Zelde M'Tana

Hulzein Dynasty #3

by F.M. Busby

Young, untried, but a lethally trained fighter, Zelde M'Tana found herself legally shanghaied by the oppressive UET, imprisoned on a starship bound for the brothels of a mining planet. There was no way Zelde was going to stand for that, and when the ship's first officer, Parnell, led an anti-UET revolt, Zelde joined the mutineers and single-handedly turned defeat into victory.
First as Parnell's lover, then as his assistant, Zelde was mistrusted by the crew,but when the UET struck again and Parnell died, there was only one choice for captain: Zelde M'Tana.

Zelde M'Tana is a main character in the Rissa Kerguelen Bran Tregare series. This book delves into her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood giving you an even greater appreciation of Zelde. While it is technically a prequel to the main series, it can be read at any point the reader wants insight into this character without over powering the storyline of the Rissa saga.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Pulp, Military Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

316 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1980

About the author

Francis Marion Busby

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._M._B...

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zelde M'Tana exists as a 'stand alone' in Busby's Rissa Kerguelen saga/universe and in fact came after the completion of the Rissa Trilogy. While we were introduced to Zelde there, we never learned her backstory, and that is the subject of this. In the 70s, few science fiction authors featured female protagonists, let alone kick-ass female protagonists, but Busby featured not just Zelde, but Rissa as well. What makes these novels so fun to read, however, involves the classic trope of underdogs fighting for justice, albeit in space.

Busby was also one of the few science fiction authors whose universe was populated by SLT travel; the UET, the government of the US and much of Earth, captured an alien ship that came to Earth and basically killed the aliens and stole their ship; some creative reverse engineering gave humanity the stars. UET established many colonies, but spacers constitute their own world, as the spaceships approach the speed of light in their travels. Hence, spacers account for their age both subjectively and objectively, much like in Reynolds' Absolution Gap universe.

Tregare was the first to 'Escape' (e.g., mutiny and take a space ship) with an armed ship, although many other unarmed ships had 'Escaped' in the past. Tregare, along with Rissa, are out to topple the UET, first in space and then at Earth, but given the long travels between the stars, how can they coordinate the Escaped population?

Zelde starts this off as a 'Wild Kid', e.g., part of a pack of kids living on Earth outside of the Welfare system, which operates as thinly disguised slavery for most people, with the UET at the top of the food chain. She is captured in a raid, and rather than Welfare her, they send her on a ship with dozens of women destined to be playthings of miners on some odorous mining colony. Well, the crew of the ship Escapes with the help of the 'soon to be prostituted' women, and especially Zelde. This novel then chronicles her trials and tribulations on the ship thereafter...

Busby was something of a mid-lister back in the day and I have read several of his novels. All fun, full of adventure and with a rather bleak view of the future, albeit with shades of hope. Expect lots of sex, fighting and political machinations as the Escaped ship tries to pass as still UET and then tries to deal with the Escape underground. Zelde is badass, but at times a bit too cliché; she is the classic street kid who uses her street smarts, feminine wiles and warrior skills to get to the top. Great pulp space opera! 3 solid stars!!

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Try finding a kickass heroine in science fiction before or anywhere near 1980, the year of this novel's publication. Particularly try finding a kickass action heroine of that date, one written by a male writer that doesn't make you, a woman, cringe. Try finding one with a heroine that's black written in that era. Rare.

Not that the race or gender of Zelde is made a big deal of--that's one of the book's pleasures. It's just a great rip-roaring space opera yarn. Zelde appears in the trilogy of books about Rissa Kerguelan, and this is a kind of prequel, so it's certainly not necessary to have read those books--but after this one you'll want to--at least if you love well-written space opera of the kind by Robert Heinlein, David Weber, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon, this should really hit the spot.

All the books in the Rissa Kerguelen and Bran Tregare series are great fun--the ones I can find. I can't remember how I discovered these, I think I must have been lent one by a friend, because I do remember reading The Long View which I don't own. But I do remember then hunting used book stores trying to find more--and alas I only have three on my book shelves. Fortunately they can stand alone, even if there are tantalizing references to what must have happened in other books. These books are a pleasure, and I'm only sorry they're not easily available--and that there aren't more.

[AsimovsZeroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zelde M’Tana is the fourth book in the Rissa Kerguelen / Bran Tregare series, which I have not read, so take this review with a grain of salt. Still, while I gather Zelde M’tana is a main character in the rest of the series, this book reads as if it’s a stand alone novel. Possibly because it is the backstory of an already established character, not a continuation of the previous storyline.

Zelde starts out as one of the wild children that (for reasons never explained in this novel) run loose on the planet. They create gangs for mutual protection, complete over turf and supplies and try to avoid the UET police force, a harsh interplanetary governmental organization. When Zelde is captured, she fears being “Welfared”, which seems to be a euphemism for being brainwashed and incorporated into the general working public, to live a strictly controlled life, albeit with more creature comforts. However, she injures one of her captors and is instead sent to a prison ship in retaliation. All of the women aboard are to be prostitutes when they get to their destination. However, it turns out that there are members of a resistance group on board. They free the prisoners and together, they take over the ship.

