I have now completed reading and reviewing all of the major published works of this author. If you have never read any of his works, I strongly suggest you seek him out.
Cover art by Grey Morrow
Chad Oliver (1928-1993) is the working name of Symmes Chadwick Oliver, an American anthropologist and author. His writing is frequently set in the American West, and much of it takes place outdoors.
From 1957 comes this characteristically short SF novel (153 pages). However, by the time it is done, it seems as if an epic has been read. Chad Oliver, the working name for the SF writing of Symmes Chadwick Oliver, was an American writer born in 1928 and died in 1993. He was an anthropologist and professor at the university in Austin. I had never heard of him before encountering him here in the Rediscovery Series. He has written about a dozen novels and a few short stories. Based on what I just read here, I will certainly be looking for other stories by him.
Aliens crash land on Earth, looking for assistance in getting back to their home planet. However, as the cover illustration plainly shows, they don't land at a very good point in Earth's history to get help with rockets. Weston Chase is a present day Earth physician who gets caught up in the story line, and becomes an ally to the aliens. The story is simple but riveting, and the book is filled with questions. In fact, sometimes entire paragraphs are nothing but questions. The writing style, however, is very fluid, and the book is easy to read in one longish sitting.
The aliens have been searching for an answer to their basic question, which I won't give away here. However, finding the answer means life or death for their planet. As their explorers range across the galaxy they consistently come across three types of human civilizations. In the first, humans have not yet developed advanced technology and are still at a very primitive stage. In the second, they have developed advanced technology, including nuclear capability, and are usually at war with each other. In the third type only the ashes of those cities remain, as the people have destroyed themselves and all sentient life on the planet.
The alien civilization has made it past the 2nd stage without destroying themselves, and they find themselves unique in the galaxy. And thereby hangs a tale. I loved the opening, where Weston Chase is way up in the Colorado mountains on a little fishing expedition. I loved the second part, where one of the aliens tells him his long, painful story. We get to visit the remains of a civilization on one of the planets in the Centauri system, and then it is time for an Earth visit. I also loved the third part of the book, where Chase and two of the aliens are in L.A. in search of a solution to the rocket ship problem. The aliens are wonderful characters, and all-too human. In short, I loved this book.
If you are searching for something that really stands out from the many good SF stories from the late 1950s, this would be one of my first recommendations. A classic.
**** stars. Reviewed March 16th/17
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From 1957 comes this characteristically short SF novel (153 pages). However, by the time it is done, it seems as if an epic has been read. Chad Oliver, the working name for the SF writing of Symmes Chadwick Oliver, was an American writer born in 1928 and died in 1993. He was an anthropologist and professor at the university in Austin. I had never heard of him before encountering him here in the Rediscovery Series. He has written about a dozen novels and a few short stories. Based on what I just read here, I will certainly be looking for other stories by him.
Aliens crash land on Earth, looking for assistance in getting back to their home planet. However, as the cover illustration plainly shows, they don't land at a very good point in Earth's history to get help with rockets. Weston Chase is a present day Earth physician who gets caught up in the story line, and becomes an ally to the aliens. The story is simple but riveting, and the book is filled with questions. In fact, sometimes entire paragraphs are nothing but questions. The writing style, however, is very fluid, and the book is easy to read in one longish sitting.
The aliens have been searching for an answer to their basic question, which I won't give away here. However, finding the answer means life or death for their planet. As their explorers range across the galaxy they consistently come across three types of human civilizations. In the first, humans have not yet developed advanced technology and are still at a very primitive stage. In the second, they have developed advanced technology, including nuclear capability, and are usually at war with each other. In the third type only the ashes of those cities remain, as the people have destroyed themselves and all sentient life on the planet.
The alien civilization has made it past the 2nd stage without destroying themselves, and they find themselves unique in the galaxy. And thereby hangs a tale. I loved the opening, where Weston Chase is way up in the Colorado mountains on a little fishing expedition. I loved the second part, where one of the aliens tells him his long, painful story. We get to visit the remains of a civilization on one of the planets in the Centauri system, and then it is time for an Earth visit. I also loved the third part of the book, where Chase and two of the aliens are in L.A. in search of a solution to the rocket ship problem. The aliens are wonderful characters, and all-too human. In short, I loved this book.
If you are searching for something that really stands out from the many good SF stories from the late 1950s, this would be one of my first recommendations. A classic.
**** stars. Reviewed March 16th/17
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Mists Of Dawn
Cover of my Kindle edition.
Original 1952 publication. Cover art by Alex Schomburg.
Oliver's first published work established his genre as SF with an anthropological focus. Mist of Dawn is a juvenile book, aimed at the same readers that might enjoy the Hardy Boys mysteries. However, this is writing that is more advanced than that, though the language used is still basic. I would aim the book towards 13-year old boys, though I read similar books to my Gr. 6 classes when I taught homeroom in elementary school.
There are few surprises in the story. A 17 year old boy is catapulted back 50,000 years, and must survive a few months living with the people of a Cro-Magnon village. He gets captured and chased by half-men, he goes on a mammoth hunt, he goes into battle against the half men, and befriends a dog. Though the story has some glaring errors, kids won't likely notice. Many SF authors don't seem to have a clue as to how the lunar phases work, and Oliver is no exception. He also seriously overdoes the opening chase sequence, where the boy is chased endlessly by the half-men. He goes without food or water for far too long to make this believable. Also, at one point he wades a long distance in a cold, rushing stream, but doesn't think to have a drink. Later, lying exhausted, he eats some snow to quench his thirst. Too bad he didn't think of drinking awhile back from the stream.
Also, at the very end of the book, the boy has apparently only been gone 15 minutes. However, just as he left, a rocket crashed nearby. When he returns months later, his uncle already knows that no one was injured by the rocket. They step outside to get some fresh air, and all is quiet. Really? No air force planes or helicopters are in the area searching for the rocket? No sirens? No anything. Just normal New Mexico, immediately following a massive rocket crash.
