Retro SciFi Reviews – FLUX by Ron Goulart
Flux
Ron Goulart
DAW, 159 pages
First published in 1974
[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”4″]D[/su_dropcap]uring a recent trip to the used book store I ran across a couple of books that grabbed my attention and I felt compelled to purchase them. Why I felt that I could not leave the store without them is a story that began back in the early 70s when I found my passion for the SciFi genre (see the SciFi starter kit).
It might also explain why, in a bookstore named “Half Price Books” – whose original business model was to sell used books at no more than half of the cover price – two of the three used books that I purchased cost more than twice the original price (still not a huge purchase, the original price was $0.95 and I paid $2). Granted, they are first editions, but they are paperbacks, worn with yellowing pages. They aren’t really only worth anything to anyone who doesn’t know their origin.
This gave me an idea (actually, one of my editors shamed me into it). Since I am a fan of SciFi novels from the classic era (1950 – 1980ish) why not do a series of retro book reviews? Why not introduce the modern world to some of the classic authors that shaped the genre into what it is today?
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Before I get into reviewing the book let me first talk a little about why I purchased it. Yes, in this age of e-books which I have embraced to some degree, I picked up a hard copy. I have shelves filled to near collapsing with SciFi novels so why buy another one?
As a fan of classic SciFi two things grabbed my attention when I saw this book. The first was the author, Ron Goulart. I have been a fan of Ron’s work for many, many years. He is one of the more prolific authors of the era (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk claims over 180 books, over 50 SciFi under 4 other pseudonyms). I can’t say that I’ve read all of Ron’s works but I can say that I have quite a few in my collection and I will grab any of them off the shelf when I see them no matter the price.
Even if you have never heard of him I think you may have encountered some of his work. He wrote with William Shatner on his TekWar novel (ghost wrote it, I heard, though the concept was Shatner’s). One of his novels, Capricorn One, was made into a movie (big star cast for the era too: Elliot Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston, Hal Holbrook, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, David Huddleston, David Doyle, Lee Bryant, Denise Nicholas, Robert Walden… but maybe you’re too young to recognize any of those names). He also contributed to several episodes of the original Battlestar Galactica television series and is considered to be an authority in the comic book genre.
I’ll get back to why I follow Ron in a bit, but I quickly want to cover the second reason that this book jumped out at me in the book store; that is the publisher. If you read my SciFi starter kit you will be aware of DAW Books. DAW was founded in 1971 by Donald A. Wollheim and, in my opinion, published books by the best of the best. In the words of an old friend of mine who influenced my love of SciFi “If you’re looking for something to read look for a DAW book, you can’t go wrong” (okay, maybe paraphrased to a large degree but it was thirty-five or so years ago but the gist is there). To this day, when I go to a used bookstore, I still scan the stacks for the mustard yellow spines of DAW books.
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With that out of the way, why is it that I am drawn to the works of Ron Goulart? Primarily it’s his humor. Ron’s books are rife with a deadpan view of the failings of engineering and society via incompetence and the mismanagement of bureaucracy. Somehow, though all this, humanity has been able to reach the stars and spread throughout the galaxy (though you get the feeling that the predecessors to all this were a bit more stable). Ron’s stories always have robot characters that are far removed from the ideals laid out by Isaac Asimov’s three laws; disrespectful, malfunctioning, and often headstrong (a few of his novels have robots as the main character). This all appeals to me for some odd reason.
Okay, four paragraphs in, I suppose I should start talking about Flux. When I opened the book and started reading my first thought was “Ben Jolson? I know that name!” I have encountered Ben Jolson in other Ron Goulart novels (though looking at the book list I only see one other novel that has Ben as the main character, I’m certain that he shows up elsewhere). Ben is a member of the Chameleon Corps, a clandestine organization of individuals with the ability to assume the physical form of anyone or anything (somehow they are able to capture their personalities as well via a process called “Sleep Briefing” but often they have to pick it up on the fly). The Chameleon Corps is a division of the Political Espionage Office, perhaps you can get a hint of where this story goes from that title.
In this particular book Ben is tasked with tracking the source of a radical youth protest group . The reason that Ben’s talents are required is that the kids are being wired to explode on contact. These events take place on the planet Jasper. Where it lies in the galaxy is not relevant but it should be mentioned that Jasper is a bit of a backwater planet with a variety of obscure cultures including a caricature of the Old West that features a university with oddball characters like Professor Hootman, who teaches courses in Urban Guerrilla Warfare and English Literature.
Through his adventures Ben assumes the personas of several colorful weirdos, including:
- Tunky Nesper, a folk singer with titles like
- “Heebie Jeebies on an Empty Stomach talking Blues”
- “Filthy Dirty Begging in the Freezing Rain on a Windy Corner Blues”
- ”Knocked Down and Stepped on by the Sheriff Blues #1”
- Arthur Isaac Mowgli, the arrogant, self appointed authority on just about everything (or perhaps nothing) whose works include:
- “Mowgli #126, Mowgli on Lodgings”
- “Mowgli #142, Mowgli on Public Relations”
- “Mowgli #143, Mowgli on Social Engagements.”
Ben keeps on citing these titles as he converses with other characters but, as you read them you begin to realize that Ben is simply making them up on the fly; nobody actually listens to or reads this crap.
Fortunately (or conveniently) for Ben, most of the characters he impersonates are off in rehab or on obscure, soul searching retreats except for those that he has to incapacitate to assume their identity on the fly. Armed with his handy “truth kit” he is able to extract information from the bad guys and track down the source of the insurrection.
These hints should give you some idea of Ron’s writing style. His works often have these off the wall combinations of old cultures mixed with the futuristic. All intermingled with dry, deadpan humor. In the end all I can say is give Ron Goulart a try. If you don’t like it then you haven’t wasted much time since most of his books are quick reads. If you like his work then there is quite a bit more to choose from.
