F. M. BusbyRecensioni

Pulp sci-fi at its average. In some ways this felt like a fixup collection of 4 short stories/novelletes from Busby. The "parts" as their called in the book all have the backdrop of the many worlds theory, although only 2 of them approach it directly. One of the stories is very similar to Heinlein's Tunnel in the Sky. In general, a decent "classic" scifi with a lot of time spent with characters thoughts and MCs who in general are smarter than everyone else.

"Volume One of the Rissa Kerguelen Saga" - This was presumably intended as the beginning of a long-running series. The lack of a relatable central character or much in the way of original ideas probably explains why that never happened. I liked the idea that North America is literally owned and run by a corporation but that's all I liked. E.C. Tubb's Earl Dumarest saga is an example of how this kind of thing really ought to be done.

Incidentally the woman on the cover of the UK edition looks like a soccer mom...not at all the "Lisbeth Salander on steroids" that I somehow envisaged.

An odd mix of 50's and 80's style sci-fi, with a dated background, and the occasional "sex sells right?" moment. The basic premise is interesting, (I won't give it away here) but almost wasn't enough to save the book. Barely a three.

Hope Springs Eternal

As a young girl, raised in a home with two alcoholic parents, I know a lot about neglect, emotional, physical and sexual abuse. When I first read Young Rissa, I finally found someone in whom I could find hope for a better life.

Rissa Kerguelen is sent into the Welfare program on Earth at age five when her parents are killed. Along with her brother, Ivan, they are ripped from the comfort of a luxurious and safe home and sent into hell.

On Earth, approximately 30% of the population is indentured to the Welfare system and almost no one ever buys their way out. Occasionally, someone hits the Government run lottery and escapes but usually falls back into Welfare's clutches.

Rissa and Ivan are in the system for close to six years. Enduring physical abuse and rape, Rissa worries about her brother. All of the reports she hears about Ivan are that he is "in punishment status."

Shockingly, Rissa discovers that she has won the biggest Welfare lottery and is freed around her 11th year. Her Uncle Voris meets her and explains the danger she now faces.

The rest of the book is a triumph over the worst odds, a thrilling hope to anyone who has ever been held in captivity and one of the best Space Operas I've ever read.

It's been close to 45 years since I last read this book but it was like coming home to re-read it. F. M. Busby's Rissa Kerguelen is why I'm a Science Fiction fan for life.

Hidden Worlds heads for Earth

Rissa and Tregare is only the second in the sweeping space opera saga of F. M. Busby's Rissa Kerguelen series but it is a powerful book.

As Rissa grows closer to Bran Tregare, she also becomes a part of his complicated and dangerous operation to seize control of Earth from the UET or United Energy and Transport conglomerate that rules most of the world's government.

Rissa and Tregare, both survivors of the vicious Total Welfare system are heavily motivated to free both Earth, and the Hidden Worlds that have managed to flourish outside of UET's reach.

Busby leans on his own background in Intelligence in weaving together the intrigues involved in bringing diverse cultures in compliance to achieve a mutual goal.

I found it fascinating to be rereading this book in 2022 and recognizing the influences of the sexual revolution of the 60's and 70's. The character's relationships are varied and sometimes confusing.

I'm sad to get to the end of this book because I can't find any of the other ones still in print. Rissa Kerguelen will always be my favorite space opera.

A meandering story with a narrator who is very interested in minor details but overlooks some obvious stuff. It seems like there were characters and descriptions of what's for dinner that were added to make the story longer.
It kept me interested though and i read it to the end.

Three books in one.

2014 re-read. Review forthconing

This novel is hardly futuristic since it is set in the 1990's or maybe early 2000's. But it is science fiction (I think) because it tells the story of the Mark Twos a new kind of human with a survival adaptation that makes them immune to AIDS.

Zelde was a prisoner on board a spaceship bound for the brothels of a mining planet. The ship's first officer, Ragir Parnell, staged a mutiny and Zelde joined in. Then they went looking for sanctuary. Great story.

Another story of the Hulzein dynasty. See what happens to the hero of Star Rebel.

Busby has written a number of books about the Hulzein Dynasty. This one stars Bran Tregare who becomes the husband of Rissa Kerguelen and the father of Lisele (see Rebels' Seed).

Busby has written a series of books about the Hulzein dynasty. This one stars Lisele, heir to the dynasty. Read after Star Rebel and Rebel's Quest to fully understand.

Typical of so many 1970s pulp sci fi writers and books. F.M. Busby’s The Demu Trilogy may actually be good, although with a 3.59 rating on Goodreads, I doubt it, but I’m not going to give it a shot by finishing it and you know why? Gratuitous sex. I’m not a prude. I have nothing against sex, lots of sex. I’ve read, and own, de Sade. I’ve read more sex in one book than most people have read in a lifetime. But within context. Within this context, and most sci fi’ context, gratuitous sex is just pathetic adolescent masturbatory fantasy written by some no talent (usually, except for Heinlein) hack writer who can’t get any.

