Uncredited cover illustration
H. Beam Piper: Collaborations
"I have a unique privilege: I have the legal right, acknowledged by the copyright owners, to do stories in H. Beam Piper's worlds."
— Jerry Pournelle, Preface to Federation
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Beam's first published work, A Catalogue of Early Pennsylvania and other Firearms and Edged Weapons at "Restless Oaks," McElhattan, Pa., compiled in 1927 when Beam was in his mid-twenties, was a collaborative effort with newspaper publisher Henry W. Shoemaker, the owner of the Restless Oaks collection of weapons. During his writing career, Beam also published two stories and two novels co-authored with his friend, writer John J. McGuire.
The late science and science-fiction writer Jerry Pournelle was given permission by Beam himself "to do stories in H. Beam Piper's worlds," though he never exercised this privilege publicly. Since Beam's death, Pournelle's own collaborator, writer John F. Carr, has compiled the original collections of Beam's short fiction and continues to publish sequels to Beam's work with occasional collaborators of his own. Four other writers, William Tuning, Ardath Mayhar, Michael Kurland and most recently John Scalzi, have published officially-sanctioned novels based on Beam's original material. Finally, especially as much of Beam's work has passed into the public doman, several Piper-related creative works have been produced by Beam's fans.
Shoemaker | McGuire | Carr | Others | Fan Fiction | Other Expansions
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Uncredited cover illustration |
A Catalogue of Early Pennsylvania and other Firearms and Edged Weapons at "Restless Oaks," McElhattan, PA, 1927, co-authored with fellow Pennsylvanian Henry W. Shoemaker, was Piper's first publication.
Cover illustration by H. R. Van Dongen
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Piper co-authored four works, published between 1953 and 1959, with his friend and fellow writer John J. McGuire.
"Beam was a good friend and I'd have loved to do an homage. He was one of the best. John Carr has done well in trying to keep his memory alive."
— Jerry Pournelle, "Whatever happened to Space Viking Returns?"
Cover illustration by Alan Gutierrez
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Author John F. Carr, who edited four collections of Piper's short stories published between 1981 and 1983, and which remain the most comprehensive collection of Piper's short works, has authored several sequels to Piper's Paratime novel Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, beginning with the authorized sequel Great Kings' War, co-authored with Roland Green, and has also expanded Piper's 1955 Paratime novella "Time Crime" into a full-length novel.
Carr has also authored several novels set in Piper's Terro-human Future History, including collaborations with Dietmar Wehr and Mike Robertson, and has edited The Rise of the Terran Federation, an anthology which includes Piper originals and new yarns by other writers set in the Terro-human Future History. Return of Space Viking, the long-awaited sequel to Piper's Space Viking, has yet to be published.
Carr has also researched and written H. Beam Piper: A Biography, the definitive biography of Piper, and Typewriter Killer, an in-depth examination of Piper's writing career.
Cover illustration by Michael Whelan |
Since Piper's untimely death, the publishers who've held the copyrights to his stories and novels have authorized several posthumous sequels or other fiction related to Piper's work. In addition to the Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen sequel Great Kings' War (1985) by Roland Green and John F. Carr, these include 1981's Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning and 1982's Golden Dream by Ardath Mayhar, sequels to Piper's first two Fuzzy novels commissioned prior to the discovery of Piper's own third, previously unpublished novel in the Fuzzy series, Fuzzies and Other People, subsequently published in 1984.
Michael Kurland was commissioned to complete an unfinished Piper manuscript which was published in 1982 as First Cycle. The Adventures of Little Fuzzy, an extensively-illustrated, children's version of Piper's Little Fuzzy, was published in 1983. In 2011, John Scalzi published Fuzzy Nation, an officially-sanctioned "reboot" of Piper's Little Fuzzy.
"In truth, you don't need any kind of license or permission to do fan fiction, as long as you are not selling it."
— Ginjer Buchanan, personal communication, March 20, 2001
Illustration by Dave Windett |
Omnilingual, a "modernized" retelling of Piper's original yarn by John Cowan. Cowan's edits "are intended to modernize the work, to help the [contemporary] reader not stumble over the details. Notebooks are computerized; sketchbooks have been replaced by tablets. Gender equality and the metric system are taken for granted. Smoking isn't even mentioned."
