The Return

by H. Beam Piper

_The isolated little group they found were doing fine-- but their religion was most strange--and yet quite logical!_

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, Audiobook

56 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1954

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

[SciFiOne · Rating 5 out of 5]

2019 grade A-

A long short story which takes place 200 years after nuclear war destroyed the USA. One group in the west has managed to rebuild enough tech to search for other groups while also searching for an underground cache of books in DC. The story is about the meeting of two groups. This was a common theme in 50s and 60s and this is one of the better stories. The groups of people described and their lifestyles and accomplishments are very, very plausible.

There is one novel I still would like to read again in which the survivors (including mutants) have to rebuild the isthmus of Panama in order to stabilize world temperature. If you know of it, please let me know.

A recommended story.

(The story is part of a Kindle Megapack of 33 Piper classics.)

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely good for a chuckle. A group of men is scouring the countryside of an atomic war, looking for other bands of survivors, surveying, etc. They find a group of people, who are apparently descended from some military platoon that had been separated from the rest, and the book basically explores their bizarre religion that focuses on deduction rather than faith. Fun twist at the end. I enjoyed it for as short as it was.

[Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Return is an engaging science fiction short story that takes place about two hundred years after atomic wars have destroyed civilization in North America. An exploring party encounters an isolated group of people who have independently developed a religion not based on Christianity but similar in some ways. The twist at the end of this story is unexpected and marvelous.

I know the name H. Beam Piper. I'm sure I've read him way back when but I just don't remember. I will read more.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever, fun novella. Piper is becoming my 'go to' author for classic 50's Sci-Fi.

[scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic short story with a great end!

[Fachrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of the story's charm for me is its basic premise itself, that Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are actually worshipped . As a big fan of Holmes and Watson , I simply love the premise and the story.

The story itself is about two survivors in a post-apocalyptic world who are looking for other human communities. They manage to find one, but are puzzled by the community's strange religion and reverence to which they are treated.

Best enjoyed unspoiled, so stay away as far as possible from spoilers!

[Katherine Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I didn’t see that discovery coming.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A middle golden age sf post apocalypse story. Yep, we've bombed the crap out of each other, recognizable humans still survive in small, isolated, and heavily fortified camps, de-evolved humans keep on attacking the camps and the recognizable humans.
First thing, middle golden age sf authors had a habit of bashing readers over the head when world-building. Nothing subtle about it.
Second, the clues to the story's resolution have highway billboards beside them with "Look here! Significant point!" on them. The clues were so blatant I thought them decoys intended to draw me away from the revelatory plot points at first. I laughed out loud at one exchange in particular; it was so over the top blatant.
And I did get a chuckle at the story's final resolution. It seemed a tad hurried, definitely obvious, and still worthy of a chuckle.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this by accident. I was planning on reading The Nomad of Time but it was checked out at my local library, so I read this instead without knowing much about it. And I've never been so glad that a story's been checked out before. This story was a fantastic look at a post-apocalyptic America after two centuries with uncovering the most important already hidden. With a great cast of characters and a realistic idea this is well worth reading, and it was made even better by the fact that I didn't expect anything from it. But be warned if you're a computor lover, there's 1 scene that'll upset you!

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Futuristic listing 🎧
Due to eye issues and damage Alexa reads to me.
A will written fantasy Sc-Fi adventure thriller novella with interesting characters. The story line is set two centuries in the future after an atomic war. I would recommend to readers of Fantasy. Enjoy reading 2021 🎉✨😎

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is so slow paced that I had a hard time focusing while listening to it. Good story, though.

[Briana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read on LibriVox (free audio books in the public domain).

[Bill Hohl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An hour lead up to a great ending.... The reveal!

[E.J. Blak · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting, and so too was the twist, I'm not sure why I didn't feel this one as much as other novels with similar premises.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the ending of this! LOL

[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=6Hfyv...

[Stifynsemons · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic early 1950's sci-fi novella, and as was commonplace, the destructiveness of nuclear war is underestimated (e.g. Alas, Babylon; Farnham's Freehold; and Uller Uprising). I like fiction that discusses how disaster transforms society and technology, and while I think the (random) societal changes forecast were fascinating, the technological side was glossed over, much to my chagrin. It makes for a quick read, but the denouement is sudden and startling.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two hundred and some years after a nuclear holocaust, a settlement from a military establishment in what was once Arizona, set out to recover a cache of microfilmed books and to re-establish ties with other humans.

Please read the full review here.

[B. Barron · Rating 4 out of 5]

It really should have been obvious who the 'Toon thought they were.
Obvious, but I didn't catch it.
This should have been an episode of the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits... More Outer Limits I think.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audio

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Post apocalyptic visions? Possibly. But a novel view of human nature nonetheless.