Communipath Worlds: The Communipaths, Furthest, and At The Seventh Level

Coyote Jones Series #1-3

by Suzette Haden Elgin

Book by Suzette Haden Elgin

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

348 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1980

About the author

Suzette Haden Elgin was an American science fiction author. She founded the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction constructed languages. Elgin was also a linguist; she published non-fiction, of which the best-known is the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense series.

Born in 1936 in Missouri, Elgin attended the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She has a Ph.D. in linguistics, and was the first UCSD student to ever write two dissertations (on English and Navajo). She created the engineered language Láadan for her Native Tongue science fiction series. A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She is a supporter of feminist science fiction, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only genre of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of [X], where [X] is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women. Women need to treasure and support science fiction." [1]

In addition, she published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include feminism, linguistics and the impact of language, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her Ozark background and heritage.

Elgin became a professor at her alma mater's cross-town rival, San Diego State University (SDSU). She retired in 1980.

Reviews

[Priscilla King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cripes, I didn't realize my first edition of The Communipaths was all that rare. As a first sf novel by a young author, it was published as a "duplex book" with another short novel bound in on the other side. That was what I first read, and sold a few years ago for $5. The omnibus edition of the first three novels is what I still own, though...and that's not the way I visualize the poetry slam in volume three, either. Anyway, here's what I think of The Communipaths:

In this series, as inspired by the pop science and speculation of the 1960s, humans are evolving telepathic powers. Most people send and receive telepathic projections to those near them. People who can project further are drafted to handle interplanetary communication; this life is very stressful for them, and most of them die young and have to be offered fantastic wealth to keep them on their job. A young telepath who wants to quit the service and just rear her super-psychic baby like a normal woman has escaped to join a Maklunite religious commune.

Coyote Jones is exceptional not because he's very tall and has bright red hair, but because he can project more vivid thoughts than other people while being almost completely unable to receive almost anyone else's projections. In the word of his contemporaries, he's mind-deaf. For this reason he's been drafted as an intergalactic spy whose job is to track down "rogue telepaths." Like the woman he's tracking down in this story, he hates his job and would like to quit; unlike her, though like her hosts, he accepts his duty to humankind.

It should be mentioned--as something that puts some readers off this series--that part of Coyote's character is that he never will quite mature into his job, become hardened, and just do his job without falling in love with the people he meets. Not only the rogue telepaths (all of whom happen to be young women), but the Maklunite religious group, and others. He always has far too much ordinary human empathy to be a good spy. He also never seems to get too old to pass in disguise as a student. Some people complain of his immaturity; some find it endearing.

So what happens when this nice guy is obliged not only to help subdue a violently protesting woman (whom all the characters agree to call insane, as readers may not) but to bring the baby to be reared in a Communipath Creche and forced into that hard life...? That'd be telling; I'd classify this otherwise depressing story (with comedic touches) as having a surprisingly happy ending, at least for everyone but the baby's mother.

Anyway it's a terse, vivid novel that called everyone's attention to a formidable new talent. The subsequent volumes in this series get longer, more intense, and in some ways better. One thing I've consistently noted about Elgin's novels is that she was a master of the One Telling Detail. There's very little description of either sex or violence in any of her stories. Usually whatever sex or violence happens is summarized in what might be called a throwaway line. But that throwaway line sticks in readers' minds. People remember the steamy or horrific scene it calls up, in context, and have to be reminded that all they actually read was one sentence that could have been uttered on the radio in 1939. I know of no other writer since Hawthorne who's earned more blame for "graphically depicting" something the writer barely even mentioned. It's a gift.

[Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for the cover which featured a scantly clad woman in a purple lamé two piece and silver cape, arm raised above her head about to smack the hell out of a cowering male in a Roman inspired outfit, complete with a helmet upon which a purple, reptilian bird was perched. Oh and a large archaic machine sat between the two with green and red lights shining upon the solider.

Still not exactly sure what part of the book that picture referenced but it got me to buy it. The three stories center on Coyote Jones, a ginger with a temper and a government agent who travels to missions disguised as a folk singer, an apparently still viable career option in 3028. Each story features a strong female character, but for their beauty, intellect, and power, they ultimately need Coyote Jones to save them and sleep with them.

The plots were interesting but always abruptly interrupted with Coyote sleeping with the virgin heroins. It reached pinnacle of ridiculousness when the Poet Jacinth met with him in the middle of his investigation into her possible poisonings and murder attempts to request that he sleep with her. Really? While I am sure the authoCommunipath Worlds proves that sometimes you just can't shake your cultural baggage even given the limitless possibilities of sci-fi.

Having said that, I really enjoyed Elgin's descriptions: the colorful waters of Furthest at night, the dancing flowers on Abba, Bess's skillful telepathic abilities. The worlds, characters, and story lines were enough to keep me reading.

Communipath Worlds makes a conscious effort at cultivating feminist ideas but ultimately gets tangled in characters in very traditional gender stereotypes (angry, outspoken male and calm, virgin women).

