Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe

by Robert Lynn Asprin, George Takei

Hired by Ravensteel to sabotage a rival robot manufacturing operation, Hosata, who comes from a five hundred-year-old line of Oriental warriors, discovers the robots are killing their builders, and he must stop them from destroying the human race

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Adult

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1979

About the author

Robert (Lynn) Asprin was born in 1946. While he wrote some stand alone novels such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars and also the Duncan & Mallory Illustrated stories, Bob is best known for his series fantasy, such as the Myth Adventures of Aahz and Skeeve, the Phule's Company novels, and the Time Scout novels written with Linda Evans. He also edited the groundbreaking Thieves' World anthology series with Lynn Abbey. Other collaborations include License Invoked (set in the French Quarter of New Orleans) and several Myth Adventures novels, all written with Jody Lynn Nye.

Bob's final solo work was a contemporary fantasy series called Dragons, again set in New Orleans.

Bob passed away suddenly on May 22, 2008. He is survived by his daughter and son, his mother and his sister.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the day publishers published a whole lot of novels as collaborations between (usually Star Trek) actors and (usually second tier) science fiction authors, thereby getting franchise television fans to buy books they probably wouldn't have otherwise purchased. From what I've heard over and over again from numerous sources, I understand that ninety-nine percent of the time the writing was divided so that the actor wrote their name as it would appear on the cover and the author wrote all of the rest of the words. Which I suppose is all good: more books were sold, the authors and the publishers and the actors all made some extra money, and some fans spent a couple of hours reading instead of re-watching old episodes on their VCRs. Anyway, Playboy Press published this novel in 1979 as by George Takei and Robert Asprin, and Ace reprinted it in 1985 as by Robert Asprin and George Takei. It's the story of Hosato, a futuristic man-for-hire who looks very Sulu-esque in the Ken Barr cover, though it's not a Trek book. Hosato is a duelist, kind of a Magnus Robot Fighter in this one in which he is sent to sabotage a robot assembly plant. It's not a bad adventure, though the end is disappointing because they left it kind of open for a sequel which never happened. Most of the Playboy Press books had a lot of sexual content (surprise!), but this one did not. I don't remember the story too well, but I thought it was an entertaining diversion.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

For several years in the late 70's and early 80's Playboy Press published quite a few speculative fiction books by some pretty well known authors. Some of those authors include Robert E. Vardeman, Philip Jose Farmer, John Morressey, Morgan Llywelyn, Graham Diamond, and John Cleve (Andrew J. Offutt). I always keep an eye out for these books, some have been reprinted by other publishers, but not all.

Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe turned up one day as I was scrolling on social media. A book written by George Takei, of Star Trek fame, and Robert Asprin, editor of Thieves' World? How had such a thing never been known to me? I had to find a copy.

My experience and exposure with Playboy Press books is limited strictly to The War of Powers series by Robert E. Vardeman and Victor Milan beginning with The Sundered Realm. These books were short, fun adventures with sexual encounters that were often raunchy. I've also heard that John Cleve's Spaceways books are no different.

Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe is also short, with an especially interesting protagonist. Oddly enough it lacks the sexual encounters. Only in one instance does the novel allude to a sexual encounter, and that encounter is vague. Regardless, I sought this title for the novelty of the authors and not for any other reason.

The synopsis from the back cover:

Someone had programmed the robots too well–and now it was kill or be killed!
Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe
Hosato is a killer—a saboteur—a duelist. He can be anything you want him to be—for a price. And he always wins.
This time, however, the situation is both horrifying and awesome. Sent to sabotage a robot-manufacturing complex, Hosato discovers that the robots have secrets of their own. They have turned from peaceful workers into rampaging killers—and the destruction of the human race is imminent.
Hosato must act! But it means revealing his own secrets–secrets that have been hidden for several thousand years.


From this synopsis my expectations exceed reality. I went into this thinking this would be an explosive men's adventure type novel. High stakes, a tense thriller. In reality it was a slow burn. More talking than action, and the action was minimal. The limited page count doesn't give much room to develop the characters or storyline either. In fact, the open ending is more interesting in speculation than the entire novel. Evidently this was the first in a proposed series that never saw fruition.

