With the success of the first Telzey Amberdon stories, Schmitz wrote more novelettes, first published in Analog magazine, then gathered into novel form under the title The Telzey Toy (1973). This book draws Telzey deeper into investigative and intelligence work. The Telzey Toy is an android made in physical and mental imitation of Telzey as a part of an egotistical inventor's plan to perfect his product line of androids, with her unwilling cooperation. The Telzey Toy plays with the question of what constitutes a human identity; whether it consists of a body, a set of memories, or a unique location in physical space.

The Lion Game (1973), a sequel to The Telzey Toy, which was first published in serial form, again in Analog, is a densely-plotted novel about a mysterious race of telepathic giants pursuing a ruthless game of power politics and assassination within the Federation of the...