Bøger af H. Beam Piper

- A new collection of Paratime stories containing a new introduction by John F. Carr and four never before published Paratime stories by John F. Carr. - In addition, the book contains all of Piper's Paratime stories except "Time Crime" and the Kalvan yarns.

H. Beam Piper's The Cosmic Computer has long been recognized as a science fiction classic and a major foundation of Piper's Terro-Human Future History. The planet Poictesme was the headquarters of the Terran Federation Third Army-Fleet during the war against the System States Alliance. While Federation commander General Foxx Travis was preparing for the final phase of the war, his plans came to a sudden halt when the System States unexpectedly surrendered. With the fighting over, the Federation Third-Army Fleet no longer needed to stay on Poictesme and suddenly departed, leaving behind war ships, fabrication centers, ammunition depots and supply caches. Almost as fast as the Federation forces abandoned Poictesme, the economy imploded, resulting in a poverty-stricken agricultural society with only a few exports, melon-brandy, tobacco and war surplus, which sold for only a fraction of its pre-war value. Persisting over the decades after the Federation's departure was the legend of Merlin, the super-computer which was credited with having planned the grand strategy which successfully concluded the System States War. Was there a real super-computer, one that devised the Terran Federation's overall strategy against the System States Alliance, or was it simply a myth? The inhabitants of the ramshackle world of Poictesme believe it still exists and will save them: "Merlin's a religion with those people. Merlin's a robot god, something they can shove all their problems onto. As soon as they find Merlin, everybody will be rich and happy, the Government bonds will be redeemed at face value plus interest, the paper money'll be worth a hundred Federation centisols to the sol, and the leaves and wastepaper will be raked off the Mall, all by magic." When young Conn Maxwell returns to Poictesme from Earth, with a university degree in computer science, he has strong doubts that Merlin was anything more than a war-time myth. Furthermore, he believes that finding the super-computer (if by some miracle it does exist) might be the worst thing that could possibly happen to his home world.

Space Viking is recognized as one of H. Beam Piper's finest works and a science fiction classic. In the words of legendary SF Editor, John W. Campbell: "Space Viking itself is, I think, one of the classics-a yarn that will be cited, years hence, as one of the science-fiction classics. It's got solid philosophy for the mature thinker, and bang-bang-chop-'em-up action for the space-pirate fans. As a truly good yarn should have!" Lord Lucas Trask of Traskon is no admirer of the Space Vikings and despises their parasitical forays into the ruins of the former Federation, both for the destruction and death they bring with them and because they take the best and brightest men away from the Sword-Worlds. Then a madman murders his wife on their wedding day and leaves on a spaceship for a Space Viking raid into the Old Federation. Trask trades his fiefdom for a second ship, vowing to hunt down the killer Andray Dunnan. Lucas Trask is forced by the enormity of his task to raid worlds for both material and intelligence on his enemy at the risk of becoming one of the very Space Vikings he so much deplored before his wife's brutal death.

The book "" Graveyard of Dreams "" has been considered important throughout the human history, and so that this work is never forgotten we have made efforts in its preservation by republishing this book in a modern format for present and future generations. This whole book has been reformatted, retyped and designed. These books are not made of scanned copies and hence the text is clear and readable.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface.We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Gladys Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand--better known just as Jeff--private detective and a pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the sale of her late husband's collection.There were a number of people who had wanted the collection. The question was: had anyone wanted it badly enough to kill Fleming? And if so, how had he done it? Here is a mystery, told against the fascinating background of old guns and gun-collecting, which is rapid-fire without being hysterical, exciting without losing its contact with reason, and which introduces a personable and intelligent new private detective. It is a story that will keep your nerves on a hair trigger even if you don't know the difference between a cased pair of Paterson .34's and a Texas .40 with a ramming-lever."Well, have you thought that it might just be suicide?" Kathie asked. "I have, briefly; I dismissed the thought, almost at once," Rand told her. "One, that if it had been suicide, Mrs. Fleming wouldn't want it poked into and two, I doubt if a man who prided himself on his gun-knowledge would want his self-shooting to be taken for an accident."

The Lane Fleming collection of early pistols and revolvers was one of the best in the country. When Fleming was found dead on the floor of his locked gunroom, a revolver in his hand, the coroner's verdict was "death by accident." But Gladys Fleming had her doubts. Enough at any rate to engage Colonel Jefferson Davis Rand--better known just as Jeff--private detective and a pistol-collector himself, to catalogue, appraise, and negotiate the sale of her late husband's collection. There were a number of people who had wanted the collection. The question was: had anyone wanted it badly enough to kill Fleming? And if so, how had he done it? This is a mystery that will keep your nerves on a hair trigger even if you don't know the difference between a cased pair of Paterson .34's and a Texas .40 with a ramming-lever.