The climax of the story of course deals with who is superior, Man or Machine? This last fight for dominance is tense; a cat playing with its prey. How do you win against a machine that has witnessed and cataloged your fighting style for years?

Sadly, Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe doesn't leave much of a lasting impression.

[SciFiOne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade C+. GoodReads book record lists co-author George Takei, but doesn't list in shelf author column, nor does this book turn up for him in personal shelf search.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick sci fi book of fencing and robots that doesn't overstay it's welcome. Not deep, but a nice popcorn affair.

[Rosemary]

My edition is dedicated and signed.

[Miriam Smirnov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun to see the collaboration. Sadly dated in terms of characterization, esp women. Didn't really end, but no sequel. Don't recommend.

[Kenny Timper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, pulpy sci-fi. It has swords, robots, and lasers. What more do you need?

[Shamsia · Rating 3 out of 5]

He llegado al punto en el que los libros a mi alcance en mi propio idioma no bastan. No recuerdo si fue en la revista Ñ, pero sé que algo de verdad tiene la frase "traductor traidor": una obra pierde algo de su ser cuando se la lleva a otros lenguajes. Fue por eso, y por la falta de traducciones al castellano, que he comenzado a leer obras en otros idiomas. Y la primera que elegí fue "Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe", escrito en tándem por Aspirin y Takei y publicado en... 1979.

Lo primero que llamó la atención fue la mezcla de elementos en la novela: todo comienza con un instructor de esgrima, Hayama, demostrándole a James, el hijo adolescente de un complejo de la empresa McCrae en Gunbecker (un planeta dedicado a la construcción de robots para diversos fines), por qué es necesario que tome lecciones de esgrima. Luego de convencer a James, Hayama se encuentra con Sasha, una de las integrantes de la seguridad del complejo, quien sospecha de él. Sin embargo, ponto se nos confirman las sospechas que Hayama no es simplemente un instructor de esgrima, sino un espía enviado por una empresa rival, Ravensteel, para dejar fuera de servicio las instalaciones, por tanto tiempo como se pueda.

Sin embargo, cuando comienza a investigar las instalaciones, y lo que se hace dentro de las mismas, descubre que hay bastante más que una simple rivalidad entre dos empresas líderes en la construcción de robots. Robots de seguridad, por ejemplo, que no sirven para la tarea debido a las leyes de la robótica de Asimov, a menos, claro está, que se modifiquen para que sí sirvan. Con ayuda de su colega Suzi, un robot diseñado para ayudarle en sus misiones de sabotaje y espionaje, desencadenan una serie de acontecimientos que los llevan a enfrentarse a una posible destrucción de toda la humanidad. E, incluso si logra evitarlo, tiene muchos problemas complicados que solucionar.

Empecé a leerlo para ver cómo los autores podían hacer funcionar una historia sobre un ninja en un entorno de ciencia-ficción. Es agradable ver que evitan la mayoría de los tópicos, y moderniza otros (el traje fue una de las cosas que más me gustó). Hosato lleva años asesinando, espiando y saboteando, y sabe bien lo solitaria que es su existencia (él mismo dice que su única amiga es Suzi, su robot) y las consecuencias que puede traer ser descubierto. Lo pone muy en claro cuando habla con James, y en las desiciones que debe tomar ante la avalancha que se aproxima. ¿Lograron hacerlo funcionar? Sí, y la segunda mitad del libro (que se lee rápido en su totalidad) fue mucho más emocionante que la primera. Es extraño ver a un personaje como Hosato-Hayama como protagonista, y conocer su forma de pensar fue algo interesante. Se suponía que iba a ser el primer libro de una serie, pero al parecer no vendió lo suficiente.