I wasn't crazy about this book, despite the apparent accuracy of the research from that time. Still, it would be fun to get a young person's perspective on it. Ironically, the 2nd book I read and reviewed in these pages was Farmer's much better "Time's Last Gift." The stories and situations are similar, though Farmer is aiming at a more mature audience. His is a novel I would likely read again (it was also my very first Kindle story). I was also a bit disappointed in Oliver's story that despite the boy being 17 and growing into a man, he does not even meet a girl his own age within the tribe he lives with. This is another sign that the book is aimed at much younger boys.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 1st/17
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 1st/17
Shadows In The Sun
Cover art by Michael Booth. First published in 1954.
Several things about this book spoiled it for me. The first one is not the fault of Chad Oliver, though he must take full responsibility for the others. In the introduction by George Zebrowski, he gives away the ending. The only tension in the entire story is whether Paul will go into space with the aliens or remain on Earth. And we are told the answer. DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION. Zebrowski is an idiot, and so is the editor/publisher for allowing it.
The book itself is pretty boring, by design. It is even more boring if we know Paul's final choice before the book even begins (Why does it have to be his final choice--can he not change his mind later?). I mean it when I say there is no other tension in the book. It's like a Symphony in C Major with every note taken only from the C Scale, except for one dominant 7th chord that keeps appearing. Boring. In the story Paul works for a small town newspaper. His boss is quite the character--boring. He could easily represent this entire novel. Why is the novel boring?
For one thing, apparently all humans in the galaxy look like us. And by that I mean all colours and all races. Evolution on watery Earth-like worlds everywhere was exactly the same as it was on Earth. Humans are dominant, and all look like Earthlings. Oliver may know his anthropology, but he sure doesn't know much about biology. Reviewing even the most simplistic and basic theory of evolution tells us how many thousands of little accidents had to occur before humans evolved. The odds of it happening exactly the same way anywhere again are virtually non-existent. It would be as if the same person bought a random lottery ticket each week and was the main winner every single time. Odds would be slim, at best.
All the way through the book we are given no seductive views of alien technology, science, or even art. What we see of it is so little and so bland (like the aliens themselves) that no one could make an informed decision of whether to leave with them and learn, or remain on Earth. Paul states several times that with his new knowledge (there are aliens out there, and they are just like us!) he can no longer even think of remaining on Earth. Why not? What has he seen that readers haven't? And of course leaving Earth would be a big cop out, thinks Paul at times. Let me put it this way, in my own anthropological terms. Some children, when they grow up, move away to go to university and make their own lives elsewhere, apart from their families. These people tend to change character more severely in the eyes of the family, because the smaller day-to-day changes are not observed. Infrequent visits highlight the differences. And of course some people grow up and remain in the same town or city, surrounded constantly by family. These people seem not to change as much. Move away, change a lot. Stay close, remain the same. This is Paul's choice--stay home or go out into the universe. For some of us it was an easy choice; not so for many others.
Then there is the problem of his Earth "girlfriend." He doesn't see her for months, and doesn't once invite her to where he is living and working. Doesn't even think of it. Must be a real passionate fella. When he does finally go to Austin, TX to see her, he tells her nothing about what is happening. Why not? Is this what being intimate with another person means to an anthropologist? Keep everything to yourself because that someone may not believe you? Why not let Anne in on the secret? What exactly is stopping him from doing so? Wouldn't the aliens be at least as accepting of her as they are to Paul? His final decision would have been a lot easier if she was along, too.
Something else that really bugged me (about the intro and the novel) is how far out of the way Oliver goes to tell us there are no supermen, no alien culture with powers (intellectual) greater than ours. Really? Then how did these folk populate the entire galaxy until it is now filled? Science did not elevate humans in this book. In fact, according to Oliver, nothing can. He also goes out of his way to make certain there is nothing really too alien about the aliens. They can behave perfectly like us in most ways, enough to fool virtually everyone, except the overly inquisitive anthropologist. And they don't really have much fun to offer us if we go with them, either.
Needless to say, anthropologists love this book. Needless to say, I do not. It was not a waste of time, however, as I got to practice my critic skills. Most books on this blog I have really enjoyed reading. This one was written in 1954, and is just over 200 pages long. Fortunately, Oliver greatly improved his writing and reasoning skills in future books, which so far I have really liked (Unearthly Neighbours, Winds of Time). So I still look forward to reading more Oliver. But not this one again.
** stars. Reviewed July 6th/17.
Unearthly Neighbours
Yet another SF series worth pursuing. From 1960, revised in 1984.
This SF novel has a lot going for it. In most SF tales, aliens are more or less taken for granted. They are often humanoid, and either friendly or not. Their interactions with humans are thus either warlike or benign. In all of the SF novels I have read (hundreds) and SF movies or TV shows I have watched (hundreds), never have I encountered aliens like I have here. Chad Oliver, an actual anthropologist, sought out the most alien humanoid culture he could think up. Despite sending a whole slew of trained anthropologists on a mission to Sirius Planet Nine to make contact with the people living there, virtually no progress was made. Why not?
Oliver is very fond of asking questions, and sometimes even answers them. As in The Winds of Time, entire paragraphs are devoted to asking questions. After all, this is what scientists do. Questions spur us to seek answers, to use our brain for something besides finding food, water, and shelter. The aliens on this planet are a complete mystery to even the greatest minds Earth could send. For one thing, the aliens use no tools. I don't wish to give away much more, but this drawback seriously hampers the thinking of our venerable scientists.
What do you talk about with people who have no tools, no perceived social structure, and no evidence of civilization? The weather? The differences between the Earth visitors and the aliens are so vast that it takes most of the novel to discover what exactly these differences are. Oliver provides a believable mock-up as to what a real alien encounter might be like. It is pretty frightening. The book contains horror elements along with more cerebral ones, and pure curiosity keeps us reading page after page. The book is difficult to put down once we land on this planet in the Sirius system.
