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Federation #4
Space Viking by H. Beam Piper. Illustrated
Space Viking is a science fiction novel written by H. Beam
Piper and is set in his Terro-Human future history. It tells the story of one
man's search for his wife's murderer and its unexpected consequences. The story
was originally serialized in Analog magazine (November 1962 - February 1963),
then published by Ace Books in 1963.
- Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
ebook
First published November 1, 1962
About the author
H. Beam Piper
316 books250 followersHenry Beam Piper was an American science fiction author. He wrote many short stories and several novels. He is best known for his extensive Terro-Human Future History series of stories and a shorter series of "Paratime" alternate history tales.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 207 reviews
December 18, 2020
3.5 stars. An interesting, if dry, revenge tale that gets mired in Piper's political and ideological ramblings and overshadowed by his odd authoritarian and libertarian leanings. How he squares authoritarianism with libertarianism is a bit strange, but he's clearly skeptical of government in general and democracy in particular, going so far as to call representative democracy "Goldberg-ocracy", in honor of none other than Rube Goldberg.
Piper builds a fascinating world, consisting of many dozens of planets in various socio-economic alliances after the fall of the centralized authority of the Federation, many of which have slid backwards into barbarism (which Piper describes as any society lacking nuclear power and/or interstellar hyperdrive). His romantic notion of "civilized" space vikings is almost laughable. They're civilized perhaps in the sense of the advanced technology they posses, and their code which prohibits raiding other civilized planets, yet they seem to have no compunctions about raiding, plundering and murdering the citizens of other planets, some of which they leave as smoldering slag heaps.
Piper builds a fascinating world, consisting of many dozens of planets in various socio-economic alliances after the fall of the centralized authority of the Federation, many of which have slid backwards into barbarism (which Piper describes as any society lacking nuclear power and/or interstellar hyperdrive). His romantic notion of "civilized" space vikings is almost laughable. They're civilized perhaps in the sense of the advanced technology they posses, and their code which prohibits raiding other civilized planets, yet they seem to have no compunctions about raiding, plundering and murdering the citizens of other planets, some of which they leave as smoldering slag heaps.
September 18, 2008
A fun read, in that old-fashioned, chest-thumping, red meat eating and martini drinking fashion. I love a diversion into Space Opera now and again, and Space Viking is a fine example of the genre. The only H.B. Piper I can admit to reading so far has been LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN (a great alt-history type novel, the first of the PARATIME series), plus some well-executed short stories. Space Viking wasn't extremely deep; Piper prefers the bludgeon to the rapier on some of the points he makes, but I didn't care-- there's Space Battles, civilization building, Good Guys and Bad Guys and planets in peril. You can't beat it!
December 2, 2011
Ok, so I’m a big fan of H. Beam Piper. Yes classic Sci-Fi requires a certain taste, it’s certainly not for everyone, and Piper was a bit more on the fringe of political discourse than many of his contemporaries. Space Viking does tend to exhibit Piper’s personal beliefs quite plainly, but it is so jam packed with space exploration and battles that it’s delicious.
Trask’s development as a character is realistic and interesting. Plus, I love series that span an immense amount of time in a created-place, so that you can see how it involves. Strictly speaking Piper didn’t write the books as a series, but he did tend to write them in the same created-space, and the degradation of the Old Federation and the rise of the Sword Worlds is fascinating to me.
But I’m a sucker for space operas, and Vikings, so this book has it all.
Plus, just look at the cover and tell me it doesn’t fill you with utter nerd love.
Trask’s development as a character is realistic and interesting. Plus, I love series that span an immense amount of time in a created-place, so that you can see how it involves. Strictly speaking Piper didn’t write the books as a series, but he did tend to write them in the same created-space, and the degradation of the Old Federation and the rise of the Sword Worlds is fascinating to me.
But I’m a sucker for space operas, and Vikings, so this book has it all.
Plus, just look at the cover and tell me it doesn’t fill you with utter nerd love.
March 3, 2014
I have always enjoyed Piper's Terra Federation books and even praised Piper as one of the unsung heroes of SF, but this I had major problems with.
Piper states that both Democracy and Government stemming from it are historically flawed concepts, I have no problem with that. Piper's solution is quite frankly authoritarian to the extreme and also contradictory.
"Then your democracy is a farce,and the people only free on sufferance. if their ballots aren't secured by arms, they're worthless"
Then later his solution to an attack on unarmed security by unarmed citizens Piper's solution.
"Put up fifty combat cars. Draw up a deadline, and open machine gun fire as soon as the mob crossed it, and keep on firing till the survivors turned tail and ran"
The Space Vikings themselves operate to imperialistic standards taking over lesser civilizations not out of altruistic values but for sheer profit. Again the death and destruction this causes Piper has no comment, obviously this falls into a form of Darwinism determinism. This was the last major work before his suicide and quite frankly it shows.
