The Worlds of H. Beam Piper

by H. Beam Piper, John F. Carr (Editor)

1 • Introduction (The Worlds of H. Beam Piper) • (1983) • essay by John F. Carr
9 • Time and Time Again • (1947) • shortstory by H. Beam Piper
29 • The Mercenaries • (1950) • novelette by H. Beam Piper
57 • Dearest • (1951) • shortstory by H. Beam Piper
77 • Hunter Patrol • (1959) • novelette by H. Beam Piper and John J. McGuire
111 • Flight from Tomorrow • (1950) • novelette by H. Beam Piper
135 • Operation R.S.V.P. • (1951) • shortstory by H. Beam Piper
147 • Genesis • [Paratime Police] • (1951) • novelette by H. Beam Piper
171 • The Answer • (1959) • shortstory by H. Beam Piper
185 • Crossroads of Destiny • (1959) • shortstory by H. Beam Piper
199 • Day of the Moron • (1951) • novelette by H. Beam Piper

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

231 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1983

About the author

Henry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forty-some years ago, Ace Books began reprinting Piper's work, most of which had been out of print for many years at the time after his death by suicide and the subsequent legal questions as to who owned the rights to the stories. They did good collections of his Future History and Paratime series and reprinted most of his novels; this book contains the balance of his stories that didn't fit into the initial volumes. There are ten stories included here, all of them from the 1950s except for his first story, which was printed in John W. Campbell's Astounding SF magazine in 1947. There are two each from Future, Fantastic Universe, and Amazing Stories, three from Astounding, and, improbably, one from Weird Tales. For the most part, they're good, traditional sf stories of their time, with scientists and soldiers doing their things in space and time. I especially liked The Mercenaries and Time and Time Again from Astounding and thought Flight from Tomorrow would have been a good T.Z. episode. One thing that struck me was the repeated theme of gun violence and suicide in light of his unfortunate end. The final story, Day of the Moron, was an anti-trade union piece that I thought pretty offensive, though the intended message of using care with nuclear power is still worthwhile. (Heinlein and del Rey did it better.) There are notes and an introduction by editor John F. Carr that are of interest but tend to go on for too long. It's an interesting group of stories, but none of his major work is here; it's not a good starting place for reading Piper.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

H. Beam Piper was a moderately popular sf writer in the 1950s and 1960s. He's probably best known today for creating the Fuzzies, a race of Ewok-like aliens, and the Paratime Patrol. This is a collection of 10 stories that haven't been reprinted elsewhere. If you're familiar with Piper's work, or a fan of hard science fiction, you might want to check this out,.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally good overall with a few duds and some really good ones. I really liked “Crossroads of Destiny,” which had a very good Twilight Zone vibe to it.

[Charlie Eckhaus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time and Time Again: Auspicious start to his career, skill in full bloom. Time travel story in the wish-fulfillment spirit.

Mercenaries: Decently engaging cold-war inspired piece, with an unexpected link to the first story.

Dearest: Atypical not-so-horrible Weird Tales piece

Hunter Patrol (with John J McGuire): Think I got where this is going, but we'll see. For the most part resolved as expected.

Flight from Tomorrow: Fast-paced time travel adventure with an unexpected outcome.

Operation RSVP: Amusing correspondence-format sequence.

Genesis: Grueling seemingly dismal multi-generational account of stranded crash survivors

The Answer: Didn't stick with me.

Crossroads of Destiny: Reminiscent of a certain classic TV series, could have been an episode itself.

Day of the Moron: Seems like a milestone story in his Future History. Partly satirical, otherwise grimly foreboding.

Not at all the dustpan sweepings type of anthology I thought it would be.

[Jonathan Palfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing in this collection is up to the standard of Piper’s Paratime stories; the writing style is similar, but the stories have less substance and seem more dated (published from 1947 to 1959).

‘Time and time again’ and ‘Dearest’ are simple wish-fulfillment fantasies of different kinds, but pleasantly told and upbeat. I’d give them three stars. The father and son main characters from ‘Time and time again’ are casually mentioned in several of the other stories, so they seem a permanent part of Piper’s future history.

The other stories are readable once, but entirely missable: I’d give them two stars. Thus, I’m rating the volume as a whole on the basis of the two stories I liked.

‘The mercenaries’ proposes the mildly interesting oddball idea of an international team of scientists operating as mercenaries: selling its services to any government that will pay. (I thought scientists did that anyway, though usually on an individual basis.)

‘Hunter patrol’ is one of those circular time-travel stories.

‘Genesis’ tells the story of the disastrous near-failure of the Martian attempt to colonize the Earth in the distant past: at least some of Piper’s other stories are based on the idea that we’re all descended from the Martian survivors of that expedition. But this story itself is mere filler and contributes nothing of interest.

‘The answer’ points out that a nuclear war could be started by misinterpretation of a natural event as a missile strike. True enough.

‘The day of the moron’ is a sermon against trade unions. It doesn’t offend me, I’m no trade unionist, but I find it rather tiresome to be preached at, whether I agree with the message or not.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of stories not set in his two big universes. Provides a unique view of his mind and the other ideas he pursued.

[Sean Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb collection containing the many aspects of the marvellous H Beam Piper.