James H. Schmitz

• Name — James H. Schmitz • Birth Name — James Henry Schmitz • Born — 15 October 1911 • Birthplace — Hamburg, Germany • Died — 18 April 1981 • Place of death — Los Angeles, California, U.S. • Occupation — Short story writer, novelist • Years Active — 1943–74 • Spouse — Betty Mae Chapman Schmitz

Schmitz was born in Hamburg, Germany to American parents and was educated at a Realgymnasium in Hamburg, and grew up speaking both English and German. The family spent World War I in the United States, then returned to Germany. Schmitz traveled to Chicago in 1930 to go to business school, then switched to a correspondence course in journalism. Unable to find a job because of the Great Depression, he returned to Germany to work with his father's company. Schmitz lived in various German cities, where he worked for the International Harvester Company, until his family left shortly before World War II broke out in Europe.

• Illustration — Schmitz's "The Second Night of Summer", part of his "Agent of Vega" series, was the cover story in the third issue of Galaxy Science Fiction in 1950 • Illustration — Schmitz's novelette "Captives of the Thieve-Star" was the cover story in the May 1951 issue of Planet Stories • Illustration — The first installment of Schmitz's novella "The Ties of Earth" took the cover of the November 1955 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction • Illustration — Schmitz's novella "Left Hand, Right Hand" was the cover story on the November 1962 issue of Amazing Stories • Illustration — Schmitz's novella "Beacon to Elsewhere" took the cover of the April 1963 issue of Amazing Stories Schmitz wrote mostly short stories, which sold chiefly to Galaxy Science Fiction and Astounding Science-Fiction (which later became Analog Science Fiction and Fact). Gale Biography in Context called him "a craftsmanlike writer who was a steady contributor to science fiction magazines for over 20 years." Schmitz is best known as a writer of "space opera", and for his strong female characters (such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee) who did not conform to the "damsel in distress" stereotype typical of science fiction of the time. His first published story was "Greenface", published in August 1943 in Unknown. His story "Second Night of Summer", published in Galaxy Science Fiction in December 1950, features the first instance of the term "hive mind" in science fiction. Most of his works are part of the "Hub" series and feature characters with telepathy. However, the novel that "is usually thought of as Schmitz's best work" is The Witches of Karres, concerning juvenile "witches" with genuine psi-powers and their escape from slavery. The Witches of Karres was nominated for a Hugo Award. In recent years, his novels and short stories have been republished by Baen Books, edited and with notes by Eric Flint. In an introductory essay comparing Schmitz with contemporary author A. E. van Vogt, Gardner Dozois wrote, "Although he lacked van Vogt's paranoid tension and ornately Byzantine plots, the late James H. Schmitz was considerably better at people than van Vogt was, crafting even his villains as complicated, psychologically complex, and non-stereotypical characters, full of surprising quirks and behaviors that you didn't see in a lot of other Space Adventure stuff." Dozois added: John Clute writes in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Greg Fowlkes, editor-in-chief of Resurrected Press, said, "During the 50s and 60s "Space Opera" and James H. Schmitz were almost synonymous. He was famous for his tales of interstellar secret agents and galactic criminals, and particularly for heroines such as Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. Many of these characters had enhanced "psionic" powers that let them use their minds as well as their weapons to foil their enemies. All of them were resourceful in the best heroic tradition." In an essay in the anthology The Good Old Stuff (1998), Dozois laments that the book Agent of Vega is "long out-of-print, alas, but one which – if you can find it – delivers as pure a jolt of Widescreen Space Opera Sense of wonder as can be found anywhere." However, the website Free Speculative Fiction Online freely offers Agent of Vega, along with several of Schmitz's other stories, including "Greenface", "Balanced Ecology", "Lion Loose", "Goblin Night", and many more. Schmitz wrote the introduction to the concordance The Universes of E. E. Smith.

During World War II, Schmitz served as an aerial photographer in the Pacific for the United States Army Air Forces. After the war, he took residence in California where he and his brother-in-law managed a business which manufactured trailers until they ended the business in 1949. Schmitz died of congestive lung failure in 1981 after a five-week stay in hospital in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Betty Mae Chapman Schmitz.

Listed chronologically, with month and year of publication, as well as the magazine, listed in parentheses.

• "Greenface" (August 1943, Unknown) • "Agent of Vega" (July 1949, Astounding) • "The Witches of Karres" (Novella, December 1949, Astounding)

• "The Truth About Cushgar" (November 1950, Astounding) • "The Second Night of Summer" (December 1950, Galaxy Science Fiction) • "Space Fear" (March 1951, Astounding) • "Captives of the Thieve Star" (May 1951, Planet Stories) • "The End of the Line" (July 1951, Astounding) • "The Altruist" (September 1952, Galaxy Science Fiction) • "We Don't Want Any Trouble" (June 1953, Galaxy Science Fiction) • "Caretaker" (July 1953, Galaxy Science Fiction) • "The Vampirate" (December 1953, Science-Fiction Plus) • "Grandpa" (February 1955, Astounding) • "The Ties of Earth" (November 1955, Galaxy Part 1)(January 1956, Galaxy part 2) • "Sour Note on Palayata" (November 1956, Astounding) • "The Big Terrarium" (May 1957, Saturn) • "Harvest Time" (September 1958, Astounding) • "Summer Guests" (September 1959, Worlds of If)

• "The Illusionists" (retitle of Space Fear, 1960, Agent of Vega) • "Gone Fishing" (May 1961, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Lion Loose..." (October 1961, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Star Hyacinths" (December 1961, Amazing Stories) • "An Incident on Route 12" (January 1962, Worlds of If) • "Swift Completion" (March 1962, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine) • "Novice" (June 1962, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Other Likeness" (July 1962, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Rogue Psi" (August 1962, Amazing Stories) • "Watch the Sky" (August 1962, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "These Are the Arts" (September 1962, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) • "The Winds of Time" (September 1962, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Left Hand, Right Hand" (November 1962, Amazing Stories) • "Beacon to Elsewhere" (April 1963, Amazing Stories) • "Oneness" (May 1963, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Ham Sandwich" (June 1963, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Undercurrents" (in two parts, May and June 1964, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Clean Slate" (September 1964, Amazing Stories) • "The Machmen" (September 1964, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "A Nice Day for Screaming" (January 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Planet of Forgetting" (February 1965, Galaxy Science Fiction) • "The Pork Chop Tree" (February 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Balanced Ecology" (March 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Goblin Night" (April 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Trouble Tide" (May 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Research Alpha" (July 1965, Worlds of If) • "Sleep No More" (August 1965, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Space Master" (1965, New Writings in SF 3) • "The Tangled Web" (retitle of The Star Hyacinths, 1965, A Nice Day for Screaming and Other Tales of the Hub) • "Faddist" (January 1966, Bizarre Mystery Magazine) • "The Searcher" (February 1966, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Witches of Karres" (Novel, 1966) • "The Tuvela" (in two parts, September and October 1968, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Where the Time Went" (November 1968, Worlds of If) • "The Custodians" (December 1968, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Just Curious" (December 1968, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine) • "Attitudes" (February 1969, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction) • "Would You?" (December 1969, Fantastic)

• "Resident Witch" (May 1970, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Compulsion" (June 1970, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Telzey Toy" (January 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Company Planet" (May 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Glory Day" (June 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Poltergeist" (July 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Lion Game" (in two parts, August and September 1971, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Child of the Gods" (March 1972, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "The Symbiotes" (September 1972, Analog Science Fiction and Science Fact) • "Crime Buff" (August 1973, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine) • "One Step Ahead" (April 1974, Worlds of If) • "Aura of Immortality" (June 1974, Worlds of If)

• "Blood of Nalakia" (retitle of The Vampirate, 2000, Telzey Amberdon) • "Ti's Toys" (retitle of The Telzey Toy, 2000, T'nT: Telzey & Trigger) • "Forget It" (retitle of Planet of Forgetting, January 2001, Trigger & Friends)

Listed by title, with chronological publishing list. • The Demon Breed (retitle of The Tuvela) • Hardcover, 1968, Ace Books/SFBC • Paperback, 1968, Ace Books • Hardcover, 1969, MacDonald • Hardcover, 1971, UK SFBC/Newton Abbot • Paperback, 1974, Orbit Books • Paperback, 1979, Ace Books/SFBC • Paperback, 1981, Ace Books • The Eternal Frontiers • Hardcover, 1973, G. P. Putnam's Sons • Paperback, 1973, Berkley Books • Hardcover, 1974, Sidgwick & Jackson • Hardcover, 1976, Sidgwick & Jackson (in a 3-in-1 compilation titled Special 18) • Legacy (retitle of A Tale of Two Clocks, paperback, 1979, Ace Books) (available from gutenberg) • A Tale of Two Clocks • Hardcover, 1962, Torquil Books/SFBC • Paperback, 1965, Belmont • The Witches of Karres • Hardcover, 1966, Chilton • Paperback, 1966 (twice), Ace Books • Paperback, 1977, Ace Books • Paperback, 1981, Ace Books • Paperback, 1988, Gollancz • Hardcover, 1992, Baen Books/SFBC

• The Wizard of Karres, by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2004 • The Sorceress of Karres, by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2010 • The Shaman of Karres, by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, 2020 • These are sequels to The Witches of Karres which follow the continuing adventures of Captain Pausert, Goth, and the Leewit.