Ardath MayharCritiques

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.

Introduces us to a galaxy where humanity has spread, then splintered into factions, with each trying to rule the whole. Follows one plot to remove a king of one clan" for the furthering of another clan. Nothing special, but enjoyable with promise for a huge amount of stories.

Having never played Battletech/Mechwarrior, I am just getting into this universe. I thought the introduction did a good job of summarizing the galaxy to date."

2.5 stars
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

Araminta Palomer is the daughter of an elderly wealthy businessman and his second wife. Minta has been sheltered for all her life, living in the family mansion which is surrounded by high walls and patrolling Doberman Pinschers. She has a governess and is driven to town only rarely for shopping. Because she�??s lonely, Minta creates an imaginary friend ƒ?? an egg-shaped furry creature who loves her. Prophetically, she names him Willbe and she imagines him with sharp needle-like teeth because sheƒ??s got a really nasty older stepbrother.

At first, Willbe is the perfect companion; heƒ??s warm and furry and sleeps next to Minta at night. The problems start when Willbe begins to manifest as a real creature whenever Minta feels threatened ƒ?? and heƒ??s not afraid to use those teeth. When Minta is kidnapped and Willbe steps in to protect her, the police start asking questions. Most people canƒ??t see Willbe, but the governess, who has spent some time in Tibet, recognizes the creature as a Tulpa. She understands that Minta has summoned the tulpa, but she doesnƒ??t know how to get rid of him, and heƒ??s gradually getting more dangerous as he resists Mintaƒ??s control. He racks up several murders by the end of the story.

The Tulpa by Ardath Mayhar, who died this year, is a relatively short novel (168 pages in paperback, 5 hours in audio) that was originally published as The Tulpa: A Novel of Supernatural Horror in 2005 in ebook format. The plot is straightforward and linear ƒ?? there is no divergence from the chronological storyline about Willbe. Since itƒ??s a horror story, some departure or tension relief would have been welcome. The story isnƒ??t particularly scary or gory, itƒ??s just single-minded to a fault.

At first I was confused about Ardath Mayharƒ??s setting because Aramintaƒ??s family is so worried about her being kidnapped, she lives behind high walls, she has a governess instead of going to school, and her mother has been told that reading fiction causes children to become unhealthily fanciful. Then the governess mentions surfing the Internet and itƒ??s clear that the setting is modern U.S.A. This all seemed incongruent to me.

Probably what saved The Tulpa for me was Kate Ruddƒ??s narration of the audiobook version (published by Wildside Press). I have always enjoyed her performances and, though I accused her of being too angsty in the last audiobook I listened to her narrate, I didnƒ??t find that to be a problem here (when she had even more cause to be angsty). She made Minta feel more real than Ardath Mayhar did.

If youƒ??re looking for a short fast-paced supernatural horror story thatƒ??s not too gross or scary, The Tulpa will fit the bill. Donƒ??t expect more than an uncomplicated unswerving monster story, though.

Ardath Mayharƒ??s writing style is pleasant, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I have one of her novels on my shelf and I fully intend to crack it open sometime soon.


Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.

It takes a little bit to catch on to what's happening - but this is that story that explains how a species native to a planet can be in an economic crises because there is only ONE creature that gives them an essential nutrient - and the entire race is dying out.

In Golden Dream we learn WHY the Fuzzies were facing these problems, what they thought of the Big Ones who came to them in their time of need - and just generally fun reading.

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 little atmospheric horror story. The main character is a very interesting person. Well worth reading.½

A wonderfully written book about an all too possible future. When the end of the world as we know it comes, people in Hickory Hollow don't even know what happened or when. Since they had embraced a back to the land lifestyle they were able to continue their lives, with adjustments of course, plus help some others who weren't as well prepared. There are the obligatory hoodlums to be subdued when society's rules are gone but it's not the main focus.

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 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

Sounds like an Andre Norton novel and is to a degree. Hale Enbo is a planetary scount, indentured to the Ginli, an alien species, who regard other species as lesser species. Hale liked his life but felt he had to leave when he found one of his friends on a vivisection table.

He finds himself on a planet where his life changes and embarks on adventures to learn more. His life is about to be very different.

It's not bad but somehow it really has an idea that's interesting but the characters don't really catch me. I didn't really care enough about what was happening to Hale and didn't really see that he had a huge motivation to continue.

This is a solid introduction to the Battletech universe. It may have been light on the battle scenes, but it had some great character development and does a good job of setting some groundwork for Stackpole's Warrior trilogy.

Mayhar did a great job of adding to the Fuzzy stories. Could hardly tell that it was not Piper. Gave a great story of where the Fuzzy's came from and what they were.