As readers to this blog know, I am a great fan of Space Opera (my favourite SF author is Iain M. Banks, who can combine Space Opera with cerebral thrills better than anyone else I have read). And reading P. J. Farmer has been the most fun I've had since I read Edgar Rice Burroughs as a teenager! But I also love the writing of James Blish, a man whose cerebral SF still holds me enraptured to this day (he is the very last author in the Avon/Equinox series). However, I know of no other Ph.D. anthropologist who writes SF, and fortunately Oliver does a fantastic job of it. I look forward to reading everything Oliver ever wrote in the SF field, and so should you. Highly recommended.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed May 5th/17
Mapman MikeAnother Kind
7 short stories, published in 1955. Cover art by "Powers."
The Mother of Necessity is from 1955, and is 14 pages long. Wheras many SF stories are involved with newer and better gadgets, this story tells of the invention of a new social system (remember that Oliver is an anthropologist). It's not a new system, actually, as his son tells the story, but one that neatly encompasses much of the older systems. It works, and it catches on. End of story.
** stars. Reviewed Aug. 10th/17
Rite of Passage is from 1954, and is 45 pages long. Chad Oliver is obsessed with writing about first contact, and he is very good at it. In this novelette, one of two in this volume, Martin Ashley, anthropoligist, is one of only three survivors from a space ship crew of over 50 people. They were hit by a virus while over 100 light years from Earth. The three surviving men decide to take a chance and land on one of two possibly livable worlds, using their shuttle craft. While they have made first contact with primitive people on many other planets, those visits were strictly for research purposes, and lasted only a few weeks. This time it's for keeps. There is something odd about the people they meet, but Ashley cannot pin it down. Needless to say, he figures it out eventually. A very good story, well worth seeking out. It first appeared in Astounding SF magazine.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Scientific Method (Hands Across Space) is from 1953, and is 14 pages long. When two distrusting humanoid races from different planets first decide to meet in person, maybe a person isn't the best thing to send to the meeting. Somewhat silly but fun, and with a humourous ending. This first appeared in Science Fiction Plus, a Gernsbeck publication.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Night is from 1955 and is 18 pages long. This one reminds me of a Joseph Conrad setting. Three humans are settled on a distant planet, for research purposes. They will be there for 19 years. One man tows the party line about non-interference with the primitive indigenous population, but the other man has different ideas. The female member of the team is willing to listen to both sides and make up her own mind. The second man has strong reasons for interfering with the culture.
*** stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Transformer is from 1954 and is 15 pages long. There are two approaches to this story. The reader can laugh and have a good time with it (which I started out doing), or one can empathize just a little and experience true horror at its most terrifying (which I ended up doing). This would have made a superlative Twilight Zone episode.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
Artifact is from 1955 and is 27 pages long. It is another excellent first contact story, this time set on Mars. A stone age artifact is found by the first explorers on the surface of Mars. An archeologist is sent to investigate. This is one of the best!
**** stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
A Star Above It is from 1955, and first published here. At 41 pages, it is the second novelette included in this collection. Time travel is a favourite topic of SF writers, and this is a very good example. The very first season of Doctor Who, back in 1963-64, also dealt well with the Aztecs and whether to meddle in their affairs or leave well enough alone. The writer is picturesque enough to also remind me of H. Rider Haggard's incomparable ancient Mexico volume Montezuma's Daughter, written way back in 1883. If you enjoyed Oliver's short tale, you will love Haggard's fully fleshed version.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
Page proofread on April 6th, 2019.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Scientific Method (Hands Across Space) is from 1953, and is 14 pages long. When two distrusting humanoid races from different planets first decide to meet in person, maybe a person isn't the best thing to send to the meeting. Somewhat silly but fun, and with a humourous ending. This first appeared in Science Fiction Plus, a Gernsbeck publication.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Night is from 1955 and is 18 pages long. This one reminds me of a Joseph Conrad setting. Three humans are settled on a distant planet, for research purposes. They will be there for 19 years. One man tows the party line about non-interference with the primitive indigenous population, but the other man has different ideas. The female member of the team is willing to listen to both sides and make up her own mind. The second man has strong reasons for interfering with the culture.
*** stars. Reviewed Aug. 11th/17
Transformer is from 1954 and is 15 pages long. There are two approaches to this story. The reader can laugh and have a good time with it (which I started out doing), or one can empathize just a little and experience true horror at its most terrifying (which I ended up doing). This would have made a superlative Twilight Zone episode.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
Artifact is from 1955 and is 27 pages long. It is another excellent first contact story, this time set on Mars. A stone age artifact is found by the first explorers on the surface of Mars. An archeologist is sent to investigate. This is one of the best!
**** stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
A Star Above It is from 1955, and first published here. At 41 pages, it is the second novelette included in this collection. Time travel is a favourite topic of SF writers, and this is a very good example. The very first season of Doctor Who, back in 1963-64, also dealt well with the Aztecs and whether to meddle in their affairs or leave well enough alone. The writer is picturesque enough to also remind me of H. Rider Haggard's incomparable ancient Mexico volume Montezuma's Daughter, written way back in 1883. If you enjoyed Oliver's short tale, you will love Haggard's fully fleshed version.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 12th/17
The Wolf Is My Brother
Cover artist uncredited.
From 1967 comes this amazing western novel, firmly planting itself in the "US Cavalry versus Indians" type of tale. Much of it takes place in western Oklahoma and parts of the Texas Panhandle, including Palo Duro Canyon. The book won the "Golden Spur Award" that year, quite an impressive achievement. In its slim 144 pages (including a concluding note by the author), it brilliantly sums up the last days of the West when it was terrorized by roving bands of Indians.
