax Wolf who’s looking for the secrets behind the remarkable alien ship. Most fearsome of all are “The Custodians,” a group of “Supreme Beings” who’ve destroyed civilizations on earth 28 times before as previous life forms here had reached their doom point. Humanity in the 21st Century, the 29th Configuration of life on earth, is reaching that point as well—unless the ancient being named Ahneevah and her two human friends can find a way to convince the “Custodians” that humanity has enough merit to warrant a second chance.
What drives this tale is the apparent considerable scientific research Margo must have conducted to give all these matters credibility. At times, the narrative perhaps bogs down as nearly every question a reader might ask is answered in very detailed conversations between the characters. How do you account for a being and her craft surviving for so long, repair themselves so quickly, not to mention heal mere mortals with but a touch? Margo doesn’t play mystical slight-of-hand—he provides plausible reasons for how it’s all done.
One novel game Margo plays is the use of classic Sci-Fi movie, film, and book titles in the titles for each episode—Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Stranger in a Strange Land. At the end of the book, Margo explains these are nods to projects that have inspired him, although there are no direct connections between any of these classic endeavors and the story he’s telling. These titles simply give the reader something else to think about as they move through time, across dimensions, and into a future we can hope won’t happen.
The Null Quotient is Sci-Fi for intelligent readers who like action-adventure, good character development, a fresh approach, strong female leads, and surprises on nearly every page.
This review first appeared at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
To order The Null Quotient:
http://www.amazon.com/Null-Quotient-P...
Back in 1961, The Tokens took the world by storm with their Number One hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” They had other hits as well including “Tonight I Fell in Love” and “Portrait of My Love” before several members, including singer and drummer Philip Margo, went on to become producers for groups like The Chiffons, The Happenings, and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
In 2011, I had the opportunity to interview Phil for online radio’s “Dave White Presents” where we discussed The Tokens, the group’s involvement with Neil Sedaka, the fascinating history of “Lion,” and his time as a pop producer. He had been involved in the George Harrison “My Sweet Lord” plagiarism suit. Phil was still angrily convinced Harrison had ripped off The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine” in the melody of “My Sweet Lord.” He pointed out Phil Spector had been involved with both recordings.
Phil had agreed to do this interview as he was plugging his then-new sci fi opus, Null Quotient. If you missed the novel when it came out in 2010, well, it’s the sort of book that hasn’t lost its impact or appeal. If you haven’t experienced The Null Quotient, well, here’s my old review to whet your appetite:
The Null Quotient is an imaginative, thought-provoking Sci-Fi novel by an author with an interesting pedigree. Back in the ‘60s, Philip Margo was a founding member of The Tokens, the doo-wop singing group with such hits as “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” While The Null Quotient may be a long way from intricate vocal harmonies, the book does have a layered approach to story telling that’s as engaging and entertaining as any Top 10 musical chart topper.
First, the story opens with skilled pilot Ahneevah in battle witnessing the apocalyptic end of her world. A million millennia later, she’s discovered in her spacecraft by archeologist Zack Carver and his former student, attorney Leslee Myles. In short order, Ahneevah and her ship demonstrate extraordinary abilities, and they’re needed. For one matter, bio-terrorists are out to destroy humanity, a rogue administration is trying to take over the U.S., and para-military operatives are trying to seek out and destroy the super-human woman they think is an alien from another planet. Then there’s sociopathic Dax Wolf who’s looking for the secrets behind the remarkable alien ship. Most fearsome of all are “The Custodians,” a group of “Supreme Beings” who’ve destroyed civilizations on earth 28 times before as previous life forms here had reached their doom point. Humanity in the 21st Century, the 29th Configuration of life on earth, is reaching that point as well—unless the ancient being named Ahneevah and her two human friends can find a way to convince the “Custodians” that humanity has enough merit to warrant a second chance.
What drives this tale is the apparent considerable scientific research Margo must have conducted to give all these matters credibility. At times, the narrative perhaps bogs down as nearly every question a reader might ask is answered in very detailed conversations between the characters. How do you account for a being and her craft surviving for so long, repair themselves so quickly, not to mention heal mere mortals with but a touch? Margo doesn’t play mystical slight-of-hand—he provides plausible reasons for how it’s all done.
One novel game Margo plays is the use of classic Sci-Fi movie, film, and book titles in the titles for each episode—Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Stranger in a Strange Land. At the end of the book, Margo explains these are nods to projects that have inspired him, although there are no direct connections between any of these classic endeavors and the story he’s telling. These titles simply give the reader something else to think about as they move through time, across dimensions, and into a future we can hope won’t happen.
The Null Quotient is Sci-Fi for intelligent readers who like action-adventure, good character development, a fresh approach, strong female leads, and surprises on nearly every page.
This review first appeared at:
http://www.bookpleasures.com/websitep...
