Little Fuzzy [Hardcover]

H. Beam Piper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2006

The planet Zarathustra is listed as uninhabited -- which means that the entire planet can be owned by a corporation. That owner is the Zarathustra Company, rich and happy -- until a prospector named Jack Holloway comes across undocumented species, a tiny, golden-furred little biped who he dubs "Little Fuzzy." Not only are the Little Fuzzies cute, they're bright too -- in fact they may be sapient as people are. . . and that means everything the Zarathustra company owns on this world is at stake. . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The extra-solar world of Zarathustra is devoid of intelligent life, or at least it was thought to be until prospector Jack Holloway discovers a race of Ewok-like Fuzzies. But the company that has been exploiting the planet for its resources will lose its charter if sapient life is discovered, so Holloway must find a way to keep the Fuzzies from being foundin order to keep the charter. Holsopple reads in a pleasant, sonorous tone, using one unadorned voice for narration and a series of others for character dialogue. The vocal shifts are subtle but effective, and make the dialogue sound rather like real conversation, rather than simply words being read from a page. Some of the dialogue is a bit silly (Holloway constantly refers to himself as "Pappy Jack" when talking to the Fuzzies), but Holsopple manages to pull it off. The end result is a faithful adaptation of Piper's beloved 1962 classic (a Best Novel Hugo Award nominee) that fans both new and old should enjoy. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

H. Beam Piper was one of science fiction's most enigmatic writers. In 1946 Piper appeared seemingly from out of nowhere, already at the top of his form. He published a number of memorable short stories and successfully made the turn to major novelist. Even those who counted Piper among their friends learned very little about the man (or his previous life as a railroad yard bull in Altoona, Pennsylvania) before he committed suicide in November 1964. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 148 pages
• Publisher: Aegypan / Alan Rodgers (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159818797X
• ISBN-13: 978-1598187977
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,027,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent work of science fiction, October 14, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Little Fuzzy (Paperback)

The planet of Zarathustra sleeps quietly, the outright possession of the Chartered Zarathustra Company. However, something is about to wake it up. When Jack Holloway, a lone prospector out in the bush discovers a small humanoid race that might just be sapient, the company trembles. The company's claim to the planet is based on its classification as a Class III uninhabited planet, and the company is too big to be threatened with impunity.

But, the first of the little humanoids (Fuzzies) discovered knows nothing about charters and the law. Little Fuzzy joins Pappy Jack, and discovers a whole new world, a world full of fun and adventure. These are the adventures of Little Fuzzy, and his turning upside-down of a whole world!

This book was originally published in 1962, but is every bit as good today as it was back then. The story starts out a bit slow, but it picks up speed, and by the end you find that you can't put it down! H. Beam Piper was an author whose suicide tragically cut short what would have been a full and brilliant career. If you like good science fiction, set in a realistic and believable milieu, then I highly recommend this book to you.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful stories, splendid illustrations, October 28, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fuzzy Papers: Little Fuzzy & Fuzzy Sapiens (Paperback)

This book was created by Ace Books in 1980, and is a combination of two of the redoubtable H. Beam Piper's most popular science fiction books: Little Fuzzy (1962) and Fuzzy Sapiens (1964). Little Fuzzy tells the story of a small, furry humanoid's adventures among the humans sharing his world, and how he came to trouble the counsels of the wise and powerful. Fuzzy Sapiens picks up where Little Fuzzy left off, with man's increase in knowledge about the Fuzzy race, and all the surprises it has in store for humanity.

These wonderful stories, coupled with Victoria Poyser's splendid illustrations make for a great immersion into the world of Zarathustra and the Fuzzies. These are two great stories, both of which should be considered classics in the field of science fiction. So, if you are interested in the Fuzzies, and can get this book, then I highly recommend that you do so.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is the definition of a person in law?, June 16, 2005

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Fuzzy (Paperback)

What happens when an obviously sapient species is discovered on a human colony planet - but the usual rules of thumb used to separate people from animals in law don't apply?

In the Federation, there really isn't a legal definition of sapience, just a handy criterion of talk-and-build-a-fire intended to keep greedy speculators, sadists, and other lowlifes from claiming they couldn't tell that an obviously inhabited planet *was* inhabited. Zarathustra is legally a Class-III planet with no native intelligent species, so the Chartered Zarathustra Company essentially owns it outright, and makes a *lot* of money on its resulting monopoly on sunstones, not to mention a long list of assorted exports the CZC extracts from Zarathustra's virgin ecology.

Then one day Jack Holloway, a freelance sunstone prospector, comes home to find his door open - and a tiny creature, no more than two feet tall and covered in golden fur, in his shower stall. Being an independent-minded bachelor of a certain age doesn't mean one can't get lonely, and Jack's inclined to let the gutsy little guy hang around. Jack names him "Little Fuzzy", and quickly notices that his new friend is bright. So bright that he doesn't need to be shown things twice. So bright that he can generalize.

So bright that he can not only use tools Jack makes for him, but brought some of his own with him.

He and the rest of his hunter-gatherer family just don't seem to be able to talk, and they haven't mastered fire yet. The scientists working for the CZC are soon tasked quietly with "proving" that Fuzzies aren't sapient, and when one group tries to "confiscate" the little family living with Jack, there's a tragedy: Leonard Kellogg stomps one of the female Fuzzies to death, and Jack shoots another of the invaders dead.

The main conflict, though, isn't the shootout but the subsequent pair of criminal cases, which the chief justice of the planet opts to try together almost in the form of a lawsuit since the resolution of either would prejudice the verdict of the other: Leonard Kellogg's trial for the murder of a sapient being, and Jack's trial (where his defence is that he was attempting to prevent someone else's murder). As Jack's lawyer Gus Brannhard puts it, this *is* a lawsuit, in a way, with the CZC's charter hanging in the balance.

Really great story, with a crackerjack legal circus at the end and a lot of Fuzzies throughout (who're much better at having fun than humans are, for all that they're little guys in a very big dangerous world).

IRRELEVANT NOTE: Michael Whelan's Fuzzy cover paintings are famous. However, one point that's sometimes overlooked is that the only human in the group on the cover of *this* book - "Pappy" Jack Holloway - has been depicted by Whelan as a likeness of Piper himself.