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Federation
Oomphel in the Sky
Natives of the distant planet called "Kwannon" think their world is about to end due to their religious beliefs, and in preparing for the apocalypse, they may be unnecessarily bringing about their own demise. The planetary government can't overcome its own bureaucracy to help them, and the military is overwhelmed. A single newsman tries to change the course of a whole people's belief system but, can he do it in time and to save their world? This classic science fiction novelette was first published in Analog Science Fact-Science Fiction in 1960.
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First published January 1, 1960
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About the author
H. Beam Piper
450 books241 followersHenry Beam Piper (1904 - 1964) 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 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 5, 2017
I give this Human Federation short story a reluctant 3 stars because it was well written. If it had not been, then I would have downgraded to 2 stars because it is an example of the use of a horrible double standard. The story itself has two main themes: 1) The incompetence of a Marxist style government. 2) The gullibility and intransigence of religious fanatics.
The first if very easy to identify, and is made very succinctly in several places. Read it to see it.
The second theme is slowly uncovered in the story plot. First there is a ridiculing and condemning (justifiably) of destructive behavior initiated by a native religious belief (by making said beliefs the negatives of known facts). Then next phase is accomplished by dropping a bombshell on the entire religious belief, only to subvert it with an even more ridiculous notion. This is achieved by gaining trust & pretending respect for the beliefs. By lying and manipulation, the beliefs are twisted into a form that achieves the ends needed for the human inhabitants of the planet. A final, not-so-subtle, jab at religion in general is made by showing the cooperation of the priestly class themselves in a lie that makes it seem like the impetus for the change came from within. The whole story depicts a morally corrupt method of effecting change in a society as if it were perfectly acceptable. Boo... Hiss... IMHO of course.
But, as I say, the story was well written, so I can give it the credit it is due for that fact.
3 stars for a Well Written Read.
The first if very easy to identify, and is made very succinctly in several places. Read it to see it.
The second theme is slowly uncovered in the story plot. First there is a ridiculing and condemning (justifiably) of destructive behavior initiated by a native religious belief (by making said beliefs the negatives of known facts). Then next phase is accomplished by dropping a bombshell on the entire religious belief, only to subvert it with an even more ridiculous notion. This is achieved by gaining trust & pretending respect for the beliefs. By lying and manipulation, the beliefs are twisted into a form that achieves the ends needed for the human inhabitants of the planet. A final, not-so-subtle, jab at religion in general is made by showing the cooperation of the priestly class themselves in a lie that makes it seem like the impetus for the change came from within. The whole story depicts a morally corrupt method of effecting change in a society as if it were perfectly acceptable. Boo... Hiss... IMHO of course.
But, as I say, the story was well written, so I can give it the credit it is due for that fact.
3 stars for a Well Written Read.
September 10, 2025
Ok, this book is a tough read/listen.
Another Librivox read, again by Mark Nelson, he's a good narrator.
This is a challenging story; it flows well and is written well enough. But, and it's a big but, are the political/cultural subjects dealt with.
Read, but proceed with caution. It's very much reflective of the time.
Another Librivox read, again by Mark Nelson, he's a good narrator.
This is a challenging story; it flows well and is written well enough. But, and it's a big but, are the political/cultural subjects dealt with.
Read, but proceed with caution. It's very much reflective of the time.
November 11, 2019
2019 grade B
Another unusual short novel or long short story about odd planets and aliens from Piper. It starts slow but builds quickly becoming very interesting. The end worked out well for the characters but not entirely smoothly for me.
Kindle Mega-pack edition.
Another unusual short novel or long short story about odd planets and aliens from Piper. It starts slow but builds quickly becoming very interesting. The end worked out well for the characters but not entirely smoothly for me.
Kindle Mega-pack edition.
March 2, 2014
Excerpt: ...to come here and talk with you. Here is a chief of soldiers, and one of the Government people, and your words will be heard by the oomphel machine that remembers and repeats, for the Governor and the Great Soldier Chief." They all brightened. To make a voice recording was a wonderful honor. Then one of them said: "But what good will that do now? The Last Hot Time is here. Let us be permitted to return to our villages, where our people need us." "It is of that that I wish to speak. But first of all, I must hear your words, and know what is in your minds. Who is the eldest among you? Pg 140 Let him come forth and sit in the front, where I may speak with him." Then he relaxed while they argued in respectfully subdued voices. Finally one decrepit oldster, wearing a cloak of yellow ribbons and carrying a highly obscene and ineffably sacred wooden image, was brought forward and installed on the front-and-center cushion. He'd come from some village to the west that hadn't gotten the word of the swarming; Gonzales' men had snagged him while he was making crop-fertility magic. Miles showed him the respect due his advanced age and obviously great magical powers, displaying, as he did, an understanding of the regalia. "I have indeed lived long," the old shoonoo replied. "I saw the Hot Time before; I was a child of so high." He measured about two and a half feet off the floor; that would make him ninety-five or thereabouts. "I remember it." "Speak to us, then. Tell us of the Gone Ones, and of the Sky Fire, and of the Last Hot Time. Speak as though you alone knew these things, and as though you were teaching me." Delighted, the oldster whooshed a couple of times to clear his outlets and began: "In the long-ago time, there was only the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit made the World, and he made the People. In that time, there were no more People in the World than would be in one village, now. The Gone Ones dwelt among them, and spoke to them as I speak to you....