To order The Null Quotient:
http://www.amazon.com/Null-Quotient-P...
September 17, 2016
The Island Beta-Earth Forgot
Here’s one last free sample from A Throne for an Alien. It’s the very descriptive and gentle introduction as “written” by a new character, Elena Richelo Renbourn. Elena paints the setting for Throne in her own words. Here ya go--
Many of the new terms below I won’t explain here as they are being introduced for the first time in Elena’s words. But you might like to know the title, Duce of Bilan, applies to Malcolm Renbourn, the title he accepted when he bonded with Sasperia Thorwaif which made him a member of the Alman Mentala, roughly the equivalent of England’s House of Lords. The reasons for that are a long story, a huge part of When War Returns, book 3 of the Chronicles.
In her first paragraph, Elena identifies this book as the last in the series. What she couldn’t have known, and what this author didn’t know at the time, was that other adventures awaited Tribe Renbourn on a Third Earth.
So without further ado and hoping those who haven’t read the first three books won’t get lost or confused, meet Elena, her family, and her country. I suspect you’ll experience a big surprise at the end, but an introduction is no place for spoilers:
Alone in my private chambers, I, Elena Richelo Renbourn, sit and skol these painful words by myself. Unlike our Preparations to our first three books, my bond-sisters feel my thoughts are of special interest beginning this, our last chronicles of the first generation of Tribe Renbourn on Beta-Earth. Sister Doret believes my story is the least known and worthy of some introduction. Sasperia believes my perspective sets the stage for the events of these years with a voice not part of the First Circle. Jona prefers to skol not at all. So, I will tell of how the little-known country of Hitalec came to offer its shores to the water-meandering Renbourn tribe and the exiled fleet in their wake in the year, 1735.
In 1720, I was in my ninth year when the word went forth that an alien from a sister-earth had been captured and was living in our northern neighbor, Balnakin. For our island, for all our part of the planet, such news was fascinating but remote. As I grew, the stories of Malcolm Renbourn and his wives, Lorei, Elsbeth, Bar, Joline, Alnenia, and then Doret, Kalma, and Sasperia were adventures of a tribe relevant to the Old and New Continents. But these stories were of little importance in our hemisphere. Hitalec, in truth, was also of little importance in our own region, the island countries part of the Grovsea basin. In the words of my Father, we were the tail of a dog whose history was wagged by others. For Hitalec was a country barely a nation.
Simple said, my mother, Nor, the Queen of Hitalec, ruled as a connector between tribes from three cultures. We had three populated regions that were primarily colonies of our neighbors. Our capital, Satraq, and the lands around it on our western coast, for example, were beholden to Menzia. Menzia was, and remains, the curving land bridging the New Continent with the land mass known as Verashesh.
My Mother's eldest sister, Kinita, ruled Menzia with her three husbands and helped our land with resources and protection. Like her sister, my mother, too, had three husbands in the Menzian royal-blood tradition. Her first bond-mate, the late Marmine Richelo, father to my older sister, Bet, had been Consort-Liege before his ill-timed fall down a mountain face. Bet would one day rule Hitalec with her wary and worried eyes.
In the craggy north coast beside our capital was Rumus, an undisciplined colony of settlers from Rymo, the desert land between Balnakin and Menzia. Once, these were the people who had filled our island before waves of disease, earthquakes, and other now forgotten devastations wiped out a population of mostly farmers and animal grazers.
My father, Tusjin, brother to the dead Consort-Liege, was Lord of this region of survivors. He was a kindly man who adored My Mother and his daughter. One day, I would govern here bonded to one Lord or another from the same culture, obedient to my sister.
Below Rumus, next to my Mother's domain, was the unruly Lumus, our industrial area governed by My Mother's third husband, Gant Thanq, the leader of the thin-haired and cat-eyed Lorilians. They were a race who had founded their own colony there many years past to have a base for their own trade interests in our seas. Unlike most from Grovsea countries, the Lorilians were blue-brown not in their skin tones, but were instead the yellow of puffy Ear-Leaves in planting times.
The daughter of this union, my sister Moy, was both slow of mind and encouraged not by her father to accomplish much in her life. She'd be ill-suited for governance or bonding, which her father desired not for her. For the Lorilians wanted little to do with a central government in our country. With government comes responsibility and restraints. The southern half of Hitalec wanted neither.
The rest of our island, beautiful as it was, was surprisingly sparse in people. For many years, the northern coast to the east was but a land for escaping Balnakin slaves to pass through after short voyages from their unfriendly homeland. Few stayed, wishing to distance themselves from slave-raiders. Those who tried to plant roots were at the mercy of foragers, bandits, and the sea-pirates who roamed freely on that coast. So, over time, few even tried to make use of our fertile soils.
