Space Viking Review

Space Viking by H. Beam Piper was first published as a serial in Analog Science Fiction Magazine from November 1962 – February 1963. Since that was before I was born, my first exposure to the book came with the 1983 reprint by Ace Books. I enjoyed the book thoroughly when I first read it in my early teens and have re-read it (and re-purchased it) several times since that first read. The book is currently available in printed form through Amazon or for free through Project Gutenberg on iBooks or Kindle.

Space Viking is set in the distance future after man has populated the stars. At the point where Space Viking starts, mankind have seen galactic empires have rise and fall and a small number of planets and systems enjoy civilization while most of humanity has devolved back to various degrees of pre-space flight cultures – from barbaric to worlds similar to ours today. The story revolves around one man’s quest for revenge and where his trek across the stars takes him and those around him. I won’t give any other details about the plot since there are a couple good twists and turns along the way. What I like about this book is the action and world-building aspects of the story as the main character tries to rebuild himself and the world around him as time passes.

H. Beam Piper authored several books and many short stories before he ended his life in 1964. Of his stories and books, the Fuzzy Series is probably best known. Today, more and more authors are mining the worlds Piper left behind with John F. Carr publishing authorized sequels to Space Viking (The Last Space Viking and the forthcoming Prince of Tanith) and John Scalzi rebooting the Fuzzy Series with Fuzzy Nation.

There are a few aspects of Space Viking that don’t hold up today. Things like smoking by the main characters and people on spaceships picking up phones to speak with others aboard ship. The underlying commentary on man and our struggle to develop and/or devolve as a community are still relevant today. I give Space Viking five Mick Happies.