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Chameleon Corps #2
The Chameleon Corps and Other Shape Changers
Original 1st edition!!
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 1974
34 people want to read
About the author
Ron Goulart
603 books99 followersPseudonyms: Howard Lee; Frank S Shawn; Kenneth Robeson; Con Steffanson; Josephine Kains; Joseph Silva; William Shatner.
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.
In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).
Ron Goulart is a cultural historian and novelist. Besides writing extensively about pulp fiction—including the seminal Cheap Thrills: An Informal History of Pulp Magazines (1972)—Goulart has written for the pulps since 1952, when the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction published his first story, a sci-fi parody of letters to the editor. Since then he has written dozens of novels and countless short stories, spanning genres and using a variety of pennames, including Kenneth Robeson, Joseph Silva, and Con Steffanson. In the 1990s, he became the ghostwriter for William Shatner’s popular TekWar novels. Goulart’s After Things Fell Apart (1970) is the only science-fiction novel to ever win an Edgar Award.
In the 1970s Goulart wrote novels starring series characters like Flash Gordon and the Phantom, and in 1980 he published Hail Hibbler, a comic sci-fi novel that began the Odd Jobs, Inc. series. Goulart has also written several comic mystery series, including six books starring Groucho Marx. Having written for comic books, Goulart produced several histories of the art form, including the Comic Book Encyclopedia (2004).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 13, 2020
This book collects Goulart's first five stories about Ben Jolson, agent of the Chameleon Corps, all of which originally appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1964-1972, as well as a half-dozen other stories that are not part of that series. The others range from 1958 through the mid 1960s and also appeared in genre magazines such as Galaxy and If. The stories are loosely linked thematically with the idea of identity and how we choose to present ourselves as opposed to who we really are. As Goulart says in his introduction: "...the mask we choose to wear often tells a good deal about the face beneath it." (And speaking of appearance, Collier chose what I think is one of the least appealing covers ever for this edition!) Goulart's writing is slick and clever, and while the stories have a dated a bit I think his satiric humor and wry social observations are still fun.
September 17, 2019
Continuing my re-reading of the works of Ron Goulart, this one offers a break from the usual routine in that (1) it’s a collection of (mostly) previously published short stories, and (2) the short stories (mostly) all feature people who can change their shape. The first five stories feature the same shape-changer – Ben Jolson of the Chameleon Corps, whose agents can literally change into anyone or anything (Goulart cites Plastic Man as an influence). Those stories are all set in Goulart’s Barnum System universe. The rest of the stories are standalone and more contemporary, except for one that is tangentially related to the Chameleon Corps.
Goulart’s intro for the collection promises “miniature psychodramas kicking around the idea of self” that contemplate the masks we choose to wear to conceal our identities, and what those masks say about the wearer. I’m not sure if he’s kidding or not – the stories here are too superficial to qualify as psychodramatic explorations of self-identity, not least because Goulart’s characterization usually leaves as much to the reader’s imagination as possible. And his approach to just about everything is to not take these narratives too seriously. On the other hand, Pat Cadigan cites Goulart’s Chameleon Corps stories as a big influence on her own writing, so maybe the shallow party here is me.
Anyway, the Chameleon Corps stories are essentially shorter versions of Goulart’s novels – reluctant agent goes on mission, meets oddball characters that lead to the next stage of the mission, etc. They're entertaining enough, but the second section offers a chance to see Goulart do something outside of that template. It’s a bit hit and miss, but some of them are solid short stories that wouldn't be out of place in a Twilight Zone series.
Goulart’s intro for the collection promises “miniature psychodramas kicking around the idea of self” that contemplate the masks we choose to wear to conceal our identities, and what those masks say about the wearer. I’m not sure if he’s kidding or not – the stories here are too superficial to qualify as psychodramatic explorations of self-identity, not least because Goulart’s characterization usually leaves as much to the reader’s imagination as possible. And his approach to just about everything is to not take these narratives too seriously. On the other hand, Pat Cadigan cites Goulart’s Chameleon Corps stories as a big influence on her own writing, so maybe the shallow party here is me.
