The Complete Paratime [Hardcover]

H. Beam Piper (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 424 pages
• Publisher: Ace Books; Book Club (BCE/BOMC) edition (1981)
• ISBN-10: 0739418033
• ISBN-13: 978-0739418031
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,144,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parallel Worlds, Time Travel, Reincarnation, High Adventure, October 9, 2001

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Complete Paratime (Ace Science Fiction) (Paperback)

H. Beam Piper was obsessed with reincarnation, time travel, and alternate worlds. He capitalized on that obsession by writing the Paratime stories, a loosely knit series of novelettes. Verkan Vall, of the Paratime Police, served as the central character of most of the Paratime stories, and he made a capable, likeable hero.

The best of the Paratime stories centered around another hero, Cpl. Calvin Morrison of the Pennsylvania State Police. Morrison figured in three short stories, "Gunpowder God," "Down Styphon," and a third unpublished story. The three were posthumously conjoined to form the novella "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen."

The stories in which Cpl. Morrison takes no part were collected in "Paratime." The present book contains both "Paratime" and "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen." It also contains a very interesting prologue in which John F. Carr discusses Piper's ideas on time travel, alternate worlds, and reincarnation. He offers Piper's firm belief in reincarnation as a possible explanation for Piper's suicide.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two great books in one!, March 14, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Paratime (Ace Science Fiction) (Paperback)

This book is a compilation of two books by the incomparable H. Beam Piper. The first is Paratime, a collection of five short stories, and is complete with its fascinating introduction by John F. Carr. The stories are fascinating, and show off Piper's masterful writing. The second is Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, a fascinating story of a Pennsylvania State Trooper who is lifted out of his (our) own space-time continuum and is dropped down into a very different world.

I must admit that I was hoping for a little something extra in buying this book, a new introduction perhaps. But, even so, my copies of the original books were becoming worn-out, and it is nice to be able to get a new copy of these books.

To those new to the Paratime stories: H. Beam Piper created a fascinating multiverse where a culture has developed the ability to travel laterally between universes (parallel Earths), and has undertaken to maintain its monopoly of such travel. The Paratime Police were formed to ensure that the secret is kept, and that no unlicensed travel would occur. These stories document the Paratime Police's activities and showcase a number of fascinating parallel Earths created by the author. I highly recommend this wonderful book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic tale of time travel and parallel universes, February 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Paratime (Ace Science Fiction) (Paperback)

H. Beam Piper,in this collection of stories, provides insight into a society that can leverage the resources from a near infinite number of worlds and the awesome responsibility that entails. The Paratime police force is tasked with monitoring the vast number of parallel worlds, many of which have had history take a different path then in ours.

Verkan Vall, one of the Paratime officers, deals with criminals intent on exploiting less advanced civilizations and the problems with civilizations more advanced then his own, while keeping the secret of paratime travel safe.

The longest story in this collection, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, describes the fate of a man from our 20th century Earth who is dropped accidentally into a parallel universe where different population migration patterns have resulted in a drastically different world. Coming into a world centuries behind his own, Calvin Morrison, once of the Pennsylvania State Police, ends up leading the beleagured nation of Hostigos against the corrupt theocracy that holds a monopoly on technology.

Another story in this collection include: "He Walked around the Horses," which offers a possible explanation on the disapperance of Benjamin Bathurst, a diplomat in Napoleonic Europe.

There are several other well paced stories in this collection. Most of the parallel worlds are described in tantalizingly little detail allowing the reader to imagine what other alternatives could be. If you like parallel world fiction, you'll get your fill with this collection.