Piper states that both Democracy and Government stemming from it are historically flawed concepts, I have no problem with that. Piper's solution is quite frankly authoritarian to the extreme and also contradictory.
"Then your democracy is a farce,and the people only free on sufferance. if their ballots aren't secured by arms, they're worthless"
Then later his solution to an attack on unarmed security by unarmed citizens Piper's solution.
"Put up fifty combat cars. Draw up a deadline, and open machine gun fire as soon as the mob crossed it, and keep on firing till the survivors turned tail and ran"
The Space Vikings themselves operate to imperialistic standards taking over lesser civilizations not out of altruistic values but for sheer profit. Again the death and destruction this causes Piper has no comment, obviously this falls into a form of Darwinism determinism. This was the last major work before his suicide and quite frankly it shows.
December 21, 2020
Maybe closer to a 2.5 stars, not sure what to think of this. While this definitely was an adventure, I can't say it was very exciting. Perhaps I'm the wrong reader to enjoy this fully
October 2, 2022
Didn’t really get on with this one. People kept changing their names and titles. The big battle at the end was boring.
February 18, 2009
A sentimental three stars; this was space opera without too much philosophy...Reading his other stuff (particularly Uller Uprising), I found his politics laughably simplistic and increasingly tedious.
May 13, 2014
This is the first of Piper's books that I've read. Having seen his "Little Fuzzy" in bookstores over the years, I had no desire to check him out. However I recently read the assertion that this book was one of many influences on the Traveller role-playing game. Since I'm a fan of Traveller, and of the series of books that was a major influence on the game (EC Tubb's Dumarest saga), I thought I'd check out Space Viking.
There is a group of worlds in the Traveller universe called the Sword Worlds. The planets are named after famous swords, such as Excalibur. There is very little else written about them in the original, Classic Traveller game. So there are also Sword Worlds in Space Viking. And they, like the overall Traveller universe, have a feudalistic society that also includes future tech such as spaceships. That's about the only connection I see between the two. So, not so thrilling.
As for the book itself, as a story, it's rather shallow. I could've put it down at any point and never bothered to pick it up again, except for completeness' sake.
I just didn't get the idea that these characters, who seemed like well-educated, likeable (in a shallow old-SF way) fellows, were also "space vikings" who raided other worlds by dropping nuclear bombs on them and then looting them of their museum pieces, treasures and small portable manufacturing plants. They were fully capable of making this stuff themselves, but they just decided to take on entire planets with a few ships, to try and steal it. Then they turned around and went to other planets and sold their loot. Uh, why? I couldn't get my head around it. There was a fundamental difference between the way the characters themselves were portrayed, and the horror of wanton killing that they did as a "career."
The other thing was the odd political statements the author appeared to be trying to make. He had the characters draw connections between political movements they discovered and the historical Hitler. He set up a race of Gilgameshers, who played the role of the Jews in "Hitler's" schemes. Rather uncomfortable to read. Then he went on and on about how governments didn't work, but at the same time should use violence to keep the people in line. *Should.* I just couldn't put all this stuff in my head and turn it into a coherent message.
So, yeah. Now I can say I read a book that supposedly influenced Traveller. But didn't really.
Give it a pass.
There is a group of worlds in the Traveller universe called the Sword Worlds. The planets are named after famous swords, such as Excalibur. There is very little else written about them in the original, Classic Traveller game. So there are also Sword Worlds in Space Viking. And they, like the overall Traveller universe, have a feudalistic society that also includes future tech such as spaceships. That's about the only connection I see between the two. So, not so thrilling.
As for the book itself, as a story, it's rather shallow. I could've put it down at any point and never bothered to pick it up again, except for completeness' sake.
I just didn't get the idea that these characters, who seemed like well-educated, likeable (in a shallow old-SF way) fellows, were also "space vikings" who raided other worlds by dropping nuclear bombs on them and then looting them of their museum pieces, treasures and small portable manufacturing plants. They were fully capable of making this stuff themselves, but they just decided to take on entire planets with a few ships, to try and steal it. Then they turned around and went to other planets and sold their loot. Uh, why? I couldn't get my head around it. There was a fundamental difference between the way the characters themselves were portrayed, and the horror of wanton killing that they did as a "career."
The other thing was the odd political statements the author appeared to be trying to make. He had the characters draw connections between political movements they discovered and the historical Hitler. He set up a race of Gilgameshers, who played the role of the Jews in "Hitler's" schemes. Rather uncomfortable to read. Then he went on and on about how governments didn't work, but at the same time should use violence to keep the people in line. *Should.* I just couldn't put all this stuff in my head and turn it into a coherent message.
So, yeah. Now I can say I read a book that supposedly influenced Traveller. But didn't really.
Give it a pass.
