Novice

by James H. Schmitz

This is a classic science fiction short story by James H. Schmitz and illustrated by Schoenherr that first appeared in Analog Science Fact and Fiction. The following passage is part of its intriguing
'A novice is one who is inexperienced—but
that doesn't mean incompetent. Nor does it mean stupid!'
This work is part of our Vintage Sci-Fi Classics Series, a series in which we are republishing some of the best stories in the genre by some of its most acclaimed authors, such as Isaac Asimov, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Robert Sheckley. Each publication is complete with a short introduction to the history of science fiction.

Genres: Science Fiction

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2011

About the author

James Henry Schmitz (October 15, 1911–April 18, 1981) was an American writer born in Hamburg, Germany of American parents. Aside from two years at business school in Chicago, Schmitz lived in Germany until 1938, leaving before World War II broke out in Europe in 1939. During World War II, Schmitz served as an aerial photographer in the Pacific for the United States Army Air Corps. After the war, he and his brother-in-law ran a business which manufactured trailers until they broke up the business in 1949.

Schmitz is best known as a writer of space opera, and for strong female characters (including Telzey Amberdon and Trigger Argee) that didn't fit into the damsel in distress stereotype typical of science fiction during the time he was writing. His first published story was Greenface, published in August 1943 in Unknown. Most of his works are part of the "Hub" series, though his best known novel is the non-Hub The Witches of Karres, concerning juvenile "witches" with genuine psi-powers and their escape from slavery. Karres was nominated for a Hugo Award.

In recent years, his novels and short stories have been republished by Baen Books (which bought the rights to his estate for $6500), edited (sometimes heavily edited) and with notes by Eric Flint. Baen have also published new works based in the Karres universe.

Schmitz died of congestive lung failure in 1981 after a five week stay in the hospital in Los Angeles. He was survived by his wife, Betty Mae Chapman Schmitz.

Reviews

[Charles van Buren · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of Schmitz' best

This review is of the free Kindle edition which has no illustrations.

ASIN: B004TQWGEE
Publication date: March 24, 2011
Language: English
File size: 179 KB
Simultaneous device usage: Unlimited
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
Screen Reader: Supported
Enhanced typesetting: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Not Enabled
Print length: 54 pages
Lending: Enabled

A genius level 15 year old has already completed first year law school. Now she is about to learn some startling things about herself and her pet, some sort of, presumably alien, cat. One of my favorite James Schmitz stories, it has a fairly long publication history:

Publication history

For a more detailed history see the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

Analog, Jun 1962
Analog 2, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr., 1964
Analog Anthology, edited by John W. Campbell, Jr., 1965
Tomorrow's Children, edited by Isaac Asimov, 1966
Mind to Mind, edited by Robert Silverberg, 1971
Analog's Children of the Future, edited by Stanley Schmidt, 1982
Roger Caras' Treasury of Great Cat Stories, edited by Roger Caras, 1987
The Best of James H. Schmitz, 1991
Telzey Amberdon, 2000
Anthropomorphic Aliens: An Interstellar Anthology, edited by Fred Patten, 2014

From JH Schmitz fandom

[Wilson E. Stevens Sr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book of a series introducing Telzey Amberdon, a young woman that develops PSI abilities, and the resulting problems that bring. In this book, she is introduced with her pet little kitten that she found, and named Tick-Tock; He is now almost full grown and near the size of an ancient saber-tooth tiger while being her large-sized feline pet. Her aunt, a totally nasty woman somehow convinces Telzey's mother to encourage her daughter to take a vacation with her on the wilderness-park planet, Jontarou. Once there her pet is revealed to be a crest cat and wanted by the scientific committee for research. Things get complicated however as Tick-Tock is not the last crest cat. In fact, Telzey finds she is a xenotelepath, a rare person who can communicate with the minds of other species in addition to the human. She is selected by the crest cats to represent them in gaining membership into the federation as an intelligent species.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining fantasy listening 🎶🔰

Another will written fantasy adventure thriller short story by James H. Schmitz about a young woman 🚺 who has a special ability to communicate with a wild cat 🐱. This leads to a wild adventure. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy novels. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do. 2022

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wonder if this is where the TikToc name comes from... hmmm.