Our heroine performs admirably, as she was already considered a solid soldier and leader in her last gang. The pace moves along quickly - the prisoners are quickly integrated into the militaristic system of rank required to run a starship smoothly, start technical training and are given shares in the ship. Zelde is happy to settle into the new system and into the new Captain’s quarters. After all, a space opera must have romance and she has fallen in love with the man, after saving his life in the battle for the ship. He (conveniently) needs to be nursed back to health and things naturally progress from there. Aside from Zelde’s love life, for the bulk of the book we follow the struggles of this escaped crew, as they attempt to hide from the UET and make contact with the Underground. Not an easy task, considering the UET colonies themselves, are nearly the only option for supplies.

I have some mixed feelings about this book. I like that Zelde is a strong, black woman and bisexual. Bisexuality seems to be widely accepted, but she does still experience racism. Although in this futuristic world, it seems like racism has faded more to an afterthought. I didn’t really feel like the race issue was really explored much, as some readers have seemed to think. However, neither does her skin color fade into the background, as the author reminds us occasionally of her physical description. Admittedly, I did take a deep breath and brace myself in the beginning, when Zelde’s captors made a derogatory racial comment. I was unsure which side of the moral fence the author was going to come down on, from the casual way it was inserted in the beginning of the book, but it appears to have been a tool to quickly reveal the nastiness of a specific character.

It’s nice to see a bisexual character, but Zelde plays into a negative stereotype of bisexuals. She takes female lovers, whenever there isn’t a suitable man around. Though F.M. Busby never seems to be purposely shaming bisexuals or promiscuity, he does seem to portray every bisexual character, as a borderline nymphomaniac, perhaps unsatisfied with her man’s sex drive, perhaps just waiting for the right one. A character, or even a few that fit that description, wouldn’t bother me, but when every bisexual character is portrayed like that, we have a problem.

Zelde herself, is a bit of a problem for people who want to really like and identify with the main character. I don’t need to like a main character, to enjoy a book, but if you do, this is not the book for you. Within the first 30 pages there are two short, but semi-explicit rapes and Zelde is one of the rapists, in an act to establish dominance. This becomes even more disturbing, when you remember that she is somewhere around fourteen at the time. It’s important to note that she’s fifteen when she meets the Captain and their romance proceeds without a hitch, despite the fact he’s twice her age.

She doesn’t appear to have a large sadistic streak, as most of her lovers are willing. However, she also seems to be attracted to lovers in positions of power and seems to find it easy to discard most of her lovers, with only a fleeting thought. She is smart and capable, learns quickly and she’s ambitious, but she’s also selfish. I think the problem many readers have, is that she has some sociopathic tendencies. However, I do think that the author goes into the rape in the beginning, as a way to highlight how normalized violence and sex are in her childhood, as the frequent sex is never described so explicitly again.

The way I interpreted it, is that he was trying to show that the only way to cope, is to grow up fast and live in a way that increases your odds at survival. Zelde didn’t grow up with the luxury of torturing herself over moral questions. That said, she is a reasonable and often kind person, most of the time. She’s extremely loyal and tough. She works hard to further her education and she’s a natural leader. She’s independent, but also clings to romantic connections with powerful men.

Overall, she’s a more complicated character than I was expecting when I picked up this space opera, especially considering the rest of the characters lack a lot in the way of distinct personality. They feel like props in the background. Where this story was interesting for me, is that it is a fun adventure, with lots of problems that keep the plot moving forward. The plot itself is not very complex, this book is clearly written to explore one specific character, but there is enough action to keep me entertained, nonetheless. I wouldn’t need to read this again, but this fun bit of fluff, did give me a pleasant surprise. It had a lot more substance to it than I expected and I’m glad I read it once.

[Aaron Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ignore the fact that you find an abbreviated version of this entire story in the main series of Bran (with how everything goes), then this is a good book.

The hard part is figuring out where to read it so it isn't ruined by reading Bran's stuff first, I guess.

The main character does rather rock. And unlike Rissa's kid in the final book, who just feels like an innocent crappier version of Rissa herself, Zelde is quite an original character.

[Joel Hacker · Rating 3 out of 5]