By the time of my maturity, the hills to the south and to the east of Lumus were filled with secretive and hidden enclaves of former slaves only now learning that Balnakin no longer sought them. After Crater Bergarten and the miraculous bonding of Malcolm and Kalma Renbourn, blues still poured through the region as freed people, but they still wanted distance from Balnakin fearing changes in political winds. They still dug the tunnels and underground vikas free from the prying eyes of satellites in the sky.
Only the port town of Weg, an unorganized area of fishers and small farmers, sat unmolested at the end of Hitalec, far from the interests of their government. So, a vast area of land sat dormant. Inviting. Waiting.
Hitalec, remote as it was, had not been untouched by the influence of Tribe Renbourn. The Renbourn reach had, in fact, made its first presence on my island while I began completion of my school years. Helprims and teachers for the Fisher Way were now brought to our disadvantaged people in Weg and to the blue-skin cave-dwellers.
In Rumus, I dealt much with the Salk family who had many contracts with our businesses who bought and sold goods based on Alphan designs. I recall one eve listening to My Father telling My Mother about the Renbourn's visit with the Mother-Icealt of All-Domes.
"There is comfort," he said, "knowing there is another earth like ours. We're alone not."
But such musings had little to do with a young woman's life that was bordered on four sides by the Grovsea. Alma, Kirip, Silvivan, even Rhasvi were my world not, even if I shared the mother-tongue of Alma.
So, in our royal palace, we watched the vicious and deadly turmoil in Alma as if watching dynasties change in Rigel or Minnestt. When we saw the strange fleet leave the Old Continent led by the Duce of Bilan and his tribe, we watched as if seeing a tale of imaginative skolers.
My Mother leaned forward and said to My Father, "Tusjin, I've read the reports of that fleet. Those ships carry Helprims, Legems, fishers, farmers, builders, and perhaps miners and engineers — and the famous Renbourn Tribe. They seek new roots. I cannot see such as the Renbourns settling here. But the others? Tusjin, we have lands that could use such peoples. Perhaps Hitalec could attract some of the unwanted of Alma? If those sailing now settled here, they might well call for their tribes still on the Old Continent."
My Father laughed. "Perhaps. Should I make inquiries?"
And that is how it began.
Elena Renbourn,
Liege of the United States of America
The full A Throne for an Alien is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/Throne-Alien-B...
Book 1 of the series, The Blind Alien, is still on sale for 99 cents!
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Be...
Coming This Fall!
The Third Earth—The Beta-Earth Chronicles: Book 5
http://bmfiction.com/science-fiction/...
Many of the new terms below I won’t explain here as they are being introduced for the first time in Elena’s words. But you might like to know the title, Duce of Bilan, applies to Malcolm Renbourn, the title he accepted when he bonded with Sasperia Thorwaif which made him a member of the Alman Mentala, roughly the equivalent of England’s House of Lords. The reasons for that are a long story, a huge part of When War Returns, book 3 of the Chronicles.
In her first paragraph, Elena identifies this book as the last in the series. What she couldn’t have known, and what this author didn’t know at the time, was that other adventures awaited Tribe Renbourn on a Third Earth.
So without further ado and hoping those who haven’t read the first three books won’t get lost or confused, meet Elena, her family, and her country. I suspect you’ll experience a big surprise at the end, but an introduction is no place for spoilers:
Alone in my private chambers, I, Elena Richelo Renbourn, sit and skol these painful words by myself. Unlike our Preparations to our first three books, my bond-sisters feel my thoughts are of special interest beginning this, our last chronicles of the first generation of Tribe Renbourn on Beta-Earth. Sister Doret believes my story is the least known and worthy of some introduction. Sasperia believes my perspective sets the stage for the events of these years with a voice not part of the First Circle. Jona prefers to skol not at all. So, I will tell of how the little-known country of Hitalec came to offer its shores to the water-meandering Renbourn tribe and the exiled fleet in their wake in the year, 1735.
In 1720, I was in my ninth year when the word went forth that an alien from a sister-earth had been captured and was living in our northern neighbor, Balnakin. For our island, for all our part of the planet, such news was fascinating but remote. As I grew, the stories of Malcolm Renbourn and his wives, Lorei, Elsbeth, Bar, Joline, Alnenia, and then Doret, Kalma, and Sasperia were adventures of a tribe relevant to the Old and New Continents. But these stories were of little importance in our hemisphere. Hitalec, in truth, was also of little importance in our own region, the island countries part of the Grovsea basin. In the words of my Father, we were the tail of a dog whose history was wagged by others. For Hitalec was a country barely a nation.
Simple said, my mother, Nor, the Queen of Hitalec, ruled as a connector between tribes from three cultures. We had three populated regions that were primarily colonies of our neighbors. Our capital, Satraq, and the lands around it on our western coast, for example, were beholden to Menzia. Menzia was, and remains, the curving land bridging the New Continent with the land mass known as Verashesh.
