Ardath Mayhar (1930–2012)

Golden Dream is a prequel? sequel? to H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy series nested in the greater terro-human empire future history.
It begins with the idea that the Fuzzies are actually aliens from an entirely different world and crash landed, were separated from their technology, and gradually devolved. Some of this was likely in an effort to explain some environmental oddities from the original books like the Fuzzies needing a compound to survive and breed that was almost entirely absent from the show more local food chain. It continues forward through the events of H. Beam Piper's books, however the entire book is written from the perspective of the Fuzzies themselves.
Even under the best of circumstances, I'm not often a fan of others posthumously expanding the universe of another writer in this way. It can be done well, and there are great 'tribute' volumes out there with writing by some really talented folks. This, is not one of those.
The idea of the fuzzies being from another world as an answer to the above question isn't in and of itself a terrible idea, except taken in the context of Piper's wider terro-human empire future history...which has essentially never encountered another spacefaring alien race even with FTL travel, and in this case the fuzzies themselves are also supposed to have FTL tech. Secondly, even crashlanding and being permanently separated from their ship isn't an adequate explanation for their gradual loss of tech and devolution, as they apparently made absolutely no attempt at bootstrapping their tech level back up, even though most of their technical crew survived.
The timeline is also very confusing. Given the loss of knowledge, skills, and actual evolutionary changes (its mentioned specifically that the fuzzy phenotype at a minimum has shifted over time) it seems as though it must be hundreds if not thousands of years between the crash and the arrival of humans. The lifespan of the fuzzies is also specifically referenced as being relatively short in this brutal world. Yet, based on parent names, fuzzies remembering prior generations, and similar things it would appear that its only been dozens of years, perhaps a decades, since the crash? Which doesn't seem to make much sense. The idea of a race memory that involves the shape of their home system? galaxy? but absolutely nothing else is also very strange.
The author also posits that despite human (or maybe higher than human) levels of intelligence the fuzzies also have an almost genetic need that is being fulfilled by being held, cared for, and treated like children by the humans which feels *very* strange.
All in all, even if you're a fan of Piper's original Fuzzy material, I'd say skip this. show less

Classic pulp fantasy, if there is such a thing. I love Mayhar's terse style of writing that assumes that the reader can catch up. Very different from what the fantasy genre has become, yet lovely and recognizable for those who enjoy it.

Remember the old Ace Doubles, each of which included two novels/novellas printed back-to-back and upside-down, each with its own front cover? I love those, and am happy to report that Wildside Press has started a new series using this concept. Wildside Double #7 includes two science fiction novellas set in the same universe: Slaughterhouse World by Ardath Mayhar and Knack’ Attack by Robert Reginald. Both are fun science fiction tales involving humanity’s battle against an implacable show more alien race, the Knackers, with whom we cannot effectively communicate and who view humans as a culinary delicacy. I’d consider both works to be in much the same vein as the old Heinlein juveniles, in that they would appeal to teen readers but can still be appreciated by adult readers.

Minor plot spoilers follow.

Slaughterhouse World: Ardath Mayhar’s novella describes the (mis)adventures of an ordinary grunt, Joel Karsh, who is one of the few survivors of a human military unit operating on the eponymous “Slaughterhouse World,” which is a planet the Knackers are using as a processing center and transshipment point for human flesh. Joel just wants to survive and make it back to his rendezvous point, but along the way, he may just find a way to give humanity the edge it needs to win the war.

Knack’ Attack: I was initially concerned about the dialect in which this story is told – it’s a first person account by a fifteen-year old genetically-modified – in what way(s) we’re not sure, though she can’t eat “standard” food – human girl who has lived her entire life on a rural alien world. She speaks in kind of a “folksy” voice with lots of quaint expressions and contractions peppering her dialogue and thoughts, but it didn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of the story as I’d initially feared it might. As I read, I found myself mentally pronouncing each word phonetically and that worked just fine and didn’t slow me down. In any case, this is a coming of age story about a young woman thrust into a situation requiring courage, wisdom, and leadership far beyond her years if she and her fellow settlers are to survive the Knacker invasion of their world. We also learn more about the aliens themselves and what’s going on in the larger war effort.

Despite the fact that the premise of both stories is one involving a pretty horrific situation – humanity is losing a war to an alien race that eats us – these are classic, fun, wholesome military SF tales. Since these are stories of courage, survival, and coming of age, I think they will especially appeal to teen readers.

I enjoyed both novellas very much and recommend them to anyone looking for some fun SF adventures. Don’t expect convoluted plots or hard science. These are rousing adventure stories. I give this duo of novellas a very solid 4 stars out of 5 and am very much looking forward to more tales of the Human-Knacker War

Review copyright 2010 J. Andrew Byers show less

The Wall is another book I managed to get cheaply from local used bookstore. It's a pretty damn good book.

The Wall is a horror novel about a woman called Alice Critten, who inherits her Great-Aunt Elanor's rural house, which is surrounded by the titular wall. On her first night in the house, she hears a strange wail coming from the forest outside her wall. Soon, she starts seeing a ghost, and finds odd fires. She begins to suspect that there is an evil cult in the nearby town.

This is a nice show more little atmospheric horror story. The main character is a very interesting person. Well worth reading. show less