December 16, 2022
Old-fashioned manly-man Space Opera where Piper is EXTRAORDINARILY wrong-headed about government. I give it 2 stars instead of 1 only because it added 35 spaceship names to my list. Did you know that the spreadsheets on iPad only go to 999 items? Me either, but the names in the book helped me discover that fact recently.
It’s not OCD - I’m an INTJ who happens to be ever-so-slightly on the autism scale. Makings lists like this is relaxing for me.
https://ibb.co/m4p7S6K
It’s not OCD - I’m an INTJ who happens to be ever-so-slightly on the autism scale. Makings lists like this is relaxing for me.
https://ibb.co/m4p7S6K
June 21, 2011
What starts as a Space Chase soon takes a back seat to a strange, demi-Randian commentary on governments and the manner in which they interfere with Strong, Sensible Men. Piper includes a couple of "well, who's to say" equivocations, but it's clear the reader is meant to align with the aristocratic Trask and historically-knowledgeable Harkaman, both of whom hold the opinion that if one wants to make an omelet, one has to firebomb a few thousand chicken coops. On top of this, seemingly the only thing keeping one of the (consistently insane and grasping) villains from being named "Bradolf Britler" is the continual marveling comment from Our Heroes about how very like Hitler he is, why doesn't anyone see it, I guess we're doomed to repeat the past, tut tut.
The only parts that I really enjoyed were the passages dealing with the logistics of developing a planetary civilization—that's exactly as backhanded a compliment as it sounds—and Piper cheats a bit here, too, simply having Trask import interstellar-civilization technology to an undeveloped planet and treat the whole reformation as a fait accompli.
Pass this one by.
The only parts that I really enjoyed were the passages dealing with the logistics of developing a planetary civilization—that's exactly as backhanded a compliment as it sounds—and Piper cheats a bit here, too, simply having Trask import interstellar-civilization technology to an undeveloped planet and treat the whole reformation as a fait accompli.
Pass this one by.
April 9, 2024
Yup. Still a 5* rip-roaring Space Opera adventure.
December 24, 2020
The novel is what it would seem like it's about, but maybe not as much as you'd think. It begins with the protagonist suffering a great loss and swearing lifelong vengeance on his nemesis who has fled into the hinterlands of the galaxy.
Centuries ago the galactic government collapsed and with it the civilizations of most planets, which having lost their technological knowledge, have fallen into neobarbarism. Without protection from a greater power, these worlds are mercilessly raided and plundered by SPACE VIKINGS, which the protagonist has now become. It's a bloody and rapacious way to live.
It's not quite the kind of space opera that I'd prefer, but it works well enough. Eventually the protagonist tires of the life and changes his ways to civilization building, forming what will be in many years hence the core of the next, but not last, galactic government.
Rating: 3.5/5
Centuries ago the galactic government collapsed and with it the civilizations of most planets, which having lost their technological knowledge, have fallen into neobarbarism. Without protection from a greater power, these worlds are mercilessly raided and plundered by SPACE VIKINGS, which the protagonist has now become. It's a bloody and rapacious way to live.
It's not quite the kind of space opera that I'd prefer, but it works well enough. Eventually the protagonist tires of the life and changes his ways to civilization building, forming what will be in many years hence the core of the next, but not last, galactic government.
Rating: 3.5/5
November 18, 2019
There’s plenty of rip-snorting adventure in Beam Piper’s SPACE VIKING: raiding, pillaging, space battles, political coups, gunfights in underground bunkers. Mainly, though, the novel serves as a platform for Piper’s political ideas. The planetary democracies in the book (like Marduk) he describes as effete, unstable, and easily toppled by demagogues (like Zaspar Makann) or external foes. Humanity tends on the whole toward “neobarbarism”; increasingly dependent on welfare-state handouts and the benefits of a technological society, they lose sight of those blessings’ costs, and either refuse to pay them or tear down their infrastructure in a fit of pique. The only society that makes sense to Piper is the feudal-libertarian one that his hero, Lucas Trask, establishes on Tanith. People get what they are willing to work or pay for, no more no less, with the minimal state services Piper believes they need (essentially a night-watchman state) provided by a warrior aristocracy. That the aristocracy also owns much of the means of economic production, making economic transactions intrinsically unfair, doesn’t bother Piper much. Kudos to him, anyway, for realizing the feudal tendencies within libertarianism more than four decades before political scientists did so.
Piper doesn’t seem to like women much in this novel, by the way. The only positive female characters are Trask’s former wife (generally only manifesting as a ghost) and a few simpering little girls. Perhaps HBP’s then-recent divorce made him more inclined to misogyny than usual, but IIRC he wrote LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN at about the same time, and it had at least a few strong or sympathetic women in its cast of characters. Another note: as often occurs in mid-century space operas, the weapons that the Men of the Future employ in SPACE VIKING seem rather old-fashioned. Ground troops exchange machine-gun and rocket fire, space-going warships slug away at one another with nuclear bombs and “hellburners” (a sustained fusion-reaction bomb resembling the weapons in Wells’s WORLD SET FREE). Technological speculation apparently interested Piper less than political speculation, and, like many of his generation, he found it difficult to imagine a weapon more devastating than a nuclear bomb - except, perhaps, human complacency.
