Book Review: Eternal Frontier

[tigertoy]

Today's book review is Eternal Frontier by James H. Schmitz, edited by Eric Flint and Guy Gordon.

This is the sixth volume of Flint's project to get Schmitz back into print.  The seventh volume is a reissue of The Witches of Karres, and with that, everything that Schmitz ever published is back in print.

This was the book that I took to cons and such for a while, and it was the book that I read in the airports on my Ecuador trip.  I finished it when I got back.  This isn't the best way to treat a book, and my impressions may not be the clearest.

If you've read the previous volumes of this series, the quality of the stories is similar.  Generally good SF stories; the tech is for the most part kept vague enough that it's not too badly dated despite many of these stories being 40 years old.  Plot is generally solid; characterization is often a bit weak, but not too terrible.  The individual stories are reasonably engaging, but seldom really spectacular.  Anyone who's a serious SF fan ought to read some of the Schmitz stories; once you've read one book, you should know whether you like his writing enough to pursue the rest.  I give this one a 7 out of 10.

Comments

Yes

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

I greatly appreciate the book review. My feelings about Schmitz have been spotty; *The Witches of Karres* was a very good novel (and a dear friend in my home town of Vashon Island, Washington, now deceased, got hooked on s-f through the original novelette "The Witches of Karres", even naming her daughter Ann Maleen) but I haven't always been able to lock into the mood of the shorter works. Nonetheless, I can always try again, and this kind of suggestion is welcome. (Louie already has some of the paperbacks with the Trigger and Telzey stories; perhaps I'll start there.)

Nate

Re: Yes

[billroper]

The Trigger and Telzey books are a good choice. The Hub was a wonderful place to play.