Temple Trouble

Paratime Police

by H. Beam Piper

Miracles to order was a fine way for the paratimers to get mining concessions-but Nature can sometimes pull counter-miracles. And so can men, for that matter...

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook, Time Travel

Paperback

First published January 1, 1957

About the author

Henry 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.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Fiction / General; Fiction / Science Fiction / General;

[Sean Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little gem of a story set in Piper's Paratime Universe of almost infinite possibilities, here looking at the old religious pantheon. Great.

[Akrabar · Rating 3 out of 5]

audiobook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxUMB...

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, if confusing at the start. I've just started reading this author's short stories, and I'm randomly jumping around. This tale is part of his larger "paratime" stories about a civilization that can jump across the multiverse, so maybe it's better to read them in some specific order, but overall this was manageable as a stand-alone. The narrative was easy to follow as well, even with the underlying complexity that seems to exist in the larger paratime universe.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy reading 📚

Due to eye issues Alexa reads to me, a will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller adventure novella by H.Beam Piper. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is violent, intense, and full of deception racing to the conclusion. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😠

[Zemmiphobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel yet about the writing style, as it is not so easy to make up your mind by just one short story. I do really like the concept of the story and it has made me want to read the series he's written based on the same general idea.

[SciFiOne]

2019 grade B-/C+

Kindle mega-pack

A bit confusing at the start, short novelette or long short story. Mixes advanced travel to primitive alternate realities to mine resources, with religious control of society.

[Phil Giunta · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this novelette set in Piper's "Paratime" alternate history universe, a team of Paratime Police leap back to an alternate Earth to rescue other time travelers before they're executed by priests of a brutal and primitive religion.

[Forked Radish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Priests’ frauds exposed.

[Mark Rabideau · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one of the worst H. Beam Piper novellas I have read. Try a different book from this author, many are quite good.

[Susan Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here, in this short science fiction story, a group of people are mining uranium. Meanwhile, they create a religion where rabbits are sacred. All of this is created in order to divert the attention of the native people. In fact, to illustrate the current god:

Yat-Zar was an idol, of gigantic size and extraordinarily good workmanship; he had three eyes, made of turquoises as big as doorknobs, and six arms. In his three right hands, from top to bottom, he held a sword with a flame-shaped blade, a jeweled object of vaguely phallic appearance, and, by the ears, a rabbit. In his left hands were a bronze torch with burnished copper flames, a big goblet, and a pair of scales with an egg in one pan balanced against a skull in the other. He had a long bifurcate beard made of gold wire . . .

It is all smoke and mirrors, it seems as

Ghullam the high priest knelt on a big blue and gold cushion. . . [He] turned and quickly whipped the edge of his knife across the rabbit's throat. . .. Ghullam removed his miter and his false beard, . .his regalia discarded, he stood for a moment in loose trousers and a soft white shirt, with a pistollike {sic] weapon in a shoulder holster under his left arm—no longer Ghullam the high priest of Yat-Zar, but now Stranor Sleth, resident agent on this time-line of the Fourth Level Proto-Aryan Sector . . .

Could there be some Temple Trouble afoot?

The police are able to intimidate the masses by the use of technology with radios and a ginormous idol, thereby suppressing the peoples’ rights. Some of the criminals manage a cult of human sacrifice, and after they are victorious in battle and the rabbits begin to die from a malady, the civilization begins to convert to worshipping a new god. It becomes a society of “my god can beat up your god" type of mentality, and it all transmutes into a belief system that is currently popular is the one that triumphs in battles.

Generally, this short story carries along a religious theme with the threat of the suppression of rights at all costs.

This was a fair story, in that although the theme conveys the idea of mass population control at any cost and lie, my interest waned a bit as the story went on. I generally enjoy works by H. Beam Piper, but this one did not bring me to the fold.

Perhaps Temple Troubledeserves another look at another time for me.

🟤 Read via Gutenberg Project.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazingly easy to imagine the world being infiltrated by more advanced civilisations and I think Piper definitely uses those fears, although this isn't a scary book, rather one that is thought provoking.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 2 out of 5]

More short story than novel. Classic Science Fiction from the 50's. An easy fun read. This is really one of those guilty pleasure kind of books.