This book begins with a fellow named Barton who wakes up on a dull spaceship, nude, with about 50 other nude people, not all of whom are fully human, although he strangely realizes this because they all look mostly human. And naked. And while most don’t speak English, he finds an English speaking man who speaks almost any language out there, including alien, and a hottie alien woman and they all get along famously, so much so that he finds himself boning the alien babe before long. And she does the same with his new friend. It was the decade of the Sexual Revolution, after all. I guess in space too.

Well, the aliens didn’t like this, so he woke up in a private room, but he was soon joined by another alien woman who was uber-aggressive and who attacked him relentlessly. She was taken away and then reappeared and to Barton’s horror, it’s implied that she was given a lobotomy and now also appears toothless, drooling, and quite empty eyed and happy. But also horny as shit and apparently quite strong, because he can’t fight her off, so he naturally gives in and lets her have her way and they do it relentlessly and he doesn’t feel too bad about it because she’s quite obviously enjoying herself. Yeah, nice. But soon, she appears to be getting fat. And he realizes, oh shit. Yep, preggers. He tries to communicate to the aliens that he’s not a damn doctor, he can’t deliver a half human, half alien baby, but nope, when it’s time, she’s screaming like crazy and it’s bloody and the fetus/baby is freaking him out, so he does the natural thing and slaughters both of them to shut them the fuck up. Nice, huh? So, they’re removed from his room. And he’s reduced to masturbating frequently. Which he does every page. And then all of a sudden, there’s a window in his room and he sees several lobster-like aliens watching him and then they’re making some jerk-off motions because they CLEARLY want him to masturbate for them because I guess they’re horny lobster aliens (?), but he has his murder/sex principles, so he won’t masturbate for them, so even though they try to persuade him for days, he suffers by denying himself his much needed relief and then they finally give in and he resumes masturbating, thank God, until one day, another alien female appears in his room, this one looking like the previous one, but docile. Because she, too, has been lobotomized. And he’s so appalled, he is determined not to take advantage of this poor thing, and that lasts about 10 minutes before her fervor takes him out and she’s on him, sliding up and down. But this time, he takes precautions. I don’t know what they are. They aren’t spelled out. I guess he either pulls out or has anal sex with her, but he’s determined not to get her pregnant. But one morning he wakes to find that she’s astride him, riding him, vaginally, and before he knows it and can help himself, he ejaculates inside of her and guess what? Yep, she gets pregnant. Knowing he can’t take it again, he does what, I forget, it all runs together. I think this time he merely breaks her neck.

By this time, I’m so disgusted that there’s virtually no real sci fi, other than spurious aliens who do nothing other than think of human sex, and nothing in this book other than sex on every page and the occasional murder, that I’m done, I give up in disgust. It might turn out that this trilogy could turn out to be decent, but I’m not going to be around to find out. It’s not worth the effort to me. I don’t want to be this disgusted long enough to try. Busby is a disgusting pervert. A no talent hack who can’t write worth shit, who should have been writing for Hustler, if he was even that good, which I doubt. Maybe when I sell it to the used bookstore, I’ll get a quarter for it. Needless to say, this is at best a one star book and most certainly not recommended.

There is not much good to be said about this one. It does bring a superficial and boring closure to the central storylines. On the way we get one brief space battle and the chance to see a fair number of shockingly inept bad guys get their comeuppance. I kept expecting some credible threat to emerge, one that would require our protagonist to ally with the barely sketched aliens, but I guess you have to prove masochistic enough to pick up book 4 to get to that part of the series.½

The first book of this series had left me with mixed emotions. I enjoyed the relatively progressive kickass heroine, the generally entertaining storytelling, and some interesting ideas on interstellar capitalism. I was put off by the sophomoric obsession with sex.

For much of this second book I felt that it was an improvement, with less action but a fair amount of character development that goes beyond our two protagonists to a diverse supporting cast which even includes strong females whose raison d'être extends beyond giving adolescent teen boys something about which to fantasize.

Having said that, a few key late plot developments again left me feeling less than fully enthusiastic about Rissa and Tregare. It was obvious that the mysterious aliens were going to show up, and that Tregare was going to need to recruit them as allies. When they did finally make an appearance, the aliens, and how they interacted with the humans, and how the humans reacted to such interaction felt both rushed and pretty ridiculous. Likewise, Busby’s handling of the reappearance of an important character from early in the first book, the secrets that character was hiding, and how our protagonists reacted once the secret was revealed, all left me quite unimpressed.

As is perhaps not unusual for a second book in a trilogy, this second book doesn’t actually advance the story very much. It is largely about character development and setting up the climactic action to come in book three.