More pulpy scifi from my aunt's house. Also my first F.M. Busby. I realize now I was supposed to read the Rissa Kerguelen stories first (which I also have) as apparently this character features in them at some point later in life and this is somewhat of a prequel. However, this works as a jumping off point too, as we're getting a solid life story here that doesn't seem to require any prior knowledge, Busby is doing a good job of making the world feel 'lived in' without much exposition.
This is interesting reading from a current time lense...Busby was a good friend and contemporary of Heinlein, as well as being very heavily influenced by and sitting firmly in the pulp world. That will give you some idea of what you're in for. We have a protagonist that you're going want to like, she's strong, she's female, she's lgbtqia+, she's a poc that embraces aspects of her appearance...but she's also a pretty terrible person. Though of course this is grounded in the idea that her life has also been pretty terrible, and as know, hurt people hurt people. I've seen quite a bit of criticism of those less than savory aspects of her character, other characters, and Busby's world in general. While I get where its coming from in modern readers, I also think I understand where somewhat of a disconnect is occurring.
Many of us are used to the Star Wars era of Space Opera. Because this is definitely not crunchy, hard, scifi. And in that Star Wars-esque Space Opera, we see a lot of classic tropes of good versus evil, heroes' journey, fable and fairy tale. And none of that is here. This future is a pretty goddamned bleak one. But, unlike something modern like the Expanse, we get only brief glimpses into how bad the world itself really is...Busby is good about showing, not telling, but in this case he 'shows' very minimally. A few brief looks at average conditions on earth and the shantytown on a colony world. Most of setting that's described and explored feels more like a gleaming star trek future, and less like an Alien hellscape. Yet, what we see about actual *people* from rape, slavery, mutinees leading to desperate escapes to other questionable conditions, widespread homelessness, clearly abusive institutions, its definitely not the sort of gleaming future we're used to seeing in space opera. I personally find the juxtaposition of setting to action and behaviors of characters really interesting rather than offputting. Its also fast paced and packed with action as one might expect from pulp era space opera.
I think as long as you go into the story knowing what to expect, and are willing to look at it through a broader lense, there's a lot to enjoy and to find of interest here.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young, untried, but a lethally trained fighter, Zelde M'Tana found herself legally shanghaied by the oppressive UET, imprisoned on a starship bound for the brothels of a mining planet. There was no way Zelde was going to stand for that, and when the ship's first officer, Parnell, led an anti-UET revolt, Zelde joined the mutineers and single-handedly turned defeat into victory.
First as Parnell's lover, then as his assistant, Zelde was mistrusted by the crew,but when the UET struck again and Parnell died, there was only one choice for captain: Zelde M'Tana.

Zelde M'Tana is a main character in the Rissa Kerguelen Bran Tregare series. This book delves into her childhood, adolescence and early adulthood giving you an even greater appreciation of Zelde. While it is technically a prequel to the main series, it can be read at any point the reader wants insight into this character without over powering the storyline of the Rissa saga.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I already knew the bare bones of Zelde M’Tana from Rebel’s Quest and liked her right away. Here we see her complete story and why she ended up right where she belonged.

Zelde came from nothing but that wasn’t good enough for the UET. They had to control her and ship her off to “care for the needs” of men in a UET colony. Along with her were a number of other women in for the same fate. They were lucky in that the ship Escaped and she had the opportunity to prove her worth.

Zelde proved that she could do whatever it took to keep the shit together. We see her grow tremendously over the course of the book though where she came from was still evident. It was also the kind of thing that, one day, would make her a pirate in the eyes of the UET.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second of this series. A terrific example of science fiction before it became “liberated”, there are only a couple of sex scenes, tastefully handled, and no profanity. The description is well done, the characters well crafted, and the plot is concise and well-organized.

[Beth Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact that I stayed up a couple of hours past my usual bedtime, despite this being a reread, says something about the readability of this book. The main character is very different from me, but I loved reading her story.

[DeLisaaaaa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a kid and ran across it and a couple others in my mother's books. If you're into future, dystopian, female star fighter tropes you may like it. It was written like 40 or so years ago so beware of some outdated views and speech but I still loved it.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took forever to find this entry to this series, so glad I did. Excellent back story for Zelde, lots of action and a dynamic character.

[Joyce E Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another in the Hussein saga. Have truly been captivated by the entire series. In this you get to meet and learn what makes her.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad I read it because it seems right to acknowledge the significance of a story with a female POC as a protagonist. There's a lot to like about Zelde. She's strong, smart, caring and kicks ass. I just didn't bond with the novel. I think it's because I have no connection to the rest of the series. This wasn't a cool insight into a familiar character's backstory for me so I was left a bit cold. The world itself seems believable and the space opera feel is cool, but there were too many moments I found uncomfortable or off putting. I do like challenging books. This one ultimately just wasn't for me.

[David Leemon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the reasons why I don't take FM Busby seriously.

The other reason is that I couldn't find out what FM stands for, although, in my defense, I gave up before the Internet became widely available.

The lead character is a chick who has sex with men when she is not having sex with women, or is it the other way around? She manages to work up from slave girl to chief navigator despite not knowing anything about trigonometry. The empire does not have FTL travel but still somehow manages to hold a star empire of great wickedness together. If you like space sex themes, you might find this book interesting.

[Freyja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of my re-reads. The protagonist starts out as a free child living wild in a gang for survival and to evade living in anything the government has for her. She was one of the commanders when she was finally caught and sent to another planet as cargo to be a sex slave. Without spoiling anything, she doesn't stay as cargo, and her knack for command learned in the gang helped her in ways she and others never anticipated. Plenty of hand-to-hand combat, not as much space battles, lots of intrigue. It's a stand-alone, but there are other books that can fill in other things about the particular universe, and yes, Zelde makes a cameo appearance in at least one.

[Ralph McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book.

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real kick-a$$ of a heroine, tough and smart, in a space opera setting. One of Busby's best novels, IMHO.

[Tiaret]

She was a bad girl, kicking ass and taking names.. Loved her.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning was rough, but I quickly got into the storyline. surprised the writing was much like M'Tana's speaking.