What is so highly unusual about this book is how Oliver gets inside the head and skin of not only the officer in charge of exterminating the last Indian warriors, but also how he brings life, character, reason, and purpose to Fox Claw, the main Native protagonist. I have not read many westerns, though Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote at least two good ones that I enjoyed. I have never read one where there are no "bad guys." Same with western movies, of which I have seen plenty. However, there are no bad guys in Oliver's story, just guys. A pony soldier doing what he has to do, and an Indian warrior, one of the last on the plains, doing what he has to do. I have never come across such a vivid description of what it might have been like to be an Indian in those days, or a Cavalry officer. Deep respect and understanding is shown both ways. Curtis, the CO for "Fort Wade," actually gets a chance to meet Fox Claw. It is a brief but unforgettable meeting, each man doing what he had to do.
Of course the novel is one long tragedy. There is no way to spin out the yarn any other way. An entire People and way of life was exterminated forever. It's not that there weren't Indian sympathizers back East. A lot was done to try and integrate the Natives into the White Man's way of life. But once we have spent a few weeks on the plains riding with Fox Claw, we can more easily understand why that method was doomed to failure from the very start. Fox Claw is an infuriating character, and things are done his way, or the highway. No bending, no compromise, no giving up any part of his way of life. And thus the sad end becomes inevitable, as Fox Claw knew from the very start.
The ending is nearly perfect, as Curtis realizes that Fox Claw saw things out there that no white man could see. He had lived so close to the land, so in tune with the buffalo, the sky, the stars and the moon, that there was no separating him from it all. And thus the buffalo god makes a second appearance near the end, giving Fox Claw the peace he was seeking. Curtis suspects something unusual has happened, but of course sees nothing.
If you only read one book about the old west, this is the one you should read. Heartbreaking and devastating as it is, it has cleared up a lot of the myth for me. I will likely read it again someday.
**** stars. Reviewed Oct. 5th/17
The Edge Of Forever
Short stories anthology published in 1971.
In addition to 6 stories, some of novelette length, this 305 page hardcover edition has a biographical introduction by William F. Nolan (he wrote Logan's Run, among other SF novels), an afterword by Chad Oliver, and a Chad Oliver SF checklist.
Transfusion is from 1959, and is 54 pages long. Humans have managed time travel, and are attempting to go back and see primitive man in action. Except that where and when he is supposed to be found, according to the fossil record, proves to be untrue. What is the mystery of the missing early humans? Oliver comes up with a pretty neat theory that would certainly impress many fundamentalist Christians, at least up until the ending. A pretty good story, but a bit on the lifeless side.
*** stars.
A Friend To Man (Let Me Live In A House) is from 1954, and is 25 pages long. This is a very bizarre tale about four humans--two couples-- living on Ganymede for several months in an experimental dome that recreates some middle class features from back home. Three of the humans are strictly conditioned to play a middle class role while there, living in small cottages, socializing, and trying to live "normal" lives. The fourth member is not so strenuously conditioned, and he is the only one fit to deal with irregularities, such as an unexpected knock on the door. Good pulp writing, though perhaps a bit too talky.
*** stars.
Field Expedient is from 1954, and is 55 pages long. A very strange tale, largely taking place on Venus (in the 1950s, Venus was usually pitched as a habitable jungle world, virtually unchanged since Edgar Rice Burroughs' day), it does require a very large amount of suspended belief. The Earth is happy under one government. They have decided to abandon space exploration after finding nothing much of value in the solar system. They are also growing stale, and the birth rate is declining. After some births, parents do not want to keep their children. One group wants them, and secretly is sending them to Venus. Sociologists and anthropologists are creating a new type of human society there, one that they hope will kick start humanity's reach for the stars. This is all financed by a very, very, very old billionaire. A pretty good story.
*** stars.
The Ant and The Eye is from 1953, and is 52 pages long. This third novelette included in the volume is a pretty tense story of a near future secret establishment trying to stop an upcoming Hitler-type leader. It begins on the planet of a different star, and then moves back to Earth, specifically Texas and New Mexico. Our hero (Oliver nicely establishes what a real hero is like, as opposed to ones on TV or in other pop culture media) is recalled when a device used to predict the chances of Earth surviving indicates that the planet is doomed within 30 or 40 years. Robert Quinton goes into action, using his full capacity to try and stop the man, once he has been identified. A good political SF thriller.
*** 1/2 stars.
First To The Stars (first published as Stardust) is from 1952, and is 48 pages long. It is a very good example of the generational star ship story, first done so expertly by Heinlein back in 1941. In Oliver's version (which predates E.C. Tubb's The Space-Born by several years), the first star ship to leave Earth is bound for Capella, and will take 200 years to arrive. However, it was presumed lost and never seen again, until a much faster and more modern tourist ship blows by it many years later. The newer ship manages a quick scan, determining that the ship's engines and power supply are not working. If there are people on board, they have no light, no heat, and no artificial gravity. A rescue of sorts is planned, without anyone on the stranded ship knowing they were helped from outside. Very well done.
***1/2 stars.
Didn't He Ramble is from 1957, and is 17 pages long. It is the final story in this volume, which is followed by a 6 page afterword by the author. This story sounds exactly like a pitch for Twilight Zone or some such TV or radio show. It also presages Fantasy Island by several decades. One thing for certain about 1950s SF writers--they were not feminists. A rich man ends his life happy and surrounded by the things he loves.
*** stars. Reviews completed Nov. 17th/17.
*** stars.
The Ant and The Eye is from 1953, and is 52 pages long. This third novelette included in the volume is a pretty tense story of a near future secret establishment trying to stop an upcoming Hitler-type leader. It begins on the planet of a different star, and then moves back to Earth, specifically Texas and New Mexico. Our hero (Oliver nicely establishes what a real hero is like, as opposed to ones on TV or in other pop culture media) is recalled when a device used to predict the chances of Earth surviving indicates that the planet is doomed within 30 or 40 years. Robert Quinton goes into action, using his full capacity to try and stop the man, once he has been identified. A good political SF thriller.
