H. Beam Piper | Terro-human Future History

The Terro-human Future History

"H. Beam Piper is best known to readers for his Fuzzy books and to fans for his Paratime stories, but it is his Terro-human Future History that is his greatest and most imaginative gift."
— John. F. Carr, Introduction to Empire

H. Beam Piper's Terro-human Future History is a future-historical — and now, in its earliest yarns, also alternative-historical — science-fiction series which imagined the expansion of human civilization from the earliest days of spaceflight on Earth (Terra) out into interstellar space. Consisting of Piper's famous Fuzzy trilogy — Little Fuzzy (1962), Fuzzy Sapiens (originally published as The Other Human Race in 1964) and Fuzzies and Other People (published posthumously in 1984), Piper's novels Uller Uprising (1952), Four-Day Planet (1961), Junkyard Planet (1963) — reissued as The Cosmic Computer, and Space Viking (1962), and eight stories originally published in pulp science-fiction magazines between 1957 and 1962 (collected in Federation and Empire, edited by John F. Carr and, more recently, in Carr's The Rise of the Terran Federation), the Terro-human Future History spans over thirty millennia of future history.

Bibliography

Dust jacket illustration by Charles Geer for Four-Day Planet

A comprehensive list, in future-historical chronological order, of Piper's Terro-human Future History yarns, including reprints, beginning with "The Edge of the Knife," first published in Amazing Stories, May 1957, and concluding with "The Keeper," first published in Venture Science Fiction, July 1957.

Gallery

Image - Astounding Science Fiction, February 1957, cover illustration

Cover illustration by Kelly Freas for "Omnilingual"
(Image served by the Luminist Archives)

Cover and interior art from Terro-human Future History yarns, both original and reprint editions, beginning with Paul Orban's interior illustrations for "Ullr Uprising," published in Space Science Fiction, February and May 1953, and Kelly Freas's cover illustration for "Omnilingual," published in Astounding Science Fiction, February 1957. Includes Michael Whelan's iconic cover illustrations for the Ace reprints and for John F. Carr's Ace collections.

Chronology

Dust jacket illustration by Herb Mott for Junkyard Planet

A chronological complilation of future-historical events from Piper's Terro-human Future History yarns, beginning with the events recounted in "The Edge of the Knife," set in the First Century, Atomic Era, and concluding with the events recounted in "The Keeper," set in the 301st Century, Atomic Era.

Concordance

Cover