The Demon Breed

This is a retitle of the novel The Tuvela, which appeared in Analog.

Hardbound Publications:
Ace, SFBC, 1968
MacDonald, 1969
UK SFBC, Newton Abbot 1971
Paperback Publications:
Ace H-105, 1968
Ace 14244-3, Second Ace printing, Sept. 1979
Orbit, 1974
Ace, Nov. 1981 (Need cover scan)
in Dangerous Territory, Flint & Gordon eds., May 2001

Click on a title to view a larger picture.

The Demon Breed
Full Color Cover
by Bob Adragna,
Ace 14244-3, 1979

One end of the airier edged into view... A moment later all of it suddenly appeared in the open area -- and on the canopy--

Nile's thoughts blurred in shock.

Parahuans....

Some seventy years ago they'd come out of space to launch attacks against the worlds of the Hub. They'd done considerable damage, but in the end their forces were pulled back; and it was believed that by the time the Federation's warships finished hunting them through space, only insignificant remnants had survived to return to their undiscovered home worlds. It had been the last open attack by an alien civilization against a Federation planet--

...And we became careless, Nile thought. We felt we were so big no one would dare come again....

Back cover (Ace 14244-3, 1979)

Andre Norton

"I read The Demon Breed in one sitting... I could not put it down. Mr. Schmitz's heroine is one with whom the reader can readily identify, his animal partners true to their type -- I have done some research on otters and can believe they could produce such mutants--while the detailed alien background, the hints of alien civilizations, were realistic enough to make one sure that they do (or will) exist -- somewhere, sometime."

Jack Vance

"Full of vitality, colorful details, interesting incidents and very convincing horrible animals."

Analog

"Another classic to matchThe Witches of Karres.... It's the story of one young woman, trapped on an island where the invading Parahuans are preparing to take over the planet, her only allies three mutated and intelligent otters. Her problem is to stay alive long enough to get a message away from the island to the rest of the population and the warships of the Federation."

The Demon Breed
Full Color Cover by Eddie Jones, Orbit, 1974

Rain squalls veiled half the sea below the aircar. It was storm season in the southern latitudes of Nandy-Cline... the horizon loomed blue-black ahead; heavy swirling cloud banks drove across the ocean to the south. The trim little car bucked suddenly in twisting torrents of air, was hauled about on its controls and, for the moment, rode steady again along a southeasterly course.

The Demon Breed
Full Color Cover
by Leo and Diane Dillon,
Ace H-105, 1968

Back Cover

"Another classic to match The Witches of Karres... It's the story of one young Woman, trapped on an island where the invading Parahuans are preparing to take over the planet, her only allies three mutated and intelligent otters. Her problem is to stay alive long enough to get a message away from the island to the rest of the population and the warships of the Federation." -- John W. Campbell

"Full of vitality, colorful details, interesting incidents and very convincing horrible animals." -- Jack Vance

"I read The Demon Breed in one sitting... I could not put it down. Mr. Schmitz's heroine is one with whom the reader can readily identify, his animal partners true to their type -- I have done some research on otters and can believe they could produce such mutants -- while the detailed alien background, the hints of alien civilizations, were realistic enough to make one sure that they do (or will) exist -- somewhere, sometime. The ending is clever, well developed from earlier clues." -- Andre Norton

The Demon Breed
Full Color dust jacket
by Leo and Diane Dillon,
Ace Books Inc,
Book Club Edition, 1968

Dedication:

Here's a book for Betty Mae--

(Note: Betty was his wife's name, but I don't know if it's Betty Mae.)

Book jacket blurb (SFBC, 1968)

Trapped on an isolated island by the invading aliens, Nile Etland's only ally was her remarkable pet otter.

Some seventy years ago the Parahuans had come out of space to launch simultaneous attacks against the Hub -- their name for the dozen worlds of the humans. They were repulsed -- and for seventy years they had been smarting in defeat, trying to understand how it could have happened. They had achieved perfection at all levels, including immortality. They were the Everliving. Yet, humans -- an inferior race -- had almost completely destroyed the Parahuan forces sent to occupy their planets. The experience stunned the Parahuans. It affronted logic -- unless the humans had been helped.. helped by some superior, some superhuman beings...

And so, the Parahuans evolved the Tuvela Theory -- that a group of superhuman creatures called the Tuvelas were the secret rulers of the Hub, that it was the Tuvelas who must be beaten if the Parahuans were to destroy the Hub!

To test the theory and discover the extent of the Tuvelas' power, the Parahuans dispatch a small force to the aquatic planet, Floatwood -- where they run headlong into Nile Etland, a beautiful young research scientist.

Nile is not superhuman, but she is an unusually resourceful human, and she has an equally resourceful ally -- her seven-foot-long, talking pet otter, Sweeting. Realizing that if she is to prevent the destruction of the Hub, she must convince the Parahuans that she possesses superhuman abilities, Nile conceives of a plan that calls for all the resources of Sweeting -- and of Nile herself!...

[NOTE: The above jacket blurb contains several, severe mistakes.]

The Demon Breed
Dust Jacket
UK SFBK, Newton Abbot 1971

The Demon Breed
Cover
MacDonald, 1969

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The Demon Breed

This is a retitle of the novel The Tuvela, which appeared in Analog.