Anyway, the Chameleon Corps stories are essentially shorter versions of Goulart’s novels – reluctant agent goes on mission, meets oddball characters that lead to the next stage of the mission, etc. They're entertaining enough, but the second section offers a chance to see Goulart do something outside of that template. It’s a bit hit and miss, but some of them are solid short stories that wouldn't be out of place in a Twilight Zone series.
April 28, 2011
Ron Goulart is one of the four funniest science fiction writers in the world (the other three are Fredric Brown, Robert Sheckley, and Keith Laumer, if you were wondering). And in The Chameleon Corps and Other Shape Changers he's at his hysterical best. There are many lines here which have stayed in my head and amused me for over thirty years now. This book contributed quite a bit to the development of my admittedly quirky sense of humor.
The book itself is divided into two sections. The first five stories are about the adventures of Ben Jolson of the Chameleon Corps. Esoteric treatments applied at a young age have given Ben the power to alter his form at a moment's notice; he can impersonate anyone, as well as objects of his own general size, flawlessly. Problem: he'd rather sell pottery than be a secret agent. But you're not allowed to quit the Corps.
So Jolson finds himself being sent to one hot spot after another throughout the Barnum system of planets, carrying out odd, sometimes bizarre missions for a government that often seems a lot like ours - given to hypocrisy, greed, idiocy, and sudden tragic bursts of realpolitik.
In that, it's rather like the CDT of Keith Laumer's Retief series, albeit considerably less broad. But Goulart's style is much more modern-feeling than Laumer's, with more of a 1960s (and, oddly, 2010s) sensibility. And Jolson is not the superhuman figure that Retief is, for all his powers. Retief saves the world despite and in spite of its idiocy; Jolson can't be sure that what he's saving is better than the alternative, or even that he's necessarily saving anything. He's just trying to get the job done and survive.
But oh my god, the stories are funny. Jolson often has to impersonate eccentric characters, and Goulart gives them personalities and verbal quirks which are absolutely hysterical - mother of goats, would you question my word? When you reach the end of the fifth story, you'll wish there were more. And there are, I believe; there was at least one Chameleon Corps novel, I think, as well as (possibly) more stories. In any case, much of Goulart's work is of the same quality: just as funny and enjoyable.
The last six stories are not connected to each other, and tend to be a little darker. But they're still very funny and very memorable. This is one of those outstanding collections of clever, jewel-like short stories that's a real treasure for anyone who loves science fiction and/or humor.
So why isn't it in print any more?
The book itself is divided into two sections. The first five stories are about the adventures of Ben Jolson of the Chameleon Corps. Esoteric treatments applied at a young age have given Ben the power to alter his form at a moment's notice; he can impersonate anyone, as well as objects of his own general size, flawlessly. Problem: he'd rather sell pottery than be a secret agent. But you're not allowed to quit the Corps.
So Jolson finds himself being sent to one hot spot after another throughout the Barnum system of planets, carrying out odd, sometimes bizarre missions for a government that often seems a lot like ours - given to hypocrisy, greed, idiocy, and sudden tragic bursts of realpolitik.
In that, it's rather like the CDT of Keith Laumer's Retief series, albeit considerably less broad. But Goulart's style is much more modern-feeling than Laumer's, with more of a 1960s (and, oddly, 2010s) sensibility. And Jolson is not the superhuman figure that Retief is, for all his powers. Retief saves the world despite and in spite of its idiocy; Jolson can't be sure that what he's saving is better than the alternative, or even that he's necessarily saving anything. He's just trying to get the job done and survive.
But oh my god, the stories are funny. Jolson often has to impersonate eccentric characters, and Goulart gives them personalities and verbal quirks which are absolutely hysterical - mother of goats, would you question my word? When you reach the end of the fifth story, you'll wish there were more. And there are, I believe; there was at least one Chameleon Corps novel, I think, as well as (possibly) more stories. In any case, much of Goulart's work is of the same quality: just as funny and enjoyable.
The last six stories are not connected to each other, and tend to be a little darker. But they're still very funny and very memorable. This is one of those outstanding collections of clever, jewel-like short stories that's a real treasure for anyone who loves science fiction and/or humor.
So why isn't it in print any more?
March 20, 2011
It's junk, but it's amusing junk. Read a lot of his stuff when I was a teenager, so, it's a nostalgia read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews