I reread the Karres series, starting with the original (fix-up) "The Witches of Karres", and also diverting to Schmitz's "Agent of Vega" and part of "The Lion Game" for comparison. Supposedly there was a sequel by Schmitz lost in the post. I don't think the Flint sequels are a travesty of the original, but they aren't quite the same. They don't attempt to mimic Schmitz's characteristic dialogue, and they aren't fix-ups, so questions are left unresolved for much longer. In formed by the comparison, I think I prefer fix-ups.

The last book, "The Shaman of Karres", has both the most glaring absurdity and one of the nicest ideas in the series. The absurdity is a stereotypical boondocks company town, run by the bad guys - but this company left almost to itself in the back of beyond is the sole source of the catalyst relied upon by all spaceship air recyclers. Neither the Empire nor any of the smaller independent powers have apparently secured it as a strategic resource, and it is necessary for the story that the strange creatures responsible for the catalyst have never been examined by a competent biologist. The nice resolution is for a variation of a problem also addressed by Vance in one of his "Dying Earth" stories. Given somebody (in this case a group of people) psychologically enslaved (in this case by what amounts to a love potion) how might you redirect or modify the enslavement for their benefit?

In article <689bc1f9-1a42-4227-8900-e3eba11ff5f2n@googlegroups.com>,
Andrew McDowell <mcdowell_ag@sky.com> wrote:
>I reread the Karres series, starting with the original (fix-up) "The
>Witches of Karres", and also diverting to Schmitz's "Agent of Vega" and
>part of "The Lion Game" for comparison. Supposedly there was a sequel by
>Schmitz lost in the post. I don't think the Flint sequels are a travesty
>of the original, but they aren't quite the same. They don't attempt to
>mimic Schmitz's characteristic dialogue, and they aren't fix-ups, so
>questions are left unresolved for much longer. In formed by the
>comparison, I think I prefer fix-ups.
>
>The last book, "The Shaman of Karres", has both the most glaring
>absurdity and one of the nicest ideas in the series. The absurdity is a
>stereotypical boondocks company town, run by the bad guys - but this
>company left almost to itself in the back of beyond is the sole source
>of the catalyst relied upon by all spaceship air recyclers. Neither the
>Empire nor any of the smaller independent powers have apparently secured
>it as a strategic resource, and it is necessary for the story that the
>strange creatures responsible for the catalyst have never been examined
>by a competent biologist. The nice resolution is for a variation of a
>problem also addressed by Vance in one of his "Dying Earth" stories.
>Given somebody (in this case a group of people) psychologically enslaved
>(in this case by what amounts to a love potion) how might you redirect
>or modify the enslavement for their benefit?

I read the originals and then the first new one. I thought it was "ok",
but was not motivated to continue with the modern ones.

I've always wondered why Schmitz didn't try to re-create the sequel.
Perhaps he felt it wasn't as good as he would have wanted, or
perhaps he figured he was selling all the "Hub" stories he was writing
so why switch back?

(Off on a tangent for a bit, I also wonder why he thought _The Eternal
Frontiers_ was a good idea!)
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

In article <jn4c5hF2vgeU1@mid.individual.net>,
Ted Nolan <tednolan> <tednolan> wrote:
>In article <689bc1f9-1a42-4227-8900-e3eba11ff5f2n@googlegroups.com>,
>Andrew McDowell <mcdowell_ag@sky.com> wrote:
>>I reread the Karres series, starting with the original (fix-up) "The
>>Witches of Karres", and also diverting to Schmitz's "Agent of Vega" and
>>part of "The Lion Game" for comparison. Supposedly there was a sequel by
>>Schmitz lost in the post. I don't think the Flint sequels are a travesty
>>of the original, but they aren't quite the same. They don't attempt to
>>mimic Schmitz's characteristic dialogue, and they aren't fix-ups, so
>>questions are left unresolved for much longer. In formed by the
>>comparison, I think I prefer fix-ups.
>>
>>The last book, "The Shaman of Karres", has both the most glaring
>>absurdity and one of the nicest ideas in the series. The absurdity is a
>>stereotypical boondocks company town, run by the bad guys - but this
>>company left almost to itself in the back of beyond is the sole source
>>of the catalyst relied upon by all spaceship air recyclers. Neither the
>>Empire nor any of the smaller independent powers have apparently secured
>>it as a strategic resource, and it is necessary for the story that the
>>strange creatures responsible for the catalyst have never been examined
>>by a competent biologist. The nice resolution is for a variation of a
>>problem also addressed by Vance in one of his "Dying Earth" stories.
>>Given somebody (in this case a group of people) psychologically enslaved
>>(in this case by what amounts to a love potion) how might you redirect
>>or modify the enslavement for their benefit?
>
>I read the originals and then the first new one. I thought it was "ok",
>but was not motivated to continue with the modern ones.
>
>I've always wondered why Schmitz didn't try to re-create the sequel.
>Perhaps he felt it wasn't as good as he would have wanted, or
>perhaps he figured he was selling all the "Hub" stories he was writing
>so why switch back?
>
>(Off on a tangent for a bit, I also wonder why he thought _The Eternal
>Frontiers_ was a good idea!)
>--