Piper doesn’t seem to like women much in this novel, by the way. The only positive female characters are Trask’s former wife (generally only manifesting as a ghost) and a few simpering little girls. Perhaps HBP’s then-recent divorce made him more inclined to misogyny than usual, but IIRC he wrote LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN at about the same time, and it had at least a few strong or sympathetic women in its cast of characters. Another note: as often occurs in mid-century space operas, the weapons that the Men of the Future employ in SPACE VIKING seem rather old-fashioned. Ground troops exchange machine-gun and rocket fire, space-going warships slug away at one another with nuclear bombs and “hellburners” (a sustained fusion-reaction bomb resembling the weapons in Wells’s WORLD SET FREE). Technological speculation apparently interested Piper less than political speculation, and, like many of his generation, he found it difficult to imagine a weapon more devastating than a nuclear bomb - except, perhaps, human complacency.
January 17, 2008
I read The Cosmic Computer and Space Viking.
The first is the better of the two, involving a man who uses a rumor of a super-computer on his home planet, once a planet-wide military base of the galactic Federation, to start a boom of reclaiming military salvage so that he can get a working hyperspace ship together so he can revitalize the planet by shipping luxury goods grown on his planet to Terra. Along the way, of course, he discovers the computer, which he thought was fictional, is real, and conceals a terrible secret. This secret is dealt with in a very cynical fashion (the worst part of the book, IMHO), and the story ends.
Space Viking is a much more predictable story of revenge and one man going from being a dreamer, to a destroyer, to the hard-headed creator of one civilization from the ashes of the old. Also, it's the first space opera book I've read to justify the whole sterotypical "space fuedalism" thing under the idea that feudalism is just a better system, since democracy pretty much amounts to mob rule, and the barbarians always win out in the end. It doesn't say it in so many words, except in a couple spots, but it underlies the thinking of th whole book. That said, it has a better (tho predictable) ending than The Cosmic Computer.
I can't say I can recommend either book except for those interested in the history of SF; that said, they were somewhat enjoyable as long as I didn't take them too seriously. (It's notable, to get a sense of the level of cyncicism involved, that I believe Piper eventually committed suicide.)
The first is the better of the two, involving a man who uses a rumor of a super-computer on his home planet, once a planet-wide military base of the galactic Federation, to start a boom of reclaiming military salvage so that he can get a working hyperspace ship together so he can revitalize the planet by shipping luxury goods grown on his planet to Terra. Along the way, of course, he discovers the computer, which he thought was fictional, is real, and conceals a terrible secret. This secret is dealt with in a very cynical fashion (the worst part of the book, IMHO), and the story ends.
Space Viking is a much more predictable story of revenge and one man going from being a dreamer, to a destroyer, to the hard-headed creator of one civilization from the ashes of the old. Also, it's the first space opera book I've read to justify the whole sterotypical "space fuedalism" thing under the idea that feudalism is just a better system, since democracy pretty much amounts to mob rule, and the barbarians always win out in the end. It doesn't say it in so many words, except in a couple spots, but it underlies the thinking of th whole book. That said, it has a better (tho predictable) ending than The Cosmic Computer.
I can't say I can recommend either book except for those interested in the history of SF; that said, they were somewhat enjoyable as long as I didn't take them too seriously. (It's notable, to get a sense of the level of cyncicism involved, that I believe Piper eventually committed suicide.)
August 1, 2011
My other half picked this at random to listen to on a long drive via Audiobooks on his cell phone. What a great find! We now want to go read all his other stuff.
I kept asking when the book was written, since all LibraVox recordings are in the public domain, yet this book discusses hyperdrives and nuclear power and Hitler... turns out it was written in 1963 but it really feels modern and timeless.
This book is partly a store of one man's quest for revenge and how his life didn't really go as planned, and partly a commentary about the futility of various (or possibly all) forms of government. A lot of the political systems described in the book are very pertinent even today, which gives credence to Piper's theme that everything in history tends to repeat itself.
Without being spoilery, I will just say that it took about 10 hours to listen to the whole thing and we were fully engaged right away and throughout. The book has a rather ambiguous moral code (as do the protagonists themselves) that might make you question your opinions.
I can't wait to read his other alternate future works!
I kept asking when the book was written, since all LibraVox recordings are in the public domain, yet this book discusses hyperdrives and nuclear power and Hitler... turns out it was written in 1963 but it really feels modern and timeless.
This book is partly a store of one man's quest for revenge and how his life didn't really go as planned, and partly a commentary about the futility of various (or possibly all) forms of government. A lot of the political systems described in the book are very pertinent even today, which gives credence to Piper's theme that everything in history tends to repeat itself.