*** 1/2 stars.
First To The Stars (first published as Stardust) is from 1952, and is 48 pages long. It is a very good example of the generational star ship story, first done so expertly by Heinlein back in 1941. In Oliver's version (which predates E.C. Tubb's The Space-Born by several years), the first star ship to leave Earth is bound for Capella, and will take 200 years to arrive. However, it was presumed lost and never seen again, until a much faster and more modern tourist ship blows by it many years later. The newer ship manages a quick scan, determining that the ship's engines and power supply are not working. If there are people on board, they have no light, no heat, and no artificial gravity. A rescue of sorts is planned, without anyone on the stranded ship knowing they were helped from outside. Very well done.
***1/2 stars.
Didn't He Ramble is from 1957, and is 17 pages long. It is the final story in this volume, which is followed by a 6 page afterword by the author. This story sounds exactly like a pitch for Twilight Zone or some such TV or radio show. It also presages Fantasy Island by several decades. One thing for certain about 1950s SF writers--they were not feminists. A rich man ends his life happy and surrounded by the things he loves.
*** stars. Reviews completed Nov. 17th/17.
The Shores Of Another Sea
Jacket painting by Michael Booth
From 1971 comes Oliver's first SF novel since 1960. It is a short book, 214 pages long with a blank page between each of the 14 chapters. Oliver himself spent time in Kenya doing anthropological work, and this story, set in the wilderness of that country, shows a deep understanding of the area and the culture. The hero is Royce Crawford, who runs a baboonery in the middle of nowhere, Kenya. His wife and two young daughters have accompanied him from Texas. His job consists of trapping baboons and shipping them to the States for medical research. Yup. I guess somebody has to do it.
Returning home from a more traditional hunting experience one day, he sees a strange object in the sky, and it seems to land not far from where he and his family are living. Following this sighting, strange things begin to happen. I won't continue on with the plot, which is very good, except to tell you that this is a story (again) of first contact between humans and aliens. This part of the book is suitably creepy, and will long be remembered by me.
Almost as good as the SF plot is Oliver's day-to-day experiences in Africa. This is a wild part of the continent, and even in the early 1970s that aspect was fast disappearing. We get wonderful glimpses of how things once were, with plenty of game, wild animals, and wide open spaces devoid of most human contact. We experience drought, floods, and the darkest and most starry skies on Earth. Oliver has excellent insights into Africans who work with him, and the nearby tribe that lives on the land. One especially unforgettable description is when a troupe of native dancers comes to dance for some rich Americans on safari and camping near the baboonery.
And we certainly get to learn a bit about baboons. In fact, the baboons are to the humans as the humans are to the aliens, a fact that Royce eventually picks up upon. Though they are the link between Royce and the aliens, they are certainly not the winners in any kind of give and take between the two higher species of life.
This is a very unusual and original novel, one that I enjoyed from start to finish. It may not aspire to the same category of masterpiece as ones by a very few better known SF authors, but it is probably the most believable and likely to occur someday, somewhere. Highly recommended and very easy to read.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed Dec. 21st/17
GIANTS IN THE DUST
Cover artist unknown.
This very short novel (142 pages) is from 1976. I like it when cover artists read at least part of the book for some inspiration. Obviously this artist had only the most vague idea of what the story is about. I'm not certain this cover would have contributed to sales at all. The story itself is decent, though not great. In the future we are faced with a bored society, one that has overcome all of its problems. How's that for fiction?? It is not progressing any further. The solution just might be to use a recently found Earth-like planet to drop off several small colonies of human volunteers, to see how they fare. Memories are wiped, so they are starting from scratch. No tools, no medicine, no fire, and no memory of such things.
So in some ways there are a few Tarzans running around the new planet. Oliver seems interested in a type of experiment himself, trying to recreate exactly what might happen. The story and main character didn't really grab me, though it might appeal to some readers. The main theory is that given a fresh start, civilization might turn out differently than it did on Earth. Varnum, the hero, is the only character who has his memory returned on purpose, and he gradually remembers his past life after a few years of primitive living with his people. He tries to keep technology limited, and wants no domestic animals or farming. However, in the end he really can't control progress, which people naturally strive for to increase their comfort level and survival rate.
The book might make for interesting college debates, but it is so hypothethical that it all seems pointless to me. As a pianist and lover of art, I do not wish to be a hunter and gatherer, and am more than happy in my comfortable house with plenty of food and access to good medicine. I have enough to occupy my mind for a thousand years or more. To me the answer lies not in returning to primitive ways of living to recapture a sense of danger and adventure--performing live concerts includes more danger than I can usually handle. To me the answer is searching inward, and finding what it is you believe that life is all about, and how you fit into it. I would look to Buddha and his teachings before I would look to Chad Oliver. Just saying.
**1/2 stars.
BROKEN EAGLE
Cover art by Lou Glanzman
Chad Oliver's 1989 novel about Custer and his self-induced demise is brilliantly written. It's 291 pages are so enthralling that it was impossible not to constantly think about this book as I read it, and it was very hard to put down. Like The Wolf Is My Brother (see above), these are the two best fiction novels ever written about the Indians and the cavalry. There is no arguing that Oliver nails the times perfectly (largely 1864 to 1876), not only transporting us to this very important time for the encroachment of white settlers and the decline of the Native Americans, but also making the actual historical events come alive for us, in living and very bloody colour.
Anyone who reads Oliver's two western novels and comes out the other end not feeling deeply sympathetic towards both the Natives and the average army soldier is a very dead person in spirit. Unfortunately, there are many of those kinds of people still around. This is a type of life-changing book to read, one that gets across the evil that humankind chooses to inflict on one another, especially if the other is "different" in appearance and custom. Oliver has written riveting SF about first contact with aliens, and how chancy such a situation would be. If there was ever a greater tragedy than the treatment of the Natives in North America, I would prefer not to hear about it.