My Mother's eldest sister, Kinita, ruled Menzia with her three husbands and helped our land with resources and protection. Like her sister, my mother, too, had three husbands in the Menzian royal-blood tradition. Her first bond-mate, the late Marmine Richelo, father to my older sister, Bet, had been Consort-Liege before his ill-timed fall down a mountain face. Bet would one day rule Hitalec with her wary and worried eyes.
In the craggy north coast beside our capital was Rumus, an undisciplined colony of settlers from Rymo, the desert land between Balnakin and Menzia. Once, these were the people who had filled our island before waves of disease, earthquakes, and other now forgotten devastations wiped out a population of mostly farmers and animal grazers.
My father, Tusjin, brother to the dead Consort-Liege, was Lord of this region of survivors. He was a kindly man who adored My Mother and his daughter. One day, I would govern here bonded to one Lord or another from the same culture, obedient to my sister.
Below Rumus, next to my Mother's domain, was the unruly Lumus, our industrial area governed by My Mother's third husband, Gant Thanq, the leader of the thin-haired and cat-eyed Lorilians. They were a race who had founded their own colony there many years past to have a base for their own trade interests in our seas. Unlike most from Grovsea countries, the Lorilians were blue-brown not in their skin tones, but were instead the yellow of puffy Ear-Leaves in planting times.
The daughter of this union, my sister Moy, was both slow of mind and encouraged not by her father to accomplish much in her life. She'd be ill-suited for governance or bonding, which her father desired not for her. For the Lorilians wanted little to do with a central government in our country. With government comes responsibility and restraints. The southern half of Hitalec wanted neither.
The rest of our island, beautiful as it was, was surprisingly sparse in people. For many years, the northern coast to the east was but a land for escaping Balnakin slaves to pass through after short voyages from their unfriendly homeland. Few stayed, wishing to distance themselves from slave-raiders. Those who tried to plant roots were at the mercy of foragers, bandits, and the sea-pirates who roamed freely on that coast. So, over time, few even tried to make use of our fertile soils.
By the time of my maturity, the hills to the south and to the east of Lumus were filled with secretive and hidden enclaves of former slaves only now learning that Balnakin no longer sought them. After Crater Bergarten and the miraculous bonding of Malcolm and Kalma Renbourn, blues still poured through the region as freed people, but they still wanted distance from Balnakin fearing changes in political winds. They still dug the tunnels and underground vikas free from the prying eyes of satellites in the sky.
Only the port town of Weg, an unorganized area of fishers and small farmers, sat unmolested at the end of Hitalec, far from the interests of their government. So, a vast area of land sat dormant. Inviting. Waiting.
Hitalec, remote as it was, had not been untouched by the influence of Tribe Renbourn. The Renbourn reach had, in fact, made its first presence on my island while I began completion of my school years. Helprims and teachers for the Fisher Way were now brought to our disadvantaged people in Weg and to the blue-skin cave-dwellers.
In Rumus, I dealt much with the Salk family who had many contracts with our businesses who bought and sold goods based on Alphan designs. I recall one eve listening to My Father telling My Mother about the Renbourn's visit with the Mother-Icealt of All-Domes.
"There is comfort," he said, "knowing there is another earth like ours. We're alone not."
But such musings had little to do with a young woman's life that was bordered on four sides by the Grovsea. Alma, Kirip, Silvivan, even Rhasvi were my world not, even if I shared the mother-tongue of Alma.
So, in our royal palace, we watched the vicious and deadly turmoil in Alma as if watching dynasties change in Rigel or Minnestt. When we saw the strange fleet leave the Old Continent led by the Duce of Bilan and his tribe, we watched as if seeing a tale of imaginative skolers.
My Mother leaned forward and said to My Father, "Tusjin, I've read the reports of that fleet. Those ships carry Helprims, Legems, fishers, farmers, builders, and perhaps miners and engineers — and the famous Renbourn Tribe. They seek new roots. I cannot see such as the Renbourns settling here. But the others? Tusjin, we have lands that could use such peoples. Perhaps Hitalec could attract some of the unwanted of Alma? If those sailing now settled here, they might well call for their tribes still on the Old Continent."
My Father laughed. "Perhaps. Should I make inquiries?"
And that is how it began.
Elena Renbourn,
Liege of the United States of America
The full A Throne for an Alien is available at:
https://www.amazon.com/Throne-Alien-B...
Book 1 of the series, The Blind Alien, is still on sale for 99 cents!
https://www.amazon.com/Blind-Alien-Be...
Coming This Fall!
The Third Earth—The Beta-Earth Chronicles: Book 5
http://bmfiction.com/science-fiction/...
Wesley Britton's Blog
This just came in. My favorite two sentences of all time!
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
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