Without being spoilery, I will just say that it took about 10 hours to listen to the whole thing and we were fully engaged right away and throughout. The book has a rather ambiguous moral code (as do the protagonists themselves) that might make you question your opinions.
I can't wait to read his other alternate future works!
July 22, 2008
Can we all bask for a moment in the glory of that title?
With Space Kings and their Space Feudalism! And Space Amish (sort of)! It's interesting and I think another example of how Piper (like another favourite of mine, David Drake) pulls from historic battles and whatnot. The only problem with Piper is that his books are great, I just don't want to ruin a fun story for someone else. This one has revenge, though—and a space ship named Nemesis. Oooh. By this point in time, colonising is out, along with the core society that ran it. The Vikings are the new colonisers. Interesting and interestinger.
With Space Kings and their Space Feudalism! And Space Amish (sort of)! It's interesting and I think another example of how Piper (like another favourite of mine, David Drake) pulls from historic battles and whatnot. The only problem with Piper is that his books are great, I just don't want to ruin a fun story for someone else. This one has revenge, though—and a space ship named Nemesis. Oooh. By this point in time, colonising is out, along with the core society that ran it. The Vikings are the new colonisers. Interesting and interestinger.
November 27, 2011
This book starts out well, but with a lot of philosophical muttering and self justification with what amounts to genocide. In the end our hero seems to wind up more on the side of the bad guys than the good guys, in a universe where achievement equates with firepower.
October 14, 2009
I loved this military science fiction when I was a kid, the drawing on the cover of the Piper novel inspiring a lot of artistic attempts on my own part until I gave up art for study in high school.
May 3, 2018
I gave up about 10% of the way in. This was bad space opera, especially for 1962. It read more like it had been serialized in a pulp magazine for a penny a word in 1942.
September 16, 2018
It’s not as good as I was hoping. The premise is very promising and the first few chapters lived up to that. It takes a bit for us to find out what is going on, but after a crazy pirate interrupts a royal wedding and makes blood enemies of several planets, we figure it out pretty quick. It’s all about the death of civilizations, the rise of dictators, personal vengeance, and the best form of government.
That’s where it gets bogged down. There is a lot of discussion of politics and trade policy. That’s spiced up a bit with a little piracy, looting, and manipulation. Mostly though it just drug on and on…
There were a lot of substitute curse words. Not ones that are really used, but that the author made up. It's not hard to tell what he means though.
That’s where it gets bogged down. There is a lot of discussion of politics and trade policy. That’s spiced up a bit with a little piracy, looting, and manipulation. Mostly though it just drug on and on…
There were a lot of substitute curse words. Not ones that are really used, but that the author made up. It's not hard to tell what he means though.
August 29, 2019
Hard to sum up. The societies, politics and how they interact are intricate and well crafted. The fragility of "civilization" and repetition of history rings true. I don't agree with all the book's conclusions, but am glad that revenge is not portrayed as satisfying. I wish the hero had to deal with the consequences of some of the horrible things he did, but over all a really interesting read.
August 8, 2020
This was 2nd book by H.Beam Piper, and probably my last.
I enjoyed the space combat in this book. Every time the term "Space Viking" was used it just sounded stupid. Piper's politics are on display most of the time. He was a very unhappy man who ended up killing himself. I'll just say I found this book moderately enjoyable but I don't have any desire to revisit Piper's universe at all.
I enjoyed the space combat in this book. Every time the term "Space Viking" was used it just sounded stupid. Piper's politics are on display most of the time. He was a very unhappy man who ended up killing himself. I'll just say I found this book moderately enjoyable but I don't have any desire to revisit Piper's universe at all.
March 21, 2021
entertaining space opera
some interesting thoughts on government & governance along the way, but the action is the real draw. richly imagined far future universe with a bit of everything: barbarians, growing civilizations, decaying royalty, broken democracy.
some interesting thoughts on government & governance along the way, but the action is the real draw. richly imagined far future universe with a bit of everything: barbarians, growing civilizations, decaying royalty, broken democracy.
May 24, 2019
Despite its two-fisted blurb promising a revenge thriller, this space opera quickly becomes many more things than that. Whether this is losing sight of its premise of growing beyond it is up to the reader, but I believe it at least mostly succeeds.
January 25, 2020
Madness, space piracy, kings qweens and savagry!
July 29, 2020
I recently rediscovered Piper and being a fan of classic SciFi and the low prices of the lesser known authors have been enjoying the benefits. I must say I think his short stories are better. This book is boiler plate space opera, entertaining as far as it goes but basic.
December 24, 2020
A good one from one of the old masters. I first read this as a four-part serial in Analog Magazine. Now that I've migrated to ebooks, I wanted a digitial copy too. (I still have those four Analogs.)