This is no glossy, romantic look at Natives, either. It is brutal in its realism, and unforgiving in its depiction of cruelties inflicted upon white settlers and the army. And it is probably the most 3 dimensional look at General Custer ever undertaken. As a result, we see the good and the bad of both sides. More important than anything, however, is the way Oliver gets across the idea of the inevitability of the white man's encroachment on Sacred Land. It's not hard to figure out who belongs, and who does not. And that fact remains to this day.
The story is bookended by two later dates than most of the events described. At the very beginning, Captain John Singletary revisits the scene some 14 years later after the Battle of Little Big Horn. And the concluding chapter shows him attending the Philadelphia World Exposition a few months after the tragedy. This final chapter really hit home to me what exactly had transpired, and where. The Little Big Horn battle was being fought at the same time that people were visiting this World's Fair, and the juxtaposition of the two worlds is very shocking. Though not seeming to be, it is an emotion-filled ending that leaves the reader shivering, and hopefully leaves him or her with a greater understanding of how the world actually works. Sometimes, it is not a very pretty world.
The author includes a postlude, explaining exactly what is fiction and what is history. Broken Eagle is an entirely fictional character, as is Quill Feather and Walking Wolf. The lead character of Captain Singletary, however, is based on the real life Captain Benteens.
A stunning novel, and not to be missed, even by die hard SF fans. If you ever wished to expand your horizons, you could not do better than with this book.
****+ stars. Reviewed March 8th/18
THE CANNIBAL OWL
Cover art by Lou Glanzman
From 1994 comes this 300 page western novel. There is an introduction by Dale Walker, and an afterword by the author. The story concerns a young white boy captured by a Comanche warrior who is in need of a son, and the men who set off to rescue him. Otis is taken from his bed by Owl, a man driven to extreme behaviour because his wives can give him only daughters. He needs a son to pass on his powerful medicine, and risks all to get one. He is a brutal man, and yet his behaviour is understood eventually by a few people. Women characters include the boy's strong mother, and a medicine woman who cares for Otis when he is badly injured. Three people who chase after the boy are Lee, a black man who has been befriended by the family and helps look after them after the father is badly wounded in an Indian attack; Coffee, a true Texas Ranger who is in love with Otis's older sister; and eventually Otis's father, who leaves his sick bed to track down the renegade Apache who has stolen his son.
While the story has all the ingredients of a good tale, I feel that Oliver has watered things down way too much. He takes so many different viewpoints that the story, which is pretty thin, really stalls at many places. We hear from Owl, then Lee, then Coffee, over and over. We hear the same story too many times from different viewpoints, and it does get tiresome. Later we get to hear it from Otis's mother, as well as the medicine woman that cared for him.
There is also just a bit too much magic and spirit world content to make things believable. I like how Owl gets his medicine and power from an embedded skeleton of a mammoth, but Oliver takes way too much liberty with the appearances of the beast, as well as it's speaking to both Owl and then Otis. The medicine woman knows everything that happens, even though she never leaves her tipi.
On the plus side, most of the characters are believable, and this novel would likely make a good movie. We also learn a lot about the Comanche. The truth is often far from the myth, and the setting of central Texas in 1855 was a painful time for most Native Americans. The Comanche were raiders and horse stealers, and they are in high form at this time. There is a great distinction between what men can do in their society, and what women can do, and never the twain shall meet. Daughters are far inferior to sons. Washing, bathing, and keeping their campsites clean does not seem to be important, either. Despite all their failings as a civilization, the Comanche exhibit strong ties to the land and the animals that inhabit it, and it raises their spiritual level far beyond the average white person. The character of Lee understands the Comanche far better than anyone else outside of their own people, but Otis comes out of the experience much the wiser, too. While he rejects the Comanche way of life, he is forever tied to its beliefs after his ordeal.
While the book is far below Oliver's previous two westerns, I am glad I read it, and I know that parts of the novel will stick with me for a long time. Oliver wrote it when he was becoming very ill, and finished it not long before his death.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed May 11th/18
A STAR ABOVE IT
Cover art by Jane Dennis
From 2003 comes the first of a two-part definitive collection of Oliver's short stories, novelettes, and novellas. At 473 pages, Volume 1 is filled with stories mainly from the 1950s, when the author published his works in the pulp magazines of the time, such as Astounding, and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Out of the 20 stories published here, 6 of them have already been read and reviewed in other collections, above. There is also a very fine introduction by Howard Waldrop.
Blood's A Rover is from 1952, and is 40 pages long. Earth is threatened by a species from another galaxy (really?), and our galaxy must prepare or face its doom. Earth has been upgrading the technical status of various planetary civilizations in preparation, to make certain a formidable enemy faces the alien attack when it eventually arrives. This means introducing higher crop yields, a stationary existence for the people instead of a nomadic slash and burn culture, and, of course, war. Though the story is so far-fetched as to be quite unbelievable, there is a nice twist at the end. If the scale had remained galactic, this would have been a much better story. It's still pretty good, and makes a nice commentary on first contact.
*** stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
The Land Of Lost Content is from 1950, and is 16 pages long. Post holocaust humans have been living underground for generations, coming to religiously believe that anything above ground is taboo. People are forbidden to trespass in areas of the underground society's caverns that might lead to the above world. A small but brave group of citizens make the journey, defying their elder council. They rediscover the land of lost content. Quite a good story.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
The Ant And The Eye: See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Artifact: See Another Kind, above.
