The Mind Traders

by J. Hunter Holly

[Front Cover]"Alone on an alien planet where every living creature was an enemy."[Back Cover]"A place of crawling spiders and poisonous snakes where nightmares came true...that was 'The Black,' where men were punished for challenging minds more powerful than their own. The detective from Earth feared The Black more than any torture his own planet could conceive. But he had to uncover the sinister plot that threatened Earth and all its people."

Genres: Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

143 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Joan Carol Holly was a science fiction author who wrote under the pseudonym J. Hunter Holly in the late 1950s until the mid-1970s. Joan Holly also contributed stories for Roger Elwood's series of books and sci-fi magazines, under both her real name(Joan C. Holly) and her pseudonym (Joan Hunter Holly).

Joan died of lung cancer in 1982.

Reviews

[Ira (SF Words of Wonder) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out my full, spoiler free, video review HERE.

Morgan is an agent for an Earth organization that polices the world. Rigan’s are telepathic aliens from Riga but they and humans have mostly stayed out of each other’s way. After thousands of humans started going missing on Earth, Morgan is sent to Riga to find out what is going on. He is partnered with a Rigan named Jael. It is sort of a SF detective story that is fast paced and entertaining. Holly’s writing is really good after the setup, and she really gets into this alien society and their family dynamics. Not a well known SF writer but worth checking out.

[Bethsleeps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a joy to read. A mix of science fiction with a sort of buddy cop thing going on. Unlike a lot of science fiction the reader is gently introduced to a new world through the eyes of the main character Detective Morgan Sellers.

He is sent to the planet of the only alien race that earth is aware of to search for thousands of humans who have disappeared. The Rigen people are telepathic and have a very different society with power based on the number of minds a person can control. As a human Morgan is completely defenceless, which is why a Rigen called Jael is assigned to be his team mate and partner.

There is so much I loved about this book I can’t get it out. Their arguments and the gradual building of grudging respect, the unusual family dynamic that started off as horrifying but became something warm. Morgan was wonderful as despite being completely helpless in such a society (and knowing it) he was still full of drive and a hundred plans to find his people and get them home.

A fantastic read and a very lucky find for me, tucked away in a second hand book shop in Cornwall.

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

1983 Grade A
2023 Grade A-

This book is quite definitely grade A! It is also the most nasty and tense psychological SciFi thriller I have ever read.

One human teams with an alien and goes to their planet to figure out who is kidnapping humans. The aliens have a kind of telepathy/empathy that controls their entire society, which is not human in any way. The author has a degree in psychology and has done a masterful job of describing the aliens, their society, and its affect on the human.

The problem is it is too masterful. I had some trouble suspending my disbelief that the human could survive at all, let alone succeed in the investigation. The story is so tense through out, with little comic relief, that I could only read for about 45 min at a time before I needed a break. I felt the ending could have been stronger to match the rest of the novel. I did skip to the end of a few paragraphs when it got too much for me.

Is it good(?), a strong Yes. Do you want to read it(?), depends on whether you want this level of tension. I don't plan to read it again. Fortunately it is less than 140 pages and easy to read.

[Karl Goerz · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a little gem!

[Andy Oerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would hesitate to call this book influential, because no one’s really heard of it. It was, however, ahead of its time.

As other reviewers have noted, it’s an example of the buddy cop genre. I mean, everything, to a T. Fish out of water, interviewing suspects, stakeout, talking killer, capture, escape, all of it. It’s a sci-fi buddy cop story... Except the buddy cop genre didn’t exist yet. In the Heat of the Night came out the same year as this did, and 48 Hours wasn’t for 12 more years.

All of that said, this book is fine but unremarkable. It should’ve either been goofier or smarter. As it is, it spent too much time explaining its own premise of tiered mind control. The last 30 pages are better—quite good, actually—as the conspiracy is uncovered. But I can’t rate it too high overall.

Shane Black would be proud. Chandler and Bradbury not so much.