What few bother to note, is that Piper took many of his stories from history. Piper chose the period just after the breakup of the eastern Roman Empire for his setting of Space Viking. Uller Uprising used the Indian Sepoy Rebellion of the 19th Century as a guide.
A great read from an old master.
What few bother to note, is that Piper took many of his stories from history. Piper chose the period just after the breakup of the eastern Roman Empire for his setting of Space Viking. Uller Uprising used the Indian Sepoy Rebellion of the 19th Century as a guide.
A great read from an old master.
March 8, 2019
7/10
De comienzos del siglo XX, el autor pasa por ser militarista (esa fama tenía). Aquí vikingo espacial=machote de fuerza de élite. Y con eso nos da una novelita entretenida de leer pero tipo pulp total.
De comienzos del siglo XX, el autor pasa por ser militarista (esa fama tenía). Aquí vikingo espacial=machote de fuerza de élite. Y con eso nos da una novelita entretenida de leer pero tipo pulp total.
January 28, 2014
Space opera at its finest. Okay, maybe not, but it was a fun read and it was free on Kindle. When Lucas Trask's wife is murdered at their wedding, he gives up his estate, the Barony of Traskon for a ship and declares himself a Space Viking. His vow is to track down and kill the murderer of his wife. Things don't turn out quite the way he imagined. He arrives at the planet Tanith hoping to find his adversary, but what he finds is an opportunity. He comes eventually to lead more than just one ship. He leads a planet, and starts to restore civilization to a planet that had fallen nearly into the stone age.
Space Viking is set in a wide Galaxy long after the fall of a large Empire. Trask is from one of the Sword Worlds, which have held on to a level of civilization. Space Vikings go out to raid on the fallen worlds, outgunning the locals with starships and nuclear weapons. After one series of successful raids, Trask sets up shop to do something he is much better at than raiding, leading and building. Tanith becomes the center of a small trading empire.
When he becomes embroiled in a war on the civilized world of Marduk, he finds his old enemy there.
This sort of thing is really from before my old time. Space Opera had largely faded into the background when I took up reading Science Fiction, but I still find it fun to read from time to time. The most interesting part of this one, is that Trask, our likable hero, is a monarchist. Less in the sense of supporting his own King, when the story opens he does not have one, but the system is feudal and that is the way he thinks it should be. In fact, that is the only way things make sense to him. He is bewildered by what he sees on Marduk, where they have a Representative Democracy with a titular Monarch.
I really do not buy the philosophy and political rhetoric in the story, but I did enjoy the story.
Space Viking is set in a wide Galaxy long after the fall of a large Empire. Trask is from one of the Sword Worlds, which have held on to a level of civilization. Space Vikings go out to raid on the fallen worlds, outgunning the locals with starships and nuclear weapons. After one series of successful raids, Trask sets up shop to do something he is much better at than raiding, leading and building. Tanith becomes the center of a small trading empire.
When he becomes embroiled in a war on the civilized world of Marduk, he finds his old enemy there.
This sort of thing is really from before my old time. Space Opera had largely faded into the background when I took up reading Science Fiction, but I still find it fun to read from time to time. The most interesting part of this one, is that Trask, our likable hero, is a monarchist. Less in the sense of supporting his own King, when the story opens he does not have one, but the system is feudal and that is the way he thinks it should be. In fact, that is the only way things make sense to him. He is bewildered by what he sees on Marduk, where they have a Representative Democracy with a titular Monarch.
I really do not buy the philosophy and political rhetoric in the story, but I did enjoy the story.
April 28, 2026
review of
H. Beam Piper's Space Viking
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 27, 2026
Scholars of Piper's work state that he bases details of his novels on history. Hence, I deduce that he'd been reading about Vikings before & during writing this. I've read some Icelandic sagas about Vikings too. Their stories strike me as often psychopathic. I had a toy Viking helmet when I was a kid - you know, the bowl on the head w/ 2 horns sticking out of it. Somehow, the subject of Vikings seems crude & childish to me. Even as an anarchist, Vikings & other 'barbarians' aren't romantic to me, their forceful destruction of more 'civilized' societies (a highly suspect notion) is fraught w/ too much infliction of death & misery for me to distinguish it much from its opponents. As such, Piper's basic premise doesn't appeal to me much. Mack Reynolds's The Space Barbarians appeals to me much more b/c I find his writing considerably less politically naive than Piper's. In fact, if this had been the 1st Piper novel I read, instead of Little Fuzzy, wch I liked very much, I might not've had much interest in reading any more by him.
"You make slaves out of people, and some will always be slave-drivers; they will bow to you and then take it out on the others." - p 59
A perfect description of untertanen, my natural adversaries.
The Space Vikings invade a planet where they threaten the government of one continent w/ brutal destruction if that goverment doesn't cooperate w/ their looting. The President uses guile to try to divert their attn to a neighboring competitor continent.
