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John F. Carr's Future History Sequels

"I don't know what plans you have for a next story project, but the world-picture you've been building up in the Sword Worlds stories, or Space Viking stories, or whatever you designate the series, offers some lovely possibilities."
John W. Campbell


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Carr's Terro-human Future History

Writer and Piper biographer John F. Carr, who edited four collections of Piper's short stories in the 1980's, has co-authored several novels set in Piper's Terro-human Future History.  Return of Space Viking, the long-awaited sequel to Piper's Space Viking, has yet to be published.

A Space Viking sequel?

Image - Return of Space Viking

The long-awaited Space Viking sequel (Image created with Pulp-O-Mizer)

In the Introduction to his 1981 Piper collection Federation, Carr wrote, "Jerry [Pournelle] had signed a contract several years before to do a sequel to Space Viking called Return of Space Viking, based on a rough outline and some notes Jerry had taken during talks with Beam [Piper]."  Carr reports that the publishing house closed before Pournelle wrote Return of Space Viking; Carr was subsequently hired by Pournelle and asked to undertake research to be used to complete the Space Viking sequel.  Carr's research was completed and Pournelle continued to work on the book.  "Return of Space Viking . . . should be completed within the next year or two," concluded Carr.

An apparent draft of Return of Space Viking from this era is available in the John F. Carr Collection at St. Bonaventure University in Allegany, New York.

A quarter century after Carr's essay, in an August 30, 2005, comment on his website, Pournelle wrote that "Beam Piper gave to me (but me exclusively it is not transferable nor something I can license to others) permission to write stories in his universe, and his publishers and estate have recognized that.  I intended to do that at one time but I probably will not."

In a November 10, 2010, message on his website, Carr wrote, "Return of Space Viking, which I wrote for Jerry Pournelle . . . is still waiting for Jerry's final edit and takes place about twenty years after the original Space Viking."  In an October 23, 2012, message on his website, Carr wrote, "I've started work on a new Space Viking novel, this one the direct sequel to the original, featuring Lucas Trask and company.  Space Viking's Revenge will open about 5 years after Space Viking and chronicle the further trials and tribulations of King Trask and his henchman, Otto Harkaman."  Carr added, "Once Space Viking's Revenge is published, I plan to release the long awaited Return of Space Viking. . . ."

Pournelle died on September 8, 2017.

Since Pournelle's death, Carr has been working with Baen Books to bring Return of Space Viking to print.  In a July 14, 2018, message on his website Carr writes, "I'm still waiting to hear from Baen Books regarding their acceptance of Space Viking's Return.  The book is finished and I'd very much like to see it published."


The Rise of the Terran Federation

Rise of the Terran Federation by Alan Gutierrez

Dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

The Rise of the Terran Federation, John F. Carr, ed., Boalsburg, PA: Pequod Press, 2017, with dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

Carr's anthology of early Terro-human Future History works includes the following stories and essays:

This anthology collects several Piper yarns and new yarns which are set in the early centuries of the Terran Federation.

Reviews:


The Merlin Gambit

Image - The Merlin Gambit by Alan Gutierrez

Dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

The Merlin Gambit, John F. Carr and Dietmar Wehr, Boalsburg, PA: Pequod Press, 2014, with dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

The Merlin Gambit opens five years after the events in H. Beam Piper's classic novel, The Cosmic Computer (originally published as Junkyard Planet).

". . . storm clouds are gathering on the horizon.  Space piracy has suddenly struck [Poictesme] out of nowhere, but the pirates are only attacking Tri-System Interstellar freighters.  It appears that someone is playinga deadly chess game with Merlin and the Merlin-12 Group.  These new events cause Conn Maxwell to wonder if the Federation High Command built more than one super-computer.  Is it possible that a Merlin Double is working against them?  In an attempt to uncover their mysterious opponent, Conn makes a trip to Terra to find the answers they so desperately need." — Pequod Press synopsis


The Last Space Viking

Image - The Last Space Viking by Alan Gutierrez

Dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

The Last Space Viking, John F. Carr and Mike Robertson, Boalsburg, PA: Pequod Press, 2011, with dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

The Last Space Viking takes place roughly a century after Piper's Space Viking, during the early days of the First Empire.

"Captain David Morland of Joyeuse might well be the last of the great Space Viking captains.  He emerges at a time when the Old Federation is changing, and not for the better.  All Morland wants is his own Space Viking base world to use as a place for organizing raids and trading parties into the thousands of worlds of the long-dead Federation.  Generations of Space Viking marauders have taken their toll and plunder-worthy planets have declined as more and more of the Old Federation worlds have slipped into barbarism.  But first, Morland has to find the right world and conquer it before he's discovered by a new power determined to end the Space Viking menace, one way or another!" — Pequod Press synopsis


Space Viking's Throne

Image - Space Viking's Throne by Alan Gutierrez

Dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

Space Viking's Throne, John F. Carr and Mike Robertson, Boalsburg, PA: Pequod Press, 2012, with dust jacket illustration by Alan Gutierrez.

Space Viking's Throne, the sequel to The Last Space Viking, "wraps up the David Morland story."

"Now Prince Morland, the last of the great Space Viking captains, is being hunted by Captain Vandarvant of the Imperial Mardukan Navy.  Vandarvant is consumed with revenge; he wants payback against Morland for defeating him and almost destroying his ship, the Challenger.  While the new Empire casts its nets far and wide to catch the last of the Space Vikings, Prince Morland works furiously in a race against time to establish a base world on far off Sarpanitum that can sustain itself against even the mighty Mardukan Empire.  Because, whether Morland likes it or not, the Empire is coming!" — Pequod Press synopsis


The Way of the Sword-Worlds

Image - The Way of the Sword Worlds cover

Dust jacket illustration by Andrew Wu.

The Way of the Sword-Worlds, John F. Carr and Mike Robertson, Boalsburg, PA: Pequod Press, 2021, with dust jacket illustration by Andrew Wu.

"The Way of the Sword-Worlds is the prequel to H. Beam Piper's Space Viking novel and is the story of Otto Harkaman, and his loyal crewmates.  Before Otto Harkaman joined up with Lucas Trask and became a famous Space Viking captain feared on hundreds of worlds, he was an ordinary trooper with big dreams but little to show for them.  To achieve his dreams, to advance in status and to become someone that other Space Vikings would follow to riches and glory, Otto Harkaman had to learn the Way of the Sword Worlds.

"And learn it he did!  Otto Harkaman and his crew of Space Vikings stormed and raided more than a score of neo-Barbarian and semi-civilized worlds of the former Terran Federation.  When Harkaman purchased the Corisande, they were on their way to become one of the most successful Space Viking crews in the Old Federation.  But along the way, Otto and his crew faced off some dangerous opponents, such as Crown Prince Viktor of Xochitl, Fedrig Barragon, the Lord Protector and ruler of Dagon, and a flotilla of Gilgamesh ships intent upon destroying Otto's ship, even if it cost them their own!" — Pequod Press synopsis



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