Dato extra: Takei fue el actor que le dio vida a Hikaru Sulu (quien practicaba esgrima) en la primera generación de Viaje a las Estrellas.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

MIRROR FRIEND, MIRROR FOE came out in 1979. At StellarCon in Greensboro, N.C. that year, I met both authors, though I'm not sure they were promoting this one as the first Trek movie hadn't been out long and I never actually saw them together the weekend. Asprin was holding court in a lounge the first time I saw him and every other time he was addressing large audiences, telling Isaac Asimov anecdotes and speaking on his relationship with Gordon Dickson, another guest at the Con, how they were drinking buddies for a year before he even knew he was a writer. Asprin was still in business at the time.

The story here is of a Japanese named Hosato(just one of three separate identities he maintained), a saboteur and a duelist, part of his family's business going back seven hundred years.

He was on Gunbecker's Planet to sabotage a business. Ravensteel had hired him to hit McCrae Enterprises. Both manufactured robots and controlled ninety percent of the market. Once one company, after the partners had had a falling out, it split into two companies and Ravensteel wanted the opposition put out of business. He got a flat fee for going in and a matching fee for every moth thwey were out of business up to a maximum of one hundred thousand credits.

His cover identity was as Hayama, a fencing instructor for James, the fifteen year old son of one of McCrae's executives. The boy is a bit spoiled not interested, "Let security take care of it," is a standard answer to almost everything. The security chief, a young woman named Sasha, is suspicious of him.

James' father has stalled in his rise and is looking for a way to move up, planning a series of security robots. Told to drop it, not possible, he goes ahead anyway. Not possible for them to work security as they follow Asimov's Laws of Robotics(they're mentioned), he makes a fatal mistake in his programming and suddenly the robots are on a killing rampage. Anything human.

Now it's just Hosato, Sasha, and the boy James to stop them before they can escape the planet.

The best I remember, this was supposed to be a series. The ending is certainly open for it. But no other volumes appeared. Maybe it didn't sell enough. Certainly a fast moving readable title.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a re-read. I read it back in May of 2011, wherein I gave it 2.5 Stars. Has my opinion changed in TEN YEARS?

No, not really. I’m giving it 3 stars this time, but it just squeezed in there.

It’s not great. While Hosato is an interesting (and deliberate) character choice at the time of publication, due to the lack of people of colour starring in Western action stories, he isn’t very fleshed out or likable. It’s hard to get a bead on what his deal is and he doesn’t change at all over the course of the novel.

Likewise, the other characters - Sasha, James, Rick, and a man named The Hungarian - have all the depth of a kiddie swimming pool. We learn next-to-nothing about any of them and they also don’t develop or change.

The plot wasn’t very engaging. I liked the overall concept, but the execution didn’t make for a very exciting story. I also wasn’t sure about the timeline near the end.

The novel both shines and is incredibly dated regarding the tech. Some of it just doesn't work based on today's science, but some of it is really fun.

The novel had its moments of entertainment and it was very easy to read, so I did enjoy it, but it isn’t very deep or memorable. That cover though.

If you want a longer review, check out my Booktube! https://youtu.be/5JMqvMistsA

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book based on an idea by George Takei and written by the late, good Robert Asprin. How can this not be great?

The answer is not great. The book actually probably only deserves two stars, since it's more than a little cliche (though how can you go wrong with a Japanese ninja/fencing master?). The futuristic technology feels particularly dated. But in any case, I had fun reading it, so make of that what you will.

[Scott Nieradka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Its written by the guy who played Sulu, and its hard not to imagine the main charecter as a comic book hulked out super-sulu. Which makes one wonder about Takei's mental state, but thats just a distraction from how poor this book is.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read. Not the greatest science fiction out there but not bad. Interesting the number of classic Trek actors who have put pen to paper (with or without help) to do SF or Trek (Takei...Shatner...Koenig....).

[Samuel Lubell]

SF/Action. PB. 223 pages. Fun quick re-read about a secret ninja who is hired as a saboteur and winds up facing an army of killer robots. I first read it when it came out 30 or so years ago.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok read

[Jefferson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would make a great movie.

[Jonathan Lee B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mirror Friend, Mirror Foe is melted ice cream cake.