"No one of us can actually get inside Piper's head and any assumptions
we make are made from our own mindset, not his."
-- David Wright, Sr.
PIPER-L is a forum for the discussion of the works of science fiction
author H. Beam Piper. Piper is perhaps best known for his books Little
Fuzzy and Fuzzy Sapiens, although these books formed only a part of
what became known as Piper's Terro-Human Future History (TFH). Piper was also
responsible for a series of stories known as the Paratime Series, which
includes the book Lord Kalvan Of Otherwhen. His writing came to an
unfortunate and untimely end when he committed suicide in 1963.
Piper also wrote a mystery--Murder In The Gunroom--which was published
in the late 1950's and is very difficult to find today. Try contacting
Old Earth Books, P.O. Box 19951, Baltimore, MD 21211-0951; they republished
a facsimile edition several years ago and may still have copies. Also
Barnes and Noble's online ordering service indicates that they can special
order the book--their URL is
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/. (Please note that by mentioning
these two companies I am NOT endorsing either Old Earth Books or Barnes
and Noble.)
Unfortunately, after a revival in the late 1980's, it is once again
difficult to find the rest of Piper's works as well.
Since Piper's death, several authors working under the auspices of
Ace Books have written further stories set in the TFH and the Paratime
Series. Among these are William Tuning's Fuzzy Bones and Roland
Green and John F. Carr's Great Kings' War. After the appearance
of Fuzzy Bones, the long-lost third Fuzzy novel (written by Piper
in response to public demand but rejected by his publisher because it was
too derivative of the other two books) was discovered in a trunk somewhere
in Pennsylvania and printed by Ace (Fuzzies and Other People).
The heir to Piper's intellectual property is noted SF author Jerry
Pournelle, who, according to rumor, is working on a sequel to Piper's
TFH novel Space Viking. Please note, Jerry, that we're still
anxiously awaiting it...:)
The Lord Kalvan Adventures Continue! -- You can find complete information at Hostigos.Com.
