The Loafers Of Refuge by Jospeh Green (book review)
When I started reading this book, ‘The Loafers Of Refuge’, I was going to make a point that just because you might not recognise an author’s name is not a reason not to try their books. Joseph L. Green died in February this year at the age of 86 and wrote five SF novels and lots of short stories. I’ve included his initial because there are more than one author with that name since this book, ‘The Loafers Of Refuge’, came out. This book was originally released in 1965 by Gollancz, combining short stories from ‘New Worlds Science Fiction’ from 1962-63 and this reprint in 1967 by Pan Books.
Refuge is a colony planet for humans and the local inhabitants, the Loafers. They get the name for apparently being idle, at least by human standards. These hairy individuals have their own lives and initiations and are essentially telepaths in tune with their habitat. Carey Sheldon has reached his 18th birthday and eager, despite his mother’s protests, wants to take part in their Controller’s initiative and gain their telepathic ability. I wouldn’t recommend trying Sheldon’s technique for enlightenment. Eating snow, no matter its fluffiness, is not good for the stomach. From a new century perspective, think for humans to gain the telepathic ability there is a purging for it to happen.
It became pretty obvious as I read his first adventure as a Controller, with Timmy his Loafer buddy, that I think I might have read it before. With anthologies, I’m bound to have come across all sorts of authors. If anything, it demonstrates how colonisers have to get on with the local natives and how compromises have to be reached. In some respects, this would also be a problem in general fiction.
Certainly, Doreen Sheldon’s experiment with Phazz, a young breshwahr telepathic tree and the teleportation to Earth is something I remember. The teleportation would not allow the transportation of live species but Phazz was able to show how to do it, although it could only be limited to sentient species.
The last story follows Timmy on his great havasid or journey to see the other tribes. What he sees distresses him as his society is absorbing human habits. None of which is helped that human and loafers can’t produce offspring and even he was formerly engaged to Doreen.. This revelation changes Timmy significantly to keep his tribe separate.
In many respects, Science Fiction has often covered how humans aren’t superior to a native species that looks unsophisticated but really more advanced over the decades. Green’s Loafers didn’t so much hide their psionic talents but became more one with nature. Even so, you would have to ask yourself why would they want a mass colonisation from Earth which could still damage their environment with expansions.
Although I doubt the overall theme evolved over Green’s stories, in general terms this is a common theme in SF to understand the repercussions of different societies getting on with each other and how far they should change. We see that a lot in our own societies, especially with equality. Any political or religious system that controls by force is ultimately going to fail as new generations will have their own revolutions. Lest we forget, the suffragette movement in the UK was a struggle for equality. It wasn’t an easy change. Think of what will happen when we meet our first extra-terrestrial species. I doubt if we’d be superior and there’s bound to be social upheaval. Maybe the pilots of the UAPs know this and keep away for that reason. Books like this one are worth are worth picking up for a read and think.
GF Willmetts
June 2026
(pub: Pan Books, 1967. 175 page paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: X651)
