Customer Reviews

Space Viking

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lord Lucas Trask of Traskon lives on the Sword World of Gram, but is opposed to the Space Viking raids, on which numerous of the most talented Sword Worlders leave and never return. However, when his bride is killed a half-hour after their wedding, Lucas fits out a Space Viking ship and sets out for revenge. Sickened by the waste of the Space Viking life, he finds himself returning to his older convictions: that it is better to build than destroy. But, he finds that there are many who find destroying a simple and easy life, and what is the murderer of his wife up to? This is the story of one man's odyssey across the remains of the old Federation, his life, death and rebirth.

As I've said before, Mr. H. Beam Piper is probably one of the most underrated science-fiction authors ever. Here again, he produced a book with a fascinating milieu, populated by people who act consistently with their culture. I found the book to be quite gripping, proving impossible to put down as it rocketed towards the finale. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Though some of the technology is dated in Piper's books, the story, characters, writing and themes are perfectly fresh. "Space Viking" is a gripping space opera on surface but is also a great essay on the rights and responsibilities of citizens as well as a questioning of civilization itself. The only other science fiction books to address these concepts so well are Heinlen's "Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" and "Starship Troopers".

I've been re-reading this book for 15 years and still find get something new from it each time. I judge all other sci-fi by this book and nothing has ever matched it. Jerry Pournelle once mentioned that he *attempted* to write a sequel to Space Viking but couldn't begin to match the details. The best part is that the reader never notices the acute attention to detail Mr. Piper must have paid to this . . you just enjoy the story. PS. no, I'm not related

Written at the hight of the Cold War, this SF novel is filled with atomic weapons being used in the far future after the colapse of a federation, and the return, centuries later, of a branch civilization that fled after a civil war. But the book was pulled because of the shooting of an unarmed civilian. Makes one wonder why killing one person, in person, is more horrific than killing 100,000 with one push of a button. And THAT is one of the hidden themes of the book. Think back to the 60s, if you can, before reading it. Slide rules are used and computers take up entire rooms.

A great, now semi-forgotten space opera classic. Space Viking has the sheer readability and forward momentum of good pulp science fiction but with an extra historical dimension lacking in most pulp. Or to put it another way, this could be the best Heinlein-style novel not written by Heinlein. Also could well have been an influence on Star Wars, but don't let that put you off. Set in the same ("Terro-Human") future history as Piper's Fuzzy novels, but after the breakup of the Federation. The stand-alone quality of Space Viking, plus the action and economy, put it a notch higher in my affection than the Fuzzy series. This was probably his best sf novel and should by rights be put back into print.

This is one of the most biting commentaries on GOVERNMENT that I have ever read! It is also a very enjoyable story. I have worn out two copies.

This was one of my favorite books when I was in my late teens; I recently re-read it and found it to be as exciting as the first time around. Piper had the ability to create realistic worlds and the several worlds in this book are no exception. I think its a shame that this, along with most of Piper's other books, is no longer in print.

Prabably my all time favorite scienc fiction book. Even though I have let many of my child hood SciFi books go I continue to hang on to this one. Don't pass up a chance to read it if you can.

The first Piper that I read was Little Fuzzy. I was hooked and went on to read everything that I could find of his. You cannot call yourself a great fan of SciFi if you have missed Piper. This book has to be counted near the top of a MUST READ list for SciFi fans. If you have read Piper and Asimov you will know the plot of every space flick that comes around!

_Space Viking_ (1963) was a four-part serial in _Analog_ in 1962-63 and was accompanied by some marvelous John Schoenherr illustrations. It was reprinted by Ace shortly thereafter to modest attention. Since Piper's death by suicide in 1964, a number of his admirers have tried to make a case that the novel is a classic. Well, it isn't. It is a well-crafted space adventure that has some intelligent things to say about politics and warfare. But there is nothing highly original about the novel in plot, style, or content. It doesn't have the sparkle of his own Little Fuzzy novels.

Briefly, the story is this: The Terran Federation, a galaxy-wide government, has collapsed. Planets are now at the mercy of marauding Space Vikings. The hero is a nobleman named Lucas Trask whose bride is murdered on their wedding day by a madman. To catch the killer, Trask becomes a Space Viking and begins a series of conquests across the galaxy. But gradually, he finds that he is also rebuilding...

One of the characters in _Space Viking_ is an admiral named Otto Harkaman, who becomes a right hand man to Trask. The name sparked an echo in my mind when I reread Piper's novel. And then it clicked. It reminded me of the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Frank Herbert's _Dune_ (1965), another _Analog_ novel. One man is essentially heroic, while the other is essentially villainous. But both are politically savy. Orson Scott Card once complained that most science fiction writers knew little about politics. They would have politicians in their stories say things that politicians would never say in real life and do things that real politicians would never do. This is not true of Piper and Herbert. You sense that their depictions of political meetings are authentic and that the policies that they make are realistic. Granted, their politics are somewhat on the medieval and Machiavellian side, but they are realistic nonetheless.

In any event, I heartily recommend _Space Viking_. Classic it may not be, but it deserves more attention than it has received in the past.