Introduction
James H Schmitz (1911 – 1981) wrote several short stories, plus two novels, set in an area of space called the Hub, during the 1950s to the 1970s.
The complete set of stories has been collected into “The Complete Federation of the Hub”, consisting of 4 volumes, published in 2000 – 2001 by Baen Books, edited by Eric Flint, and co-edited by Guy Gordon.
The stories are set in the far future, when humanity has spread throughout space. Many of the colonised worlds are in a star cluster called the Hub. The populated planets of the Hub have joined in a political entity called the Federation.
The main characters of the series are the two heroines Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee. Telzey’s stories are in Volumes 1 and 2; Trigger’s stories are in Volumes 3 and 2. Volume 2 is effectively the sequel to both Volumes 1 (Telzey’s stories) and Volume 3 (Trigger’s stories).
Presumably this has been done to keep all of Telzey’s stories together in Volumes 1 and 2. All the stories in Volume 2 include Telzey; three of these also include Trigger; these are: “Compulsion”, “Glory Day” and “The Symbiotes”, which occur after Trigger’s stories in Volume 3. If you want to read Trigger’s stories in order, I recommend reading Volume 3 before Volume 2, or at least before the stories in Volume 2 in which Trigger appears.
Some of Telzey’s and Trigger’s friends appear in stories in their own right, in volumes 1-4. Volume 4 contains other stories set in the Hub, but which do not include Telzey or Trigger. A third heroine, Nile Etland, appears in this volume.
Eric Flint has written an Afterword in each volume, and Guy Gordon, who is something of an expert on the Hub, has written an essay at the end of each volume, giving background information on the universe of the Hub.
I will be progressively adding reviews of the stories as I read them.
The reviews are on a separate page for each of the 4 volumes.
Volume 2: T’nT: Telzey & Trigger
Volume 4: The Hub: Dangerous Territory
Links
Wikipedia entry for James_H._Schmitz
Alan J Chick's pages 