Customer Reviews

Four Day Planet and Lone Star Planet

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This exciting book is really two novellas published as one, fat paperback book! The first story is Four Day Planet, which is set in Piper's Terro-Human Future History. Fenris is an unusual world; one that's year is about the same as Earth's, but it only has four days per year! With blazing hot days and nights that are colder than cold, it is a world of tough individuals who don't like being cheated. Well, they are being cheated, and as Walter Boyd, star reported for the Port Sandor Times, watches, the whole world prepares to go up in flames.

The second story stands alone, which is to say that is it is not in Piper's Terro-Human Future History or Paratime milieus. New Texas was founded when the whole ornery state of Texas built themselves spaceships and headed out to the new frontier - space. But now, these rugged and independent New Texans are the target of an expansive race of extraterrestrials, and it's up to the Solar League's ambassador to guide them back into Earth's embrace. Well, mister, it's going to take one tough and wily ambassador to steer the New Texans - but is Stephen Silk that tough and that wily?

These two stories are absolutely great! H. Beam Piper (1904-64) is one of the little recognized greats of science fiction. He was an expert at creating fascinating worlds that were both fantastic and yet utterly believable, and these stories show his writing ability off to great effect. If you like good sci-fi, then you will like this book. If you are a fan of H. Beam Piper, then it is a must-have!

This review is focused more toward the Lone Star Planet half of this double book. As a fan of H. Beam Piper, I bought the book because I liked him (and I am a Texan). The premise was funny and I couldn't resist the image of the entire state of Texas emmigrating to another planet (taking the Alamo with them, of course). The plot was not only funny, it was well put together and insightful regarding the "Texan" mentality, which I might add, is as much a product of how other regions perceive us as it is how we present ourselves to the world. I often cite this book as something fun to read whether you like Science Fiction or not, because it is first and foremost a parody of people and politics and the difference between politicians and diplomats.

Just this week I purchased another copy of it from a used book dealer. I can't wait to read it again!

Have you ever considered the role of government in our lives? In Four Day Planet-Lone Star Planet H. Beam Piper does just that. In Four Day Planet, we visit the planet Fenris, a near Hell-world that turns only four times in a year, but that is not the important part. You see, the people who live there are the decendants of colonists who stayed when the company who set up the colony collapsed. Left to their own devices the struggle aginst the lawless brigands who have set themsleves as rulers.

Lone-Star Planet, ( A planet for Texas ) takes us to the world of New Texas. A lovely little planet, with a government much like our own, with one little exception, Killing a member of the government is only illegial if a jury thinks it was more than he deserved. Think about it!!! This little oddity suited New Taxans just fine until somebody killed the Solar League Ambassador now a lot of people think New Texas needs a new government. Not well know anymore H. Beam Piper was one of the finest authors of his day, and this was one of his finest works.

Four-Day Planet is the only Piper book set on Fenris, which rotates so slowly that it only has 4 days in a year, and a sunset is 100 hours long. Fenris survives by trading tallow-wax, produced from sea monsters. The monster hunters have been ripped off for years by trading agreements, and they're not going to take it anymore...

Lone Star Planet is set on New Texas -- the whole state migrated (they took the Alamo with them, of course). Politicians on New Texas are *really* accountable to the people, as the new Federation ambassador finds out...

"Lone Star Planet" postulates that in a rational society, to the extent that you can call Texas "rational," private individuals can legally murder politicians who exert power in ways they don't like. How does this differ from kook hate literature like "The Turner Diaries"? Would we feel somewhat differently about Piper now if Lee Harvey Oswald had a copy of "Lone Star Planet" in his possession during his arrest for shooting President Kennedy -- in Texas?