"Pedrosan said: "I gather that gold is a monetary metal among your people?" When Trask nodded, he continued, "It is also the basis of the Stolgonian currency. The actual currency is paper, theoretically redeemable in gold, In actuality, the circulation of gold has been prohibited, and the entire gold wealth of the nation in concentrated in vaults at three depositories. We know exactly where they are."
""You begin to interest me, President Pedrosan."
""I do? Well, you have two large spaceships and six smaller craft. You have nuclear weapons, something nobody on this planet has. You have contragravity, something that is hardly more than a legend here. On the other hand, we have a million and a half ground trooops, jet aircraft, armored ground-vehicles, and chemical weapons. If you will undertake to attack Stolgoland, we will place this entire force at your disposal; General Dagró will command them as you direct. All that we ask is that when you have loaded the gold hoards of Stolgoland aboard your ships, you will leave our troops in possession of the country."" - p 88
Sly & duplicitous. The Space Vikings exploit him & betray him.
The main villain of the story, Dunnan, a demented man who was obsessed w/ the woman newly married to the main Space Viking character, murdered the newlywed & then highjacked a spaceship that he used for going off on a crazed interplanetary spree.
""You mean, he's making a series of terror-raids on their trade planets, hoping to pull the Mardukan space-navy away from the home planet?" Harkaman had stopped being incredulous. "And when he gets them all lured away, he'll make a fast raid?"" - p 135
Instead of the original Viking story of ships crossing oceans to invade & plunder cities on continents other than the one they originated from, Space Vikings raid entire planets crossing space instead of seas. Observations are made about the relative states of civilization of various planets.
""That's catastrophic decivilization. There is also decivilization by erosion, and while it's going on, nobody notices it. Everybody is proud of their civilization, their wealth and culture. But trade is falling off, fewer ships come in each year. So there is boastful talk about planetary self-sufficiency; who needs planet trade anyhow?["]" - p 163
Piper has a political philosophy that I sometimes agree w/ but mostly don't. Here's a sample of the latter:
"He wished Otto Harkaman were there. He could probably name, without stopping for breath, a hundred great nations that went down into rubble because their rulers believed that they should bow instead of rule, and couldn't bring themselves to shed the blood of their people." - p 197
Typically, Piper states this is such a way that it's a self-contained universe in wch his logic rules. Perhaps that can be sd about most writing. I'm an anarchist, I don't support rulers. PERIOD. That sd, whichever rulers wreak the least bloodshed are preferable. It seems to be that the choice isn't between bowing & ruling, as Piper wd have it, but between outright oppressing & slyly manipulating - neither of wch are preferable but the outright oppression tends to create the most misery. My question is: Can Harkaman name even ONE great nation that didn't go down in rubble b/c they were willing to shed the blood of their people?!
""There's something wrong with democracy. If there weren't, it couldn't be overthrown by people like Makann, attacking it from within by democratic procedures. I don't think it's fundamentally unworkable. I think it just has a few of what engineers call bugs. It's not safe to run a defective machine till you learn the defects and remedy them." - pp 232-233
Again, Piper's fictional universe is created by him to give an example of what he thinks is politically accurate. Democracy, IMO, like any other political system, will meet its downfall eventually for one reason or another or a bunch of them coming from every wch way at once, etc.. Hitler envisaged a thousand-year reich - look at how long that lasted. If it HAD lasted for a thousand years that wd've been a thousand-&-fifty years too many & it wd've been rife w/ misery.
""It may just be," he added, "that there is something fundamentally unworkable about government itself. As long as Homo sapiens terra is a wild animal, which he has always been and always will be until he evolves into something different in a million or so years, maybe a workable system of government is a political-science impossibility, just as transmutation of elements was a physical-science impossibility as long as they tried to do it by chemical means."" - p 233
It's always odd to me when humans use the expression 'like an animal' to refer to when humans are acting in violent ways. Humans aren't "wild animal"s, we're, mostly, civilized animals - wch is where most of our large-scale problems stem from. Wild animals don't have governments, democracy or dictatorship. Wild animals aren't even remotely as violent as civilized humans are. IMO there's no "workable system of government" b/c no system can possibly satisfy all possibilities.
H. Beam Piper's Space Viking
by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE - April 27, 2026
Scholars of Piper's work state that he bases details of his novels on history. Hence, I deduce that he'd been reading about Vikings before & during writing this. I've read some Icelandic sagas about Vikings too. Their stories strike me as often psychopathic. I had a toy Viking helmet when I was a kid - you know, the bowl on the head w/ 2 horns sticking out of it. Somehow, the subject of Vikings seems crude & childish to me. Even as an anarchist, Vikings & other 'barbarians' aren't romantic to me, their forceful destruction of more 'civilized' societies (a highly suspect notion) is fraught w/ too much infliction of death & misery for me to distinguish it much from its opponents. As such, Piper's basic premise doesn't appeal to me much. Mack Reynolds's The Space Barbarians appeals to me much more b/c I find his writing considerably less politically naive than Piper's. In fact, if this had been the 1st Piper novel I read, instead of Little Fuzzy, wch I liked very much, I might not've had much interest in reading any more by him.
