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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson

 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
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TVTItem
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
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MaureenBirnbaumBarbarianSwordsperson
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
comment
Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson is a series of humorous fantasy short-stories by George Alec Effinger, which tell the adventures of a young Jewish American Princess from a prep school who discovers she can visit other worlds and is surprisingly good with a sword. The first eight stories were collected in an anthology of the same name. Three later stories remain un-anthologized.In the first story, Maureen "Muffy" Birnbaum finds herself mysteriously transported to Mars—which turns out to be exactly as described by Edgar Rice Burroughs. She rescues the hunky Prince Van from some some four-armed giants, and promptly falls in love. Before anything much can happen, though, she abruptly returns to Earth, wearing nothing but a Chain Mail Bikini, where she relates her story to her old school roommate, Elizabeth "Bitsy" Spiegleman, and then mysteriously disappears again.In later stories, it is revealed that she has the power to travel to other worlds, but cannot properly control her destination. She keeps trying to return to Mars and Prince Van, but ends up instead on other worlds which bear suspicious resemblances to worlds created by other SF writers. Somehow, however, she is always able to return to present-day Earth, usually at a particularly inconvenient time for her former roommate, to whom she continues telling the tales of her adventures.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
fetched
2018-10-01T17:59:55Z
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
parsed
2020-06-24T07:16:48Z
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1049848f
type
Aliens Speaking English
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1049848f
comment
Aliens Speaking English: Lampshaded repeatedly in the series. Every world Maureen visits is filled with English speakers. Maureen is confused by this, but no one has any explanation.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1049848f
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1049848f
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1e1afc1b
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Framing Device
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1e1afc1b
comment
Framing Device: Each of the stories of Maureen's adventures has a framing story where Maureen reappears on Earth to visit her old friend Bitsy Speigleman, and, usually, wreaks some havoc on poor Bitsy's life, before settling down to tell her story to Bitsy.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1e1afc1b
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_1e1afc1b
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_27ebe639
type
Prince Charming
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_27ebe639
comment
Prince Charming: Prince Van of Mars more-or-less fills this role, although it's Maureen who initially rescues him, rather than the other way around. Nevertheless, she quickly falls in love with him, and, after her return to Earth, spends the rest of her time trying to return to Mars to be with him. He's handsome and noble and hunky, and, well, y'know, a prince. What more could a girl want?
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_27ebe639
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 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_6977c45e
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Purple Prose
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_6977c45e
comment
Purple Prose: Lampshaded in "Maureen Birnbaum at the Looming Awfulness" (a story based on the Cthulhu Mythos), when Maureen remarks, "Bitsy, have you noticed that my narrative style has become, like, you know, dated, clumsy, and ornate? That I'm not talking in the airy colloquial phrases for which I'm justly celebrated? That is one of the insidious effects of my brush with...the horror."
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_6977c45e
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Direct Line to the Author
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_6a3c49f
comment
Direct Line to the Author: The stories are all credited "by Bitsy Spiegleman, as told to George Alec Effinger". Bitsy is supposedly an old school chum of Maureen, who relays her tales to her friend whenever she gets a brief chance to visit our Earth again. Bitsy, in her turn is relaying the stories to Effinger, since he's a professional writer.
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_6a3c49f
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_796fa10c
type
The Ageless
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_796fa10c
comment
The Ageless: For reasons that are never explained, Maureen does not age at all while off on her adventures. Time passes at the same rate for her as it does back on Earth, but her old friend Bitsy Spiegleman gets older, gets married, and has kids as the series progresses, while Maureen remains a teenager. This is a source of puzzlement to everyone, but Maureen is too busy barbarianing to fret about such details.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_796fa10c
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_796fa10c
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_84f15fc4
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Sapient Steed
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_84f15fc4
comment
Sapient Steed: The telepathic horse Maureen rides in "Maureen Birnbaum on the Art of War" (based on the Horseclans series). Because she can communicate with it, she names it Mister Ed.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_84f15fc4
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Eldritch Abomination
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_8774fb47
comment
Eldritch Abomination: "Maureen Birnbaum at the Looming Awfulness", which is based on the Cthulhu Mythos, has a couple: the slimy animated tree-like creature known as the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, and a nameless horror which invades the mind of Maureen's friend's roommate and causes him to emit dangerous paisleys. (Yes. Dangerous paisleys.)
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_8774fb47
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_8774fb47
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_9bfbf9f3
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Chainmail Bikini
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_9bfbf9f3
comment
Chainmail Bikini: Of course Maureen simply has to wear a skimpy leather-and-gold bikini once she embarks on a career as a barbarian swordsperson. What else would you wear? Of course, it's a little embarrassing when she returns to present day Earth for one of her quick visits, but that's a small price to pay.
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 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_ad4578de
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Hollow World
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_ad4578de
comment
Hollow World: In "Maureen Birnbaum at the Earth's Core", Maureen travels to a world inside the Earth, where she is captured by giant white apes who make her their priestess.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_ad4578de
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Science Hero
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b55e8979
comment
Science Hero: Rod Marquand, a student who Maureen first encounters at the Earth's Core is a stereotypical example. He's an inventor who fights crime as a costumed superhero, and has what he calls a "subterrene"—it's like a submarine, except it travels through earth rather than water.
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b55e8979
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b80b2ba5
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Namedar
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b80b2ba5
comment
Namedar: Lampshaded in one story which posits (in a narrated aside) that the Japanese government keeps a list of names to apply to new kaiju, as they turn up, just like weather bureaus keep for hurricanes.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b80b2ba5
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_b80b2ba5
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_e43130c1
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Interrupted Intimacy
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_e43130c1
comment
Interrupted Intimacy: In one of the framing stories, Maureen appears to tell of her latest adventure to her old friend Bitsy. Bitsy, however, has just gotten married, and is the bathroom getting ready for her wedding night. The chaos of Maureen's abrupt arrival prevents anything from happening that night.
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_e43130c1
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Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_e43130c1
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_f0893a50
type
Jewish American Princess
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_f0893a50
comment
Jewish American Princess: Maureen started as one before she discovered the Way of the Barbarian Warrior. And she still makes sure she has daddy's credit card with her at all times. Her former roommate and best friend Bitsy Spiegleman remains one, going on to marry a rich doctor and moving to a nice neighborhood to raise a child named Malachi Bret Spiegleman-Fein.
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 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_faf5732b
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I Call It "Vera"
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_faf5732b
comment
I Call It "Vera": Maureen names her sword Old Betsy, "because that's what Davy Crockett called his rifle or something."
 Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson / int_faf5732b
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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