Eternal Frontier

by James H. Schmitz

Earth's colonists have spread throughout the cosmos, and have almost divided into two separate species. One is the Swimmers, who have adapted to living in zero-gravity, and regard themselves as the next step in evolution, and those who prefer to live on the surface of a planet as little better than apes. The latter group, the Walkers, are not about to say farewell to the planets they grew up on, and think the Swimmers are not so much advanced as deranged.

Crowell, born a Swimmer but now a Walker by choice, is caught in the middle as the two sides seem headed for war. Then he discovers the true cause of the altercation: a hidden alien race moving behind the scenes to provoke a war so that they can pick up the pieces after the two sides have obliterated each other. And if Crowell cannot head off the war and convince both sides of the existence of the real enemy, both branches of the human race may be headed for untimely extinction.

This full-length novel and much more, fill a huge volume from the master of science fiction adventure.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Collections, Short Story Collection

729 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 27, 2002

About the author

James Henry Schmitz (October 15, 1911–April 18, 1981) was an American writer born in Hamburg, Germany of American parents. Aside from two years at business school in Chicago, Schmitz lived in Germany until 1938, leaving before World War II broke out in Europe in 1939. During World War II, Schmitz served as an aerial photographer in the Pacific for the United States Army Air Corps. After the war, he and his brother-in-law ran a business which manufactured trailers until they broke up the business in 1949.

Schmitz is best known as a writer of space opera, and for strong female characters (including Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee) that didn't fit into the damsel in distress stereotype typical of science fiction during the time he was writing. His first published story was Greenface, published in August 1943 in Unknown. Most of his works are part of the "Hub" series, though his best known novel is the non-Hub The Witches of Karres, concerning juvenile "witches" with genuine psi-powers and their escape from slavery. Karres was nominated for a Hugo Award.

In recent years, his novels and short stories have been republished by Baen Books (which bought the rights to his estate for $6500), edited (sometimes heavily edited) and with notes by Eric Flint. Baen have also published new works based in the Karres universe.

Schmitz died of congestive lung failure in 1981 after a five week stay in the hospital in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Betty Mae Chapman Schmitz.

Reviews

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: Sixth volume of the complete works by James H. Schmitz published by Baen Books, edited by Eric Flint. It comprises the novella providing the title plus 21 short stories, making up the remainder of Schmitz production, apart from the novel The witches of Karres, the 7th volume in the series. The stories I liked most are "The big terrarium," "Left hand, right hand" and "Clean slate."

ESPAÑOL: Sexto volumen de las obras completas de James H. Schmitz publicadas por Baen Books, editadas por Eric Flint. Incluye la novela corta que le da título al volumen, más 21 cuentos que constituyen el resto de la producción de Schmitz, aparte de la novela The witches of Karres , el séptimo volumen de la serie. Los cuentos que más me gustaron son "El gran terrario", "Mano izquierda, mano derecha" y "Pizarra limpia".

[Janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An admitted Schmitz fan, I enjoyed this book of short stories and one of his three novels. What surprised me was that he had written a few things that were just a bit darker in nature and some things that weren't necessarily science fiction. I didn't find that it took away from my enjoyment at all. I enjoyed the dark stories for the twisted ending.

[Garick Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fans and collectors of James H. Schmitz will definitely want this one. Particularly useful is the appendix which lists all of Schmitz's published works, along with the publication where they first appeared (and the volume # of the Baen re-issues in which they reappear). Baen did SF readers everywhere a great service by re-issuing ALL of Schmitz's work in this seven-volume series--except for one obscure collaboration with A. E. Van Vogt.

That being said, if you have not read Schmitz before, this is not the place to start. The stories here are not his best, and his short novel Eternal Frontiers was his last and least charming. I recommend starting with one of his other novels, either the ever-popular The Witches of Karres or The Demon Breed, which makes my personal Ten Best list of SF novels (these are: Starship Troopers [1959]; Dune [1965]; The Demon Breed (originally "The Tuvela") [1968]; The Pastel City [1971]; Doorways in the Sand [1976]; The Bug Wars [1979]; The Shadow of the Torturer [1982]; Eye of Cat [1982]; Neuromancer [1984]; and Dinner at Deviant's Palace [1985]).

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hmm, another edition not listed by Goodreads. My copy is SBN 425-02458, published 1973 by Berkley Medalion, is titled "The Eternal Frontiers," is 143 pages, and has a red cover with strange shapes.

The Eternal Frontiers
by James H. Schmitz

1983 Grade A+
2024 Grade Z

Although I rated it grade A+ 40 years ago, I could not get into it this time and abandoned it early in chapter 5.

[Lynn Calvin]

baen ebook