To follow myself up -- I just recalled that I put a bit about the
lost sequel in _Hell On High_ during the "Library of Missing Books" scene.
IIRC I think the only detail I gave was that The Leewit was in it, and
she was doing something funny.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Monday, August 29, 2022 at 6:43:18 PM UTC+1, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <689bc1f9-1a42-4227...@googlegroups.com>,
> Andrew McDowell <mcdow...@sky.com> wrote:
> >I reread the Karres series, starting with the original (fix-up) "The
> >Witches of Karres", and also diverting to Schmitz's "Agent of Vega" and
> >part of "The Lion Game" for comparison. Supposedly there was a sequel by
> >Schmitz lost in the post. I don't think the Flint sequels are a travesty
> >of the original, but they aren't quite the same. They don't attempt to
> >mimic Schmitz's characteristic dialogue, and they aren't fix-ups, so
> >questions are left unresolved for much longer. In formed by the
> >comparison, I think I prefer fix-ups.
> >
> >The last book, "The Shaman of Karres", has both the most glaring
> >absurdity and one of the nicest ideas in the series. The absurdity is a
> >stereotypical boondocks company town, run by the bad guys - but this
> >company left almost to itself in the back of beyond is the sole source
> >of the catalyst relied upon by all spaceship air recyclers. Neither the
> >Empire nor any of the smaller independent powers have apparently secured
> >it as a strategic resource, and it is necessary for the story that the
> >strange creatures responsible for the catalyst have never been examined
> >by a competent biologist. The nice resolution is for a variation of a
> >problem also addressed by Vance in one of his "Dying Earth" stories.
> >Given somebody (in this case a group of people) psychologically enslaved
> >(in this case by what amounts to a love potion) how might you redirect
> >or modify the enslavement for their benefit?
> I read the originals and then the first new one. I thought it was "ok",
> but was not motivated to continue with the modern ones.
>
> I've always wondered why Schmitz didn't try to re-create the sequel.
> Perhaps he felt it wasn't as good as he would have wanted, or
> perhaps he figured he was selling all the "Hub" stories he was writing
> so why switch back?
>
> (Off on a tangent for a bit, I also wonder why he thought _The Eternal
> Frontiers_ was a good idea!)
> --
> columbiaclosings.com
> What's not in Columbia anymore..
I have "The Eternal Frontiers" as the final long story in the large paperback "Eternal Frontier" that Flint had a hand in editing as a Baen re-issue. Flipping through the beginning, I have forgotten everything except for an anesthetic which works by flipping pain into pleasure.

In article <431fa9b5-0b5b-4a4f-b70e-2c75321de023n@googlegroups.com>,
Andrew McDowell <mcdowell_ag@sky.com> wrote:
>On Monday, August 29, 2022 at 6:43:18 PM UTC+1, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
>> In article <689bc1f9-1a42-4227...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Andrew McDowell <mcdow...@sky.com> wrote:
>> >I reread the Karres series, starting with the original (fix-up) "The
>> >Witches of Karres", and also diverting to Schmitz's "Agent of Vega" and
>> >part of "The Lion Game" for comparison. Supposedly there was a sequel by
>> >Schmitz lost in the post. I don't think the Flint sequels are a travesty
>> >of the original, but they aren't quite the same. They don't attempt to
>> >mimic Schmitz's characteristic dialogue, and they aren't fix-ups, so
>> >questions are left unresolved for much longer. In formed by the
>> >comparison, I think I prefer fix-ups.
>> >
>> >The last book, "The Shaman of Karres", has both the most glaring
>> >absurdity and one of the nicest ideas in the series. The absurdity is a
>> >stereotypical boondocks company town, run by the bad guys - but this
>> >company left almost to itself in the back of beyond is the sole source
>> >of the catalyst relied upon by all spaceship air recyclers. Neither the
>> >Empire nor any of the smaller independent powers have apparently secured
>> >it as a strategic resource, and it is necessary for the story that the
>> >strange creatures responsible for the catalyst have never been examined
>> >by a competent biologist. The nice resolution is for a variation of a
>> >problem also addressed by Vance in one of his "Dying Earth" stories.
>> >Given somebody (in this case a group of people) psychologically enslaved
>> >(in this case by what amounts to a love potion) how might you redirect
>> >or modify the enslavement for their benefit?
>> I read the originals and then the first new one. I thought it was "ok",
>> but was not motivated to continue with the modern ones.
>>
>> I've always wondered why Schmitz didn't try to re-create the sequel.
>> Perhaps he felt it wasn't as good as he would have wanted, or
>> perhaps he figured he was selling all the "Hub" stories he was writing
>> so why switch back?
>>
>> (Off on a tangent for a bit, I also wonder why he thought _The Eternal
>> Frontiers_ was a good idea!)
>> --
>> columbiaclosings.com
>> What's not in Columbia anymore..
>I have "The Eternal Frontiers" as the final long story in the large
>paperback "Eternal Frontier" that Flint had a hand in editing as a Baen
>re-issue. Flipping through the beginning, I have forgotten everything
>except for an anesthetic which works by flipping pain into pleasure.

I think Busby might have used that in one of his "Demu" books too.

I don't even remember that much from TEF, just that I was seriously
underwhelmed and that it never really took off or came together.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..