H. Beam Piper | Other Piper Collaborators

Piper's Other Collaborators

"Fuzzy Nation reveals more about the present year of 2011 than it does about some probable future, just as Little Fuzzy disclosed the essence of 1962."
— Paul Di Filippo, Fuzzy Nation review

Since H. Beam 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 Fuzzy Bones (1981) by William Tuning and Golden Dream (1982) 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Mayhar, sequels to Piper's first two Fuzzy novels commissioned prior to the discovery of Piper's own third, previously unpublished novel in the Fuzzy series, Fuzzies and Other People, subsequently published in 1984.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 as First Cycle (1982). The Adventures of Little Fuzzy (1983) is an extensively-illustrated, children's version of Piper's Little Fuzzy. Three decades after Fuzzy Bones, John Scalzi published Fuzzy Nation (2011), an officially-sanctioned "reboot" of Piper's Little Fuzzy.

Fuzzy Bones by William Tuning

Illustration by Michael Whelan

Fuzzy Bones, William Tuning, New York: Ace, 1981, with cover illustration by Michael Whelan (illustration previously appeared on dust jacket of The Fuzzy Papers, 1977 omnibus edition of Piper's novels Little Fuzzy and Fuzzy Sapiens).

Golden Dream by Ardath Mayhar

Illustration by Michael Whelan

Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey, Ardath Mayhar, New York: Ace, 1982, with cover illustration by Michael Whelan.

Like Tuning's Fuzzy Bones, Mayhar's sequel to Little Fuzzy and Fuzzy Sapiens was commissioned prior to the discovery of Piper's unifinished manuscript of Fuzzies and Other People. The story is told from the point of view of the Fuzzies.

First Cycle by H. Beam Piper and Michael Kurland

Illustration by uncredited artist

First Cycle, H. Beam Piper and Michael Kurland, New York: Ace, 1982, with uncredited cover illustration (possibly by Wayne Barlowe).

This novel, completed by Kurland from an unfinished manuscript by Piper, ostensibly takes place in Piper's Terro-human Future History setting but several inconsistencies (e.g. a "Greater Terran Federation") — and the absence of any references to events depicted in this yarn in other Future History yarns — suggests it's more appropriately considered to be a stand-alone work.

The Adventures of Little Fuzzy by Benson Parker

Image - The Adventures of Little Fuzzy cover illustration

Illustration by Michael Whelan

The Adventures of Little Fuzzy, Benson Parker, New York: Platt & Munk, 1983, with cover and endpapers illustrations by Michael Whelan and interior illustrations by David Wenzel.

A retelling of Little Fuzzy for children, extensively illustrated by Wenzel, with assistance from Whelan, who illustrated the covers of most of the Ace reprints and collections of Piper's works published in the 1970s and 1980s.

Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi

Illustration by Kekai Kotaki

Fuzzy Nation, John Scalzi, New York: Tor (Macmillan), 2011, with cover illustration by Kekai Kotaki.

A "reboot" of Little Fuzzy updated with contemporary sensibilities which mostly retains the plotline of the original novel but in a setting which is markedly distinct from the Terro-human Future History of Piper's original. Reissued as:

• Der wilde Planet, Bernard Kempen, translator, München: Heyne, 2011, with uncredited cover illustration (German edition).

• El visitante inesperado, unknown translator, Barcelona: Minotauro, 2012, with uncredited cover illustration (Spanish edition).

• Fuzzy Nation, Lee Soo Hyun, translator, Seoul(?): Polar Books, 2013, with uncredited cover illustration (Korean edition).

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