[Mark Argent · Rating 3 out of 5]

a brilliant, biting satire of Heinleinian super-competency and Laumerian “diplomacy”. at least, i’m fairly sure the intent was satirical. i hope it was. as i’m pretty sure most modern readers haven’t read Retief and aren’t as enamored with Heinlein’s work as folks were in the 1960s/1970s, the joke is going to fly over their heads, and they will likely find Coyote Jones and his adventures obnoxious, culturally and sexually chauvinist, and discordant. i only got it in retrospect, myself. hard to recommend.

[Rachel Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been trying to read all of S.H.E.'s novels since I am a fan of her Láadan language. I don't read a LOT of novels now as an adult, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.

Overall, I enjoyed reading thru these three books, even though I have complaints.

Plus: I enjoy the world building and culture building most of all. These are all planets settled at different times with different societal rules and expectations. In the 1st book, the Maklunites let their children choose their own names, relationships are nonmonogamous (it is felt that you don't have claim over those you love) and so on. In the 3rd book, women are barely tolerated and there is a strict etiquette in place for how you behave in society - even crimes have paperwork associated with it, so if your a member of the Crime profession, you can do your crimes so long as you register it.

Minus: I was not alive in the 70s or whenever these books originally came out, and since she was writing to put herself thru school, perhaps the superfluous sexual relationships in the series was a requisite at that time to sell these pulpy, outer-space-secret-agent books. Sexual encounters in most media even today seems really shoehorned in and unnatural, so I can't uniquely fault her for that. Ok, whatever.

Plus: the books aren't "everything ends happy in the end", it doesn't wrap up nicely with everything working out. Perhaps the cultures on the planets change somewhat, but perhaps there are casualties, or people remain stuck in their situations.

Minus: I would have liked to see Ratha more in the 3rd book, instead of being left behind while CJ goes on another mission. I have not read the 4th or 5th books yet, so I will have to wait.

[Tony Goins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pretty good, and definitely a break from the standard rocket/laser blast stuff. This is three short novellas about women who develop dangerous powers and the hippie secret agent sent to deal with them.

Coyote Jones is nominally the protagonist, but I think he's somewhat secondary to the plots. Coyote Jones is an undercover agent for the Tri-Galactic Intelligence Service under the cover of a folksinger. If you think of a hippie secret agent, you're close. He can send powerful telepathic suggestions but he's immune to other people's telepathy. He solves problems through common sense and a knack for landing on a planet and finding exactly the right person to talk to.

Gender equality is (more or less) assured in this society and most people don't bother to wear clothes. Humanity is evolving toward telepathy and high-level telepaths are forcibly recruited at birth to serve as long-distance faster-than-life communications relays.

I'm not qualified to evaluate how feminist these stories are, but I will say that all three stories involve a woman developing a power that threatens society.

Writingwise - the comedy bits with Coyote's boss don't quite land, but some parts are quite poetic. The third piece is probably the strongest. For me, these succeed by having something different to say.

[Michael Howley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It might rate as B Grade pulp for publishing purposes but she was clearly one of the smartest writers of her generation. There's shades of Jemisin, LeGuin, and Butler all over this.

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'd read this author's "Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense" decades ago, but missed learning about her fiction output til after her death.
I picked up some used copies just to see what I think.
This book is three novellas in one volume.

I only enjoyed the first one. The others? Eh.

I'm guessing the author was aiming for a feminist viewpoint, or trying to create worlds that make us think about the stereotypical gender roles of modern life in new ways.

All these decades after their initial publication, a lot of this comes across rather differently than the author likely intended, and not in a good way, IMO. Some of the opinions expressed were likely kind of radical in their day, but now seem a bit dated, and blinkered, if not actually laughable.

There's also a gee-whiz, whimsical quality to much of the fiction I've read by this author, and after a while it gets on my nerves.



Not one to re-read, at least for me.

[Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it a lot, even though the stories could occasionally be a bit forced in terms of writing. The recurring plot point that Coyote sleeps with most of the alien women he comes across did seem a bit archaic in terms of modern sensibilities, but then again, these stories were written in the early 1970s. You can't expect them to be totally modernised.
The overall effect of the stories was that they were very much a fun read, and I'd recommend this to anyone who can find a copy of this rare pulp sci-fi classic.
P.S.: It's damn good to see a writer who knows what they're talking about with regard to linguistics. :-)

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books were definitely sci-fi fluff (although there's very little fluffy about it). The main character, Coyote Jones, is a government agent sent on various missions. Two out of the three books take place mostly in cultures that severely repress women. But they are all very creative worlds and the books are all pretty short, so it was a fun trilogy.
I found a book at used-book store that features a cross-over between Coyote Jones and Responsible Brightwater, where Jones visits the Ozark world on government business. But I was afraid to read it in case it ruined the Ozark world.

[Mark Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely older work by Elgin. The feminist perspective comes through strong in three tales featuring strong women. In the first, a mothers love outweighs both duty and common sense. In the second, a sex slave fights to integrate her culture with a wider world. In the third, a female leader fights prejudice. The style is a bit stilted. The common thread, secret agent Coyote Jones, ends up detracting from the stories with stereotypical 60s James Bond style dialogue and attitudes.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoy this author but this book (3 linked novellas really) was a little disappointing. She has great female characters, but ultimately what they want is to make to love to the male protagenist.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a "have to" read in college for my SF course; I actually like her later works much better, and have enjoyed reading them.