June 22, 2020
Really great story about the different approaches (liberalism, constructivism, realism all make their way in) to dealing with native populations during colonization. Piper criticizes the ideas of the "noble savage" and "white man's burden" throughout the story. It was entertaining and, like a lot of science fiction, a platform for the writer's viewpoint on social issues and the supposed solution to them.
August 17, 2018
Wow, clever white settlers do an end run around incompetent government anthropologists and save their plantations by spinning a new mythology for naive natives that convinces them the world isn’t coming to an end. Well supplied with self righteous screeds against “Left wing neomarxist ‘liberalism’” and terms like witch doctors, sepoys, natives too.
February 23, 2011
Piper is a master at taking complicated issues and dealing with them in a non-threatening way. If you want to you can look at this book as one that deals with social anthropological issues that were and currently are relevant to the way we treat so called "natives".
April 12, 2011
It's interesting to think about how alien civilisations would potentially vary psychologically and with political systems, rather than just biologically.
September 21, 2017
A very short story full of ethnic paternalism from earlier 20th Century American civilizational progressivism.
March 30, 2019
I liked this book dispite myself. Is it a little racest, oh yeah. Is it short and realy has no plot, oh yeah. Liked it just the same.
May 11, 2021
Fantasy listening
Due to eye damage Alexa reads to me, a will written fantasy Sci-Fi novella adventure thriller. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is intense as the locals are uprising and the army must find a way to restore peace. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 🗽😮
Due to eye damage Alexa reads to me, a will written fantasy Sci-Fi novella adventure thriller. The characters are interesting and will developed. The story line is intense as the locals are uprising and the army must find a way to restore peace. I would recommend this novella to readers of fantasy Sci-Fi. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 🗽😮
January 19, 2020
That perceptions do we have of other cultures? Should we treat them as we want to be treated our as they want to be treated?
March 3, 2016
Another solid Federation story from H. Beam Piper. So far I'd say that I've "liked" everything I have read from him as he creates some very interesting plot concepts within his science fiction universe.
Two things generally hold me back from boosting my ratings a little higher with his work. One is characterization, as the short stories and novels I've read so far are mostly devoid of anyone memorable. The other major detraction is they way he infuses his personal beliefs, be that social or political or religious, etc., into the environment of the story and then creates an opposition that refutes these ideas with ignorant and mindless arguments in order to make his personal opinions sound flawless for whatever situation is at hand. This story contained both of these problems, and it's something I've noticed with other authors of this time period as well.
Even still, I think those that enjoy science fiction will find entertainment with Piper's work and the books I've read so far haven't felt overly dated compared to when they were written. He does an excellent job focusing more on the worlds and the plots rather than getting stymied on fast-outdated technology.
Two things generally hold me back from boosting my ratings a little higher with his work. One is characterization, as the short stories and novels I've read so far are mostly devoid of anyone memorable. The other major detraction is they way he infuses his personal beliefs, be that social or political or religious, etc., into the environment of the story and then creates an opposition that refutes these ideas with ignorant and mindless arguments in order to make his personal opinions sound flawless for whatever situation is at hand. This story contained both of these problems, and it's something I've noticed with other authors of this time period as well.
Even still, I think those that enjoy science fiction will find entertainment with Piper's work and the books I've read so far haven't felt overly dated compared to when they were written. He does an excellent job focusing more on the worlds and the plots rather than getting stymied on fast-outdated technology.
January 25, 2025
Look! Up in the Sky!
🖊 Well, the Oomphel in the Sky is one of those classic science fiction adventures that just kept me reading in one fell swoop. It was fun. “Since Logic derives from postulates, it never has, and never will, change a postulate. And a religious belief is a system of postulates ... so how can a man fight a native superstition with logic? Or anything else ...?” Ka-blew-y!
📕Published – 1905.
🎨Illustrated.
જ⁀🟢 Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻
🖊 Well, the Oomphel in the Sky is one of those classic science fiction adventures that just kept me reading in one fell swoop. It was fun. “Since Logic derives from postulates, it never has, and never will, change a postulate. And a religious belief is a system of postulates ... so how can a man fight a native superstition with logic? Or anything else ...?” Ka-blew-y!
📕Published – 1905.
🎨Illustrated.
જ⁀🟢 Project Gutenberg.
જ⁀🟣 Kindle.
༅ ✬ ༅ ༻ ༺ ༅ ✬ ༅ ༻
July 19, 2014
Great little first contact story.
January 7, 2017
When is a lie better than the truth? When it helps keep an alien civilization from tearing itself, and yours as well.
Just read it, it's fun older SF and it is free on Kindle.
Just read it, it's fun older SF and it is free on Kindle.
June 14, 2015
Sci-Fi at its best
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews