Uller Uprising [Paperback]

Henry Beam Piper (Author), John D. Clark (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2008

H. Beam Piper was a 20th century science fiction writer. He is best known for his Terro-Human Future History series and a series of Paratime alternate history tales. The theme in many of Piper's books is best seen in Uller Uprising. Piper wrote about the past repeating itself and past events having a direct effect on the future. Uller Uprising is based on the Sepoy Mutiny. A trading company like the East India Trading Company of the 18th century has been established on Uller. Local officials rule and the humans profit and also try to help better the lives of the locals. Not all of the natives are pleased with this arrangement and a rebellion begins. It is up to Captain Carlos and his men to save the Chartered Company and the Terran Federation.

Editorial Reviews

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 an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Book Jungle (January 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604249188
• ISBN-13: 978-1604249187
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,479,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, September 8, 2000

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Uller Uprising (Mass Market Paperback)

In the far future, exploration has brought many new worlds into the reach of humankind. To facilitate the exploitation of these worlds, trading companies are established. On the world of Uller, the Chartered Uller Company has been running matters much as the British East India Company ran India in the Eighteenth Century. While local potentates rule, humans profit and attempt to better the lot of the locals, whom they derisively call "Geeks." However, not all of the four-armed reptile-oid natives are pleased about the arrangement. When rebellion explodes, it is up to General Carlos von Schlichten, commander of the Company's army, to hold Uller for the Chartered Uller Company and the Terran Federation.

This is an intelligent, and thought provoking book. The action is gripping, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. The author's use of the old trading company paradigm in the future is nothing short of brilliant. As an added bonus, the first chapter of the book contains notes describing the silicone world of Uller and fluorine world of Niflheim, with comments on the chemistry and evolution of life on the world: this written by Dr John D. Clark, scientist and one of the discoverers of sulfa.

In certain ways, this book is out of date (the scene involving scientists using their sliderules is humorous), but not in any way that damages the believability of the story. So, if you are looking for a sci-fi book with a gripping story, and a highly exotic setting, then this book is for you!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Of historic interest..., March 25, 2005

By 

David (PALO ALTO, CA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Uller Uprising (Mass Market Paperback)

Besides being an exciting story told well, this book should be interesting to all SF fans because it was the first real example of what we now call "Military SF." It predated Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" by several years. Jerry Pournelle was strongly influenced by reading this and other Beam Piper works. (I think it is no coincidence that a minor character in this book is named Col. Falkenberg!)

So many aspects of this book are repeated again and again in works by Pournelle, Weber, Drake, etc.: The story is told from the point of view of a dedicated military officer. Military hardware and methods are presented in convincing detail. Military rites and customs, the implicit trust and comradeship between military people, and the natural distrust between military and civilian authorities -- all are implicit to the plot. Military ways of thinking are forever contrasted to their civilian counterparts, so that the civvy ways of thought are shown to be hopelessly fuzzy-minded and soft-hearted, incapable of handling a crisis. Sexuality is repressed to the Boy-Scout level -- well, perhaps that's because it was published in the 1950s.

And above all, aliens are gorily slaughtered in numbers. Much of the fun and the punch to this narrative lies in the fact that it's OKAY to wreak bloody mayhem on enemies, if they are nonhuman and attacked you first. John Ringo is a recent author who uses exactly the same method to add "kick" to a narrative. Ringo's books seem always to be asking, how inventively can we waste a battalion of lizard-headed gooks?

Piper showed how to ask and answer that question first, here in ULLER, where you will find the original pattern for the plot styles of Ringo, Weber, Drake, et al.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Indian Mutiny in outerspace, August 22, 2010

By 

N. Trachta (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews

At times I enjoy going into by stack of books and picking one of the "oldies" out and re-reading them. Recently I was in the mood for a good space opera and while browsing thru I bumped into the Uller Uprising by H. Beam Piper; score!!!

Uller Uprising is Mr. Piper's futuristic retelling of the Indian Mutiny (1857 CE for those that are interested). As with India in 1857; Uller is a corporate world where the native (silicon based life with four arms and looking like a lizard) is "guided" by the Uller Corporation. The similarities between Uller and India circa 1857 include Pax Terra, the use of a corporate military to protect the company's interest, and the natives not being as advanced as humans and the relationship between humans and Ullerans.

I'll open up by saying this is a solid 4.5 book (sorry if you're a fan of Pipers and like this one, there's others he did that I prefer and I tend to factor that into my ratings a little). While parts of the story are dated a little; particularly the technology and human social structure, this takes nothing away from the story. Focus is on telling the Human/Uller relationship and the uprising of the Ullerans against the humans. This was done outstandingly by using the Indian Mutiny and manipulating it for a space opera. What makes this more amazing is Mr. Piper developed this story at an age when he couldn't access the internet to pull his "history" together but rather by knowledge or by educating himself. When you merge this with his light coating of politics you have a plot that few can beat (for those not familiar, most Piper books discuss politics in various forms. In my opinion Mr. Pipers works became the foundation for most modern political science fiction). The characters are interesting but not dominating or "memorable". Von Schllichten is a stereo-type hero in many ways with good foils to work with. Btw, for those not familiar, there's a young Major Falkenberg mentioned in here. As a tribute to his appreciation of H. Beam's work, it's reported Mr. Pournelle reused the name for his main character. Having written this and knowing rating systems don't permit half stars, I'll round down to 4 stars because none of the characters were as strong as I like and the fact that I'd rather read Space Viking, Four-Day Planet, or the Lone Star Planetby Mr. Piper.