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Crossroads of Destiny: Science Fiction Stories

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With the transition of much of H. Beam Piper's work into the public domain publishers like Wildside Press have finally begun to bring Piper's work back into print and for that fans of Piper owe them a debt of gratitude. This is a particularly good collection that highlights the breadth of Piper's writing with five stories that are not specifically tied either to Beam's Paratime yarns or to his Terrohuman Future History. Both the title story and "He Walked Around the Horses" are yarns that illustrate the parallel worlds idea upon which Piper's Paratime setting is based without any appearances by the Paratime Police who are central to the yarns contained in The Complete Paratime. "Time and Time Again" is Piper's first published story about a man who is apparently killed in World War III only to "reawaken" in the body of his thirteen year old self with full knowledge of the future! "The Return," co-authored with John J. McGuire, chronicles the encounter of survivors of a nuclear war with an isolated community that has chosen a rather intriguing pre-war fictional character as their moral compass. And finally, "The Mercenaries," about an extra-national band of "scientists for hire" is one of Piper's most interesting stories that is as compelling today as it was when it first appeared in print over half a century ago.

Also recommended by Piper are Uller Uprising, Time Crime, Four-Day Planet, Little Fuzzy, Space Viking, and Junkyard Planet.

Dead man publishing? Again, all these stories are in the (more carefully themed) Ace collections from the 80's. In this case we have stories from _Empire_, _Paratime_, & _Worlds of H. Beam Piper_.

btw, I'm not trying to be pedantic, I just hate re-packaging that means ya wind up with the same story in every bloody collection ya buy! Or have to buy a copy of a novel you already have to get the one that is bundled with it that you can't find. Or...

H Beam Piper (1904-1964) is a typical sci-fi and fantasy writer of the '50s & early '60s, not very successful yet with an interesting production of short stories and some novels in his late years.
He mainly wrote about alternate universes that are in touch & mingling with our present one. Time displacement (not exactly time travel, at least in these five stories) is another axis of his production.

With "Crossroads of Destiny" the reader get in touch with five tales written between 1947 and 1959.
The author makes side references among the tales creating the illusion of a larger backdrop that encompasses all of them (including the various universes!)

"Time & Time Again" (1947) is his first published account and establishes one of his trademark issues: at some point into the future an atomic war is fought. Here the hero is displaced to his previous thirteen year's old self and from there an interesting drama emerges, very compact and neatly solved and is one of the best of this collection. A very similar scenario is fully developed in Ken Grimwood's opus "Replay" which I strongly recommend.

"He walked Around the Horses" (1948) is a treat for all history buffs, an alternate Napoleonic Europe without Napoleon is deluged over a baffled British diplomat of the time.

"The Mercenaries" (1950) is the weakest IMHO of the series.

"The Return" (1954) shows a post-holocaust scenery with some delicious details referring to well known character. This one has the full taste of those years' sci-fi short stories that were published in "Galaxy", "Mas Alla" or "Astounding Science Fiction.

Finally "Crossroads of Destiny" (1959) exhibit an interesting anecdote evolving around a strange character and a stranger dollar-bill. Here the reader may perceive Beam Piper evolution as a writer.

This book is a very good starting point to appreciate the author's style and themes.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.