"You make slaves out of people, and some will always be slave-drivers; they will bow to you and then take it out on the others." - p 59
A perfect description of untertanen, my natural adversaries.
The Space Vikings invade a planet where they threaten the government of one continent w/ brutal destruction if that goverment doesn't cooperate w/ their looting. The President uses guile to try to divert their attn to a neighboring competitor continent.
"Pedrosan said: "I gather that gold is a monetary metal among your people?" When Trask nodded, he continued, "It is also the basis of the Stolgonian currency. The actual currency is paper, theoretically redeemable in gold, In actuality, the circulation of gold has been prohibited, and the entire gold wealth of the nation in concentrated in vaults at three depositories. We know exactly where they are."
""You begin to interest me, President Pedrosan."
""I do? Well, you have two large spaceships and six smaller craft. You have nuclear weapons, something nobody on this planet has. You have contragravity, something that is hardly more than a legend here. On the other hand, we have a million and a half ground trooops, jet aircraft, armored ground-vehicles, and chemical weapons. If you will undertake to attack Stolgoland, we will place this entire force at your disposal; General Dagró will command them as you direct. All that we ask is that when you have loaded the gold hoards of Stolgoland aboard your ships, you will leave our troops in possession of the country."" - p 88
Sly & duplicitous. The Space Vikings exploit him & betray him.
The main villain of the story, Dunnan, a demented man who was obsessed w/ the woman newly married to the main Space Viking character, murdered the newlywed & then highjacked a spaceship that he used for going off on a crazed interplanetary spree.
""You mean, he's making a series of terror-raids on their trade planets, hoping to pull the Mardukan space-navy away from the home planet?" Harkaman had stopped being incredulous. "And when he gets them all lured away, he'll make a fast raid?"" - p 135
Instead of the original Viking story of ships crossing oceans to invade & plunder cities on continents other than the one they originated from, Space Vikings raid entire planets crossing space instead of seas. Observations are made about the relative states of civilization of various planets.
""That's catastrophic decivilization. There is also decivilization by erosion, and while it's going on, nobody notices it. Everybody is proud of their civilization, their wealth and culture. But trade is falling off, fewer ships come in each year. So there is boastful talk about planetary self-sufficiency; who needs planet trade anyhow?["]" - p 163
Piper has a political philosophy that I sometimes agree w/ but mostly don't. Here's a sample of the latter:
"He wished Otto Harkaman were there. He could probably name, without stopping for breath, a hundred great nations that went down into rubble because their rulers believed that they should bow instead of rule, and couldn't bring themselves to shed the blood of their people." - p 197
Typically, Piper states this is such a way that it's a self-contained universe in wch his logic rules. Perhaps that can be sd about most writing. I'm an anarchist, I don't support rulers. PERIOD. That sd, whichever rulers wreak the least bloodshed are preferable. It seems to be that the choice isn't between bowing & ruling, as Piper wd have it, but between outright oppressing & slyly manipulating - neither of wch are preferable but the outright oppression tends to create the most misery. My question is: Can Harkaman name even ONE great nation that didn't go down in rubble b/c they were willing to shed the blood of their people?!
""There's something wrong with democracy. If there weren't, it couldn't be overthrown by people like Makann, attacking it from within by democratic procedures. I don't think it's fundamentally unworkable. I think it just has a few of what engineers call bugs. It's not safe to run a defective machine till you learn the defects and remedy them." - pp 232-233
Again, Piper's fictional universe is created by him to give an example of what he thinks is politically accurate. Democracy, IMO, like any other political system, will meet its downfall eventually for one reason or another or a bunch of them coming from every wch way at once, etc.. Hitler envisaged a thousand-year reich - look at how long that lasted. If it HAD lasted for a thousand years that wd've been a thousand-&-fifty years too many & it wd've been rife w/ misery.
""It may just be," he added, "that there is something fundamentally unworkable about government itself. As long as Homo sapiens terra is a wild animal, which he has always been and always will be until he evolves into something different in a million or so years, maybe a workable system of government is a political-science impossibility, just as transmutation of elements was a physical-science impossibility as long as they tried to do it by chemical means."" - p 233
It's always odd to me when humans use the expression 'like an animal' to refer to when humans are acting in violent ways. Humans aren't "wild animal"s, we're, mostly, civilized animals - wch is where most of our large-scale problems stem from. Wild animals don't have governments, democracy or dictatorship. Wild animals aren't even remotely as violent as civilized humans are. IMO there's no "workable system of government" b/c no system can possibly satisfy all possibilities.
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