Any More At Home Like You? is from 1954, and is 14 pages long. It is a humourous tale about an alien who crashes his ship near Los Angeles, and has to follow human protocol for such procedures. He eventually finds it too tiresome to bear, and requests a rescue from home. Yet another fun piece of literature making humans look like the fools they really are.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
Rewrite Man is from 1957, and is 20 pages long. A man notices some small changes in the front page of his newspaper. Only his newspaper. Other copies of the same edition are standard. He works hard to solve the puzzle, finally achieving his goal. The ending is quite funny. For once the world will not be saved. There is a very funny line in the story about having to do our adventuring during lunch hour, no matter how important the event.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
The Edge Of Forever is from 1951, and is 22 pages long. A small human settlement on a distant planet is faced with a rainy season that defies any previous human experience. They are helped through a crisis by the native people of the planet, a hunter-gather society that isn't quite what it first appears to be.
*** stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
The Boy Next Door is from 1951, and is 8 pages long. This is a very creepy tale, along the line's of Billy Mumy's role in the Twilight Zone, where he wishes people to the cornfield. A radio broadcaster who hates kids does a daily radio show with live kids. He meets one today that he wishes he hadn't.
*** stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
A Star Above It: See Another Kind, above.
The Mother Of Necessity: See Another Kind, above.
Night: See Another Kind, above.
Technical Advisor is from 1953, and is 12 pages long. It is a very silly tale about hiring a science expert to help with accuracy while filming a SF movie. Of course there is going to be the proverbial meteor storm scene, an in-joke for sure. When the technical advisor insists on filming the movie on the actual surface of the moon, he gets full support from the company. A silly twist at the end says a lot about most good writers' views of Hollywood SF productions.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 22nd/18
Between The Thunder And The Sun is from 1977, and is 44 pages long. This novelette is concerned with moral decisions involved with saving inhabitants of a planet that is not supposed to have any type of human interference. However, without aid hundreds of thousands of aliens will die. It is a thankless job, too, as it is to be done in a clandestine fashion. If things go wrong, no one will support the people who made the attempt to help. If things work out, there will be no reward or formal thanks. Yet another in a long line of Oliver stories that pose moral questions concerning first contact. And yet, there is no mention ever made of how these starships work or are able to transcend light speed. Pre-Einstein this was understandable; now that we know light speed is unattainable for humans, it kind of dampens the story effect.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 23rd/18
The One That Got Away is from 1959, and is 12 pages long. It is a very silly story about alien fishermen coming to Earth each year for a fishing vacation. Sigh.
* 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 23rd/18
Transfusion: See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Guardian Spirit is from 1958, and is 36 pages long. Oliver seems to write endless variations on the theme of humans contacting hunter-gatherer alien societies on other planets. This theme can be a bit overwhelming when reading a collection of stories like this all in one go. On the other hand, each of these types of stories is different and poses interesting and unusual problems. This time, an anthropologist suspects there is more than meets the eye with the current society he and his partner are trying to upgrade to modern technology. They are having none of it. There are no young in their village, and no elderly. They talk mysteriously about "Old Ones." He slowly begins to understand what these people have discovered, and wants to become a part of it himself. He undergoes the ritual fasting and receives a vision. His partner, once the project has been proved unsuccessful from an Earth viewpoint, blasts off, leaving behind the man who has discovered the best secret of all. A good, solid story, with an ending different enough to remain memorable for a long time.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed June 25th/18
The Gift is from 1974, and is 20 pages long. A colony of humans has been living a sheltered life beneath a protective dome on an alien planet, awaiting the promised back-up supply ship. 50 years later they are still waiting. The society has become ultra-conservative, and does not wish to attempt living outside the dome. There are primitive people living out there, and weather, and animals, and all sorts of other nasty things. A small group believe they have to make the move now, or never. The burden falls on the young people to make the decision. An interesting take on the theme of human colonization.
*** stars. Reviewed June 25th/18
To Whom It May Concern is from 1981, and is 18 pages long. An anthropologist in a future Africa is helping to oversee the transfer of Earth's final hunting and gathering society to a more modern existence. This is it; the last one in existence. It is a big deal, with TV news cameras and interviewers. When every last drop of information has been squeezed from the tribe, their old lifestyle ends and they are transported to their new home. Meanwhile, one of the natives who had bonded with the anthropologist gives him a turtle shell, telling him it has been handed down from father to son for a very long time. It is up to the anthropologist to uncover its secret, if he can.
*** stars. Reviewed June 25th/18
A Stick For Harry Eddington is from 1965, and is 16 pages long. A 51 year old man finds himself useless to his society because of his age, and tries to strike an expensive bargain with a shrewd businessman's company. The bargain will see his personality transferred to another person's body, and that person's into his. This exchange is only carried out to the mutual benefit of both parties. Kind of a weird concept. At any rate, Harry finds himself happily ensconced amidst a society that does treasure the older members. Humourous and light reading.
*** stars. Reviewed June 25th/18
Old Four Eyes is from 1989, and is 20 pages long. As Earth becomes more crowded, wildlife is forced to live in smaller and smaller enclaves of wilderness. A female of a previously unknown mammal is desperate enough to trust a human. She knows it is her last chance for survival. Paul Shudde (Old Four Eyes) is her man. A feel-good story that dares to be different.
*** stars. Reviewed June 25th/18
NOT OF THIS EARTH
Cover of my Kindle edition.
I am sad to arrive at the final book of fiction that Chad Oliver wrote. Published in 2003, it is the companion volume to Vol. 1, A Star Above It, above. At 476 pages, it is a hefty conclusion to his writing. It contains 20 stories, of which I had previously read 6.
Stardust (First To The Stars): See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Let Me Live In A House (A Friend To Man): See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Field Expedient: See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Transformer: See Another Kind, above.
If Now You Grieve A Little (Hardly Worth Mentioning) is from 1953, and is about 52 pages long (Kindle). The story is in six chapters, and is long enough to qualify as a novelette. An archaeologist uncovers a small plastic cog wheel 30 cm below the surface, and the discovery changes his life forever. It leads to unsettling discoveries, personal tragedy, and a new way of thinking and acting for him. Though it stretches credulity to the maximum, this is an excellent story.
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 30th/18.
Anachronism is from 1953, and is 5 pages long. It concerns a vampire movie star, who has reasons for being so good in the role. A bit on the silly side.
** stars. Reviewed July 30/18
North Wind is from 1956, and is 36 pages long. An investigator travels to a planet orbiting Arcturus when a discovery is reported to be of extraordinary significance. The job of this person is to determine how much of the planet will remain in native hands, and how much will be given over to colonization. The young anthropologist making the initial report went heavily in favour of the natives, but the investigator was easily able to prove his great discovery to be not very significant. As a result, the planet is now destined for colonization by humans. However, while at first we are led to believe that the investigator is pro-human, we find out otherwise near the end. An excellent story!
*** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 31st/18
Pilgrimage is from 1958, and is 34 pages long. A small town old duffer is actually the go-between for alien scientists orbiting Earth and learning about it. As a reward for helping with the investigation, he is granted a type of wish. The town is noted for its annual pilgrimage and historical parade, where modern people dress up and act out historical scenes from the town's past. This is a humourous tale with a serious message, though in the end it is quite mean-spirited. The author has shown a very tough way to teach history to people who tend to glamorize it.
*** stars. Reviewed July 31st/18
The Wind Blows Free is from 1957, and is 24 pages long. This is another in the endless variation of the Ark in Space theme. 390 years into their sub-light speed journey to a new life in a new solar system, one of the last groups of humans continue their very conservative lifestyle. One of them, a rebel and misfit, discovers the true secret of their journey. A decent story, well told. Similar in theme to Oliver's short story Land of Lost Content, from Vol. 1 of the short story collection.
*** stars. reviewed July 31st/18
Of Course is from 1954, and is 10 pages long. A short and funny version of Day The Earth Stood Still, a classic 50s SF flic. Aliens come to Earth in search of the most civilized people on the planet. Their choice is a little bit eccentric.
** 1/2 stars. Reviewed July 31st/18
Rite Of Passage: See Another Kind, above.
Didn't He Ramble: See The Edge Of Forever, above.
Second Nature is from 1973, and is 22 pages long. For reasons I find difficult to fathom, 17 year old humans, grown in a lab environment, are brought to habitable planets, given a last minute brain input to normalize them to their surroundings, and left to survive there. 25 males and 25 females make up a colony. Something goes wrong, and before the subjects can be given the brain input information, the ship has to take off after only five minutes of same. Oliver is basically setting out a hypothetical case study, and trying to argue whether or not such humans could survive without any skills, knowledge, or help of any kind. Interesting question.
*** stars. Reviewed August 1st/18
Ghost Town is from 1983, and is 22 pages long. It is one of those stories that doesn't quite make sense, and doesn't quite work, and doesn't quite capture the reader's interest. 5 investigators are searching a long abandoned Earth colony, an artificial one floating in space. They expect to find nothing human-like, but instead stumble across the last remnants of a colony, along with a colony of chimps. Their leader, a very old and sick man, is telepathic, and has been since he was struck by lightning. The old man wins, the anthropologist wins, and the chimps win. At least everyone wins.
** stars. Reviewed August 1st/18
End Of The Line is from 1965, and is 29 pages long. Humans have become sterile, and their time has run out. The only exception is a race of primitive cave people, who are being exploited by people who kidnap their babies and sell them for great profit in the cities. One man knows that this must be stopped, and the cave people be allowed to develop on their own, even as civilized man becomes extinct. A good story, though a strange one.
*** stars. Reviewed Aug. 1st/18
Just Like A Man is from 1966, and is 50 pages long. This is another great story by the author, but yet another one in which I wish he had included women. They hardly seem to exist in Oliver's world. Three scientists on a scouting expedition on a newly discovered Earth-like planet run into severe difficulty when a storm forces them to abandon their airship, over 500 miles from the base camp. They are on their own. In the savanna are man-eating felines; the vast, dark jungle is a complete unknown. A great adventure ensues. This could have easily become a full novel, instead of a novelette.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 2nd/18
Far From This Earth is from 1970, and is 12 pages long. A Kenyan game warden faces some grim realities as he carries out his duties in a near future. The story is fatalistic and cynical, and thus pretty honest and realistic. It is also a fairly grim but accurate prediction of our near future. That future was written in the cards even back in 1970.
*** stars. Reviewed August 2nd/18
King Of The Hill is from 1972, and is 9 pages long. Another near future prediction by Oliver, and also very nihilistic. The world's richest man does his bit to save a little part of life on Earth, in the face of mounting evidence that Earth has used up its chances to support life. He spends a huge fortune to send life elsewhere in the solar system, realizing that exploring the stars is not in our capability. Hard-hitting and brutally honest.
*** stars. Reviewed August 2nd/18
Meanwhile, Back On The Reservation is from 1981, and is 19 pages long. A bureaucrat from Earth gets to meet a woman who has lived in space all her life. The best and the brightest seem to have flown the coop, and a lot of financial funding heads out into space, also. She has a terrible time adjusting to Earth, which is considered a backwater now that things are humming in deep space. It's like returning to reservation life once you have had a taste of a vastly different lifestyle. I like Oliver; he writes well. Here is a small sample quote from this story of the little truths often hidden within his stories: "As he saw himself, Greer was a strange mixture of a man. Maybe half rational, half dreamer, and half plagued by convictions. That was at least one half too many and it made his life complicated."
*** stars. Reviewed August 3rd/18
A Lake Of Summer is from 1991, and is 12 pages long. This is a little gem of a ghost story about a 12 year old boy enjoying his summers on a small lake in Michigan. When the beloved old man in the cabin down the road dies in a fire, the boy is lost and suddenly less interested in life and his summers. Some lovely moments of an innocent boy growing up, and his first face-to-face encounter with grim reality.
***1/2 stars. Reviewed August 3rd/18
Page proofread on April 6th, 2019.