Illustration by Alan Gutierrez |
Wolfgang Diehr has written two sequels to Piper's Fuzzy trilogy which have been published by Pequod Press: Fuzzy Ergo Sum (2011) and Caveat Fuzzy (2012). Diehr co-authored a third Fuzzy novel, The Fuzzy Conundrum (2016), with John F. Carr.
Diehr's Terro-human Future History short story, "Second Genesis," appears in The Rise of the Terran Federation (2017).
Uncredited illustration
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Terry Mancour has written two sequels to Piper's novel Space Viking: Prince of Tanith (2011) and Princess Valerie's War (2011). A third sequel, Trask's Odyssey, has been mentioned by Mancour.
Illustration by Leo and Diane Dillon
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David Johnson has written four Terro-human Future History yarns.
"In Congress Assembled —" (2011) is a retelling of Piper's "When in the Course —" that replaces elements which also appear in the Paratime novel Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen to deepen the connections with the Terro-human Future History.
"Junkyard of Empire" (2012) is a retelling of Piper's "Graveyard of Dreams." The original yarn, first published in Galaxy Science Fiction in February 1958, was adapted as the first three chapters of the novel Junkyard Planet, published in 1963 (later reissued as The Cosmic Computer). This retelling makes changes to better align the story with contemporary sensibilities and to deepen the connections with the Terro-human Future History.
"Operation Please Respond" (2017) is a retelling of Piper's "Operation R.S.V.P.," originally published in Amazing Stories in January 1951, which adds annotations and makes extensive changes to reframe the story as a Terro-human Future History yarn.
"The Terran Spiritual and Magical Assistance Agency" (2020) is a retelling of Piper's "Oomphel in the Sky," originally published in Analog Science Fact — Science Fiction in November 1960, which adds annotations and makes minor changes to better align the story with contemporary sensibilities and to deepen the connections with the Terro-human Future History.
Johnson has also written four Terro-human Future History yarns which appear in The Rise of the Terran Federation (2017). "The Spine of the Knife" was inspired by Piper's "The Edge of the Knife." "The Condottieri" reframes Piper's "The Mercenaries" as a Terro-human Future History yarn. "The Satchel" is set on Terra during the early days of the "second" Terran Federation and "Grandfather Encounter" is set on Thor in the early Fourth Century, AE. (See Joseph T. Major's review, "Genesis and Followers," in Alexiad, Vol. 17, No. 5, October 2018.)
Uncredited illustration
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Dietmar Arthur Wehr, co-author of The Merlin Gambit (2014), has issued a second edition of The Tides of Chaos (2012), his stand-alone sequel to Piper's novel The Cosmic Computer (originally published as Junkyard Planet).
Wehr has also written two sequels to Piper's novel Space Viking: The Tanith Gambit (2013) and The Loki Gambit (2013).
Wehr's "Phoenix Empire" novels tell an "alternate history" of the post-System States War era of Piper's Terro-human Future History: Phoenix Dawn (2021), Phoenix Rebirth (2021), Phoenix Imperiled (2022), Phoenix on Fire (2022) and Phoenix Interregnum (2024).
"Perhaps, in keeping with the spirit of the Landgrab, and so that we can both stimulate creativity and remain careful about what Piper actually wrote, we should separate material into 'Canon' and 'Apocrypha' — with the latter segments being so titled to represent the fact that the author is not revealing but extending. . . ."
— Steve Newton, PIPER_L Mailing List
Imperial Conservatory of Terro-human Civilization |
The Terro-human History Project, launched in 1360 AE, is a research enterprise sponsored by the Imperial Conservatory of Terro-human Civilization at the Imperial University at Asgard on Odin. The Project's Scholars-in-Residence produce monographs which examine elements of Terro-human history in detail.
• Terra: From Many Nations to One Planet
Emblem illustration by Mike McGuirk |
Galaxy's Forge (2001), a Fourth Century, A.E., Volund setting by Mike McGuirk includes sketches of the Valley of Ulv, location of Volund's spaceport, as well as photos of several Volund Arms firearms.
"Sword and Atom" symbol of Gram |
"Knights of Gram and Tanith," John Anderson's essay describing the noble orders of Gram and Tanith in the Space Viking era, 2009.
Anderson's essays, "The Early History of the Terran Federation" and "Chartered Companies of the Terran Federation" appear in The Rise of the Terran Federation (2017).
Starship Scintillant blazon |
Starship Eridanus: the Epislon Eridanu Expeditions. An expansion of Piper's Hartley Yarns which culminates in the launch of a sub-light starship to Alpha Centauri.
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