Review: A Spectre is Haunting Texas (1968)
So I finally got around to reading A Spectre is Haunting Texas! I have to say, the cover art of the version I own was a bit of a turn off - even though it is, I discovered, largely true to the novel.
To my surprise, this book is not really anything like "The Silver Eggheads", which it tends to be lumped with by critics, or even the zany caper of the "The Green Millennium".
The latter two are more zany / farce, with serious undertones for those who are prepared to look, whereas "Spectre" is fairly serious the whole way through. SPOILERS FOLLOW.
There are exceptions - particularly chapter 12 "Slum-storming", where the eight foot plus exoskeletoned protagonist uses his best poetic licence to unsuccessfully try and initiate a threesome with a four foot "Mex" and an eight foot, hormone taking "Texan"! (Although the related denouement in chapter 26 is also hilarious, and quite clever). It brought back memories of Kingsley Amis's "The Green Man", which I read on my honeymoon and really must get back around to reading again.
Critic David Pringle said of "Spectre": "Perhaps the best of Leiber's sf comedies, a satire which fires exuberantly in all directions". I'm not sure I entirely agree. Firstly it's not really a comedy. It is certainly an interesting tale, and generally kept my attention. Top tier prose aside, I did wonder a few times while reading it what the overall point was - although this might be my lack of literary smarts when compared to someone like Leiber... perhaps a reread is on the cards.
That being said, there are several memorable scenes. The first chapter in particular (when Scully, with his well-described exoskeleton, is in his free fall lunar orbit home, "Sack") is vividly drawn - and conjured memories of the (classic) exoskeleton / cyborg tale, Cordwainer Smith's "Scanners Live in Vain".
In my opinion the first and second acts of Spectre couldn't quite consistently keep up the steam in chapter one, although there are plenty of highlights. Especially in the third act, chapter 14 onwards, involving a moonlight drive, betrayal, and the introduction of the Russians (with body hair like black bears). And some beautifully decriptive prose to boot.
By chapter 14, things are coming together nicely and you will appreciate Leiber's risky and highly unusual mix of themes and imageries coming together nice and cleanly. There is also a brief reference to Mars Beetles - which is a throwback to some of Leiber's early Mars short stories.
Chapter 15 "Death, with Spiders" is also a fabulous (and unexpected) slice of psychological horror, which reminded me of some of the better scenes in "The Mouser Goes Below".
Spectre actually reminds me of Leiber's early novel, Gather Darkness, which was (essentially) about a revolution as well. And the philosophical narrator, "Scully", sort of reminds me of the narrator in the later, much shorter political warning tale, America the Beautiful.
Plenty of autobiographical references in this one, too. Consider the start of chapter 14: "Fanninowicz continued euphoric in the kack. He discoursed to us like a paranoiacally insane school teacher in his grandiose phase. He sprayed spittle like my father acting Macbeth and his voice often rose with an Iago's or Richard the Third's evil glee".
The use of Spanish words and themes (i.e., the "Mex's") would seem to have arisen from the research Leiber put into his previous novel, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold.
Unfortunately the copy I own (Mayflower edition) has at least five spelling errors. Leiber's prose deserved better than that!
Overall, this book is very complicated, but certainly worth the read (and, honestly, the re-read). It's not a zany satire at all. It's a mostly serious, well thought out far-future nuclear bomb aftermath story, which takes risks and mostly comes back clean.
The mixture of themes, the overall complexity, and even the title meant that this one had zero chance of taking off commercially in the same way as, say, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
The third act was the strongest. Four out of five stars. Almost a hidden gem!