Hunter Patrol

by H. Beam Piper

Many men have dreamed of world peace, but none have been able to achieve it. If one man did have that power, could mankind afford to pay the price? From Amazing Stories, May 1959.

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

38 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

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

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very predictable

Review of free Kindle edition
A Public Domain Book
Publication date: March 24, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B004TQ1D0C
58 pages

This story was first published in the May, 1959, issue of AMAZING STORIES. Perhaps at that time the story and the ending were more of a surprise than they are now after decades of sci-fi has been published. Just not as good as what I expect from H. Beam Piper and John McGuire.

[SciFiOne · Rating 4 out of 5]

2019 grade B+

A nice circular time travel story. The initial loop was pretty obvious but it has a decent twist at the end. It is well written but rather out of date, especially since the future date is in our past and the predicted society changes that did not happen.

Kindle Megapack.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piper a sci fi great.

I prefer the little fuzzy series. Though the lord kalven of other when series is good as well. This is a simple tale, told in fifty pages, of a time travel loop as it goes through its paces.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good tale focused on the inability to change the future by screwing up the past. Piper's protagonist ends up bringing future tech to the past, but fails to avoid the "old future" that occurred. From the story, the reader can infer that the future is malleable but ultimately unchangeable due to vacuums being filled when created.

[Sean Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice Time Travel Paradox tale, based around the premise that 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions'

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, this is kind of a weird story. A war veteran apparently can't afford to see into the future that brings about possibilities. So he goes crazy and messes the past up in its entirety to predict the future more accurately. He then returns to the past with various technological anachronisms without any paradox. What's weird is that really, no one should predict the coming future in this. Everyone's a bit of a psycho. You gotta hate the people the protagonist encounters in the past cuz they just don't seem to care since they don't even know all about him. You gotta hate the military cuz the commander is the usual type who wants to kill Piper's protagonist and get the whole thing forgotten about. And the veteran himself is entering the freakin' past with freakin' futuristic objects, isn't that a form of paradox or something?? Doesn't the outcome mean that everyone who knows of the future and can't afford to predict it explicitly is bound to threaten their government? Anyway, besides all that I actually liked this. Mainly because of Piper's predictions of the future. There are also some really tense moments. It's not the best, but it is a little different so it's worth reading, just don't think too hard. But that's good rule to live by anyway.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on time travel and utopia/dystopia earths. Not to mention well written and well structured with believable characters, good use of dialogue, and from a time when world-building was done by weaving world-revealing elements into the story itself rather than slamming them in the reader's face (look! A paragraph of weather! Look! A paragraph of fauna! Look! A paragraph of politics! - God, that type of writing (and it seems to be prevalent these days) sucks!).
But Hunter Patrol is a pleasant reminder that some authors knew how to craft a story while they told it.
Nicely done.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Futuristic listening 🔰

Due to eye damage Alexa reads to me.
Another will written fantasy Sci-Fi thriller adventure novella some time in the future with time travel into the future and back to the present. The story line is complicated as the the world 🌎goes from war to peace and back as time changes. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi adventures. Enjoy the adventure of reading 📚 2021 🗽🏢

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Dystopian lite. An okay story involving time travel; not one of my favorite genres. It's a bit predictable. A soldier is sent forward in time, surprising those who have brought him there. This part of the story is interesting, and as a whole it is well written and keeps one's attention. Originally published in Amazing Stories May 1959. Available from Audible, narrated by Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Somewhat dated. Nice that the soft drink is the evil tool. 😂 Novella. Can tell that it's early in time travel writing traditions. Didn't have to make a lot of causality rules to keep the stories from going completely haywire. Probably helped because it was short. Although, truthfully, I could see the stable anomaly easily disappearing with just a bit of chaos in the loop.

[Caerigna Lunalti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, old-school, story that feels like the literary version of a 2 episode Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits Special.

[Audiobook Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jDHg...

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting time travel novella (or maybe long shot story) with a couple head-scratching twists:
a soldier travels into the future to kill a dictator rules the entire planet, and after completing the mission returns to his present time with no memory of what he has done. He also returns with a mysterious envelope containing the formula for a carbonated beverage which turns out to be psychotic inducing enhanced by certain musical progressions. The addictive cola allows him to possibly take over the world. Perhaps he was sent into the future to kill himself. Intriguing and well written (1950’s) with quite a few ‘where is this going?’ moments. Then a few ‘Ah-ha!’ moments. (FYI--Because they dropped into Public Domain this yesr, a large number of Piper novels are free on Kindle.)

[Jim]

Product Description

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;

[Lindsay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really connect with this story, and there did seem to be some paradoxes within it.

[Olle Jonsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mercifully short.