I can't remember how I discovered the Rissa and Tregare series, I think I must have been lent one by a friend, because I do remember reading The Long View which I don't own. And besides Rebel's Quest I have Rissa and Tregare and Zelde M'Tana. But I do remember then hunting used book stores trying to find more of Busby--and alas I only have those three on my book shelves--and I have a lot of gaps including the previous book in this arc, Star Rebel. Fortunately this novel can stand alone, even if there are tantalizing references to what must have happened in other books. The Rissa and Tregare books are a pleasure, and I'm only sorry they're not easily available--and that there aren't more. They feature a kick-ass heroine in Rissa and in Tregare you have a space pirate I certainly find a lot more appealing than Han Solo. This is space opera of the sort you find in Robert Heinlein, David Weber, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon. For me, this really hit the spot.

Try finding a kickass heroine in science fiction before 1980, the year before this novel's publication. Particularly try finding a kickass action heroine of that date, one written by a male writer that doesn't make you, a woman, cringe. Rare.

So, in Rissa you have a strong heroine in a space opera of the kind you find in Robert Heinlein, David Weber, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon. For me, this really hit the spot. And this is one of those old-fashioned tales about someone who starts at the very bottom of life only to rise to heights on smarts and gumption--and more than a little luck. And believe me, it's not as if Bran Tregare, a space pirate that could give Han Solo a run for his money, doesn't have his own appeal.

This is only the second book in the Rissa trilogy, so you should really start with Young Rissa (aka Rissa Kerguelan)--if you can. I can't remember how I discovered this series, I think I must have been lent one by a friend, because I do remember reading The Long View which I don't own. But I do remember then hunting used book stores trying to find more--and alas I only have three on my book shelves--and Young Rissa isn't one of them. Fortunately this novel can stand alone, even if there are tantalizing references to what must have happened in other books. Thes Rissa and Tregare books are a pleasure, and I'm only sorry they're not easily available--and that there aren't more.½

Try finding a kickass heroine in science fiction before or anywhere near 1980, the year of this novel's publication. Particularly try finding a kickass action heroine of that date, one written by a male writer that doesn't make you, a woman, cringe. Try finding one with a heroine that's black written in that era. Rare.

Not that the race or gender of Zelde is made a big deal of--that's one of the book's pleasures. It's just a great rip-roaring space opera yarn. Zelde appears in the trilogy of books about Rissa Kerguelan, and this is a kind of prequel, so it's certainly not necessary to have read those books--but after this one you'll want to--at least if you love well-written space opera of the kind by Robert Heinlein, David Weber, Lois McMaster Bujold, Elizabeth Moon, this should really hit the spot.

All the books in the Rissa Kerguelen and Bran Tregare series are great fun--the ones I can find. I can't remember how I discovered these, I think I must have been lent one by a friend, because I do remember reading The Long View which I don't own. But I do remember then hunting used book stores trying to find more--and alas I only have three on my book shelves. Fortunately they can stand alone, even if there are tantalizing references to what must have happened in other books. These books are a pleasure, and I'm only sorry they're not easily available--and that there aren't more.½

Two stories in one, the first book is Alien Debt.
This is the story of how Bran and Rissa met and negotiatied with the aliens whose downed ship gave UET their access to space and allowed them to take over a world.
When they found these people - who they were afraid would hold a grudge for that long-ago incident, they found themselves in the middle of an Intergalactic war and being asked to choose sides.

Rebel's Seed:

The Children of the Rebels are trying their wings. They find themselves in the middle of adventures that will test their mettle and perhaps take their lives.

Reminds me of the Sten series.

This is space opera in the tradition of Doc Smith, but more like Battlefield Earth, both in plot and quality. Really not that good.½

This is reasonably entertaining space opera, somewhat marred by sophomoric sexual content (the first forty pages gives us prepubescent masturbation; our protagonist thinking "After all, he could have been worse" about the man who raped her and then made daily servicing of his needs the price to pay for not having to scrub floors for eternity; and a well-preserved seventy-year-old woman who conducts final exams to graduate from her training program in bed). About the only thought provoking thing in the book was the impact of time dilation on investment performance. By the time you get to where you going, the investments you left behind on Earth would have increased many times. Busby doesn't address how the money gets to you, though. Still, if you're looking for a bit of mindless escapism and a female-James-Bond-in-space kind of protagonist this might fit the bill. I assume that the sequels go on to tell of her return to Earth and dethroning of the evil corporate government.

I found this book somewhat violent, and of course, since it was a prequel written later in the series, it was mostly backstory. Still, I enjoyed it, although not as much as I did the earlier books. I should probably reread the whole series again soon.½

I bought this in a combined post office/souvenir/second-hand book shop and general store, in Swansea on Tassie's east coast. It was the only book in their selection of 20 or so that look even remotely interesting, but we were on holiday and I'd just finished my only book so I was desperate.

This was more enjoyable than I expected, although it did feel at times like "Days of Our Lives" in space.