Great Kings' War, the authorized sequel to H. Beam Piper's classic novel, was first published in paperback in 1985 by Ace Books. This edition is a Ltd. Edition quality hardcover of Great Kings' War, the long awaited sequel to H. Beam Piper's Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen and chronicles the further adventures of Calvin Morrison, Pennsylvania State Policeman-forcibly retired. This new edition is revised and expanded (over 30%) by the authors with new maps, including Hostigos Town, Hostigos and the Five Kingdoms, and a new dramatis personae.
Calvin Morrison was a pretty good cop in Pennsylvania-until he was scooped up by the cross-time flying saucer and transported to Styphon's House Subsector, a 16th Century equivalent parallel time-line. Here the Indo-Aryan invasions went east across Asia and down the Aleutian Islands into North America, where they have stagnated for thousands of years. Dropped off into the middle of a local dispute, Corporal Calvin Morrison comes face to face with warriors armed with pikes and broadswords, not petty criminals. Lord Kalvan, as the locals call him, transforms the petty Princedom of Hostigos into a fearsome warrior Kingdom by inspired leadership and advanced military knowledge. And, now, after having created and saved his new nation of Hos-Hostigos from destruction by Styphon's House, a tyrannical theocracy that holds sacred the secret formula for gunpowder, Kalvan, now Great King of Hos-Hostigos, faces his greatest challenge-keeping what he has won.
The Holy Host of Styphon and the Royal Army of Hos-Harphax, two of the greatest armies in the history of the Five Kingdoms, are on the move and Kalvan will once again have to call upon his knowledge of military history to save his family and friends. This time it's personal!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exciting expansion of Piper's best series,
By
This review is from: Great Kings' War (Paperback)
I have owned a copy of this book for five years, and reread it at least once every month or so, along with my ancient copy of 'Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen', of which it is a sequel. The book deserves to be reprinted, plus, its two sequels, of which only a hint has been published - a chapter in a Jerry Pournelle anthology indicating that all is not well in Hostigos. The characterisations, military lore and exciting plot make this a stand alone novel to be enjoyed on its own merits. We had to wait many years for this sequel, I hope that the authors of these posthumous tributes to Piper's Paratime Universe will soon find publishers for their next works.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great!,
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: Great Kings' War (Paperback)
H. Beam Piper (1904-64) was one of the premier science-fiction authors of the 1960s, and should rightly be considered one of the all-time greats in that field. Among the wonderful books that Mr. Piper published during his all-too-short career was Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. In that book, a Pennsylvania State Trooper name Calvin Morrison is accidentally lifted out of his own space-time continuum, and deposited on a parallel Earth, where some of the Aryans went east, across the Pacific and into North America. Dropped into the midst of a war of conquest, directed by a religion that holds a monopoly on gunpowder, Calvin must use his knowledge of military history to save himself and his new friends.
In this 1985 sequel, Piper fans John F. Carr and Roland Green take us back to the world of Lord Kalvan. Having saved his new nation of Hos-Hastigos from destruction only last year, Calvin Morrison (now Lord Kalvan) now finds a new campaigning season upon him. But, the House of Styphon is not about to see this new force put an end to their gunpowder wealth and authority. And now, Kalvan must prepare to meet an even greater threat, and once more use his knowledge of military history to save a seemingly impossible situation. Now, I am a massive H. Beam Piper fan, so I went into this book with a little trepidation. I mean, can anyone write a book in Piper's universe with anything like the right feel to it? Well, in fact this is an excellent book - well written and a worthy sequel to the original. All of the characters are here, but they have grown and changed, just like you would expect real people to do. The action is almost non-stop with some excellent battle scenes and tons of action and adventure. So, if you are a fan of H. Beam Piper, or just his Lord Kalvan story, then you should get this book. It's great. Also, if you are a fan of alternate-reality science fiction, then this book is something you should consider - but definitely read Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen first.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Impressive Sequel: H. Beam Piper's Paratime Saga Continues,
This review is from: Great Kings War (Lord Kalvin #2) (Hardcover)
In Great Kings' War, John F. Carr and Roland Green pay homage to H. Beam Piper's Paratime hero Lord Kalvan, a.k.a. Corporal Calvin Morrison. An authorized sequel to Piper's only Paratime novel, Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, the novel begins with Kalvan, the former Pennsylvania state trooper, unwilling cross-dimensional interloper, and now Great King of the newly-formed Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos, facing the might of the theocratic Styphon's House as it supports Great King Kaiphranos of Hos-Harphax in his attempt to reclaim the princedoms Kalvan and his allies had carved from Hos-Harphax, in part by having used Kalvan's knowledge of how to produce gunpowder to break the "fireseed" monopoly of Styphon's House. Carr and Green introduce several new characters, including the mercenary Phidestros, Captain of the Iron Company, who emerges as a major figure as the "Fireseed Wars" play out in this novel and its sequels, Kalvan Kingmaker and Siege of Tarr-Hostigos.
Meanwhile, those responsible for Kalvan's accidental transposition to the alternate Aryan-Transpacific Sector of Fourth Level Paratime continue to take a special interest in Kalvan's exploits and their effect on events on his new timeline. Verkan Vall, newly-elevated to Chief of Paratime Police, reprises his "out-time" masquerade as Trader Verkan, a close advisor to Great King Kalvan. And the First Level University of Dhergabar has created the Kalvan Study Teams, groups of undercover researchers sent to Aryan-Transpacific Sector to study the first-ever identified point of divergence for a new Paratime timeline. But all is not as it seems among the Paratimers and Home Time Line political machinations underlie what are at times competing interests of the Paratime Police and the University researchers. Carr, editor of four anthologies of Piper's work (Paratime, Federation, Empire, and The Worlds of H. Beam Piper) and described by long-time collaborator Jerry Pournelle as "a recognized authority on the life and works of H. Beam Piper," uses his extensive familiarity with Piper's Paratime setting to craft a compelling story that begins to move beyond Kalvan's ongoing struggle with Styphon's House to a brewing crisis at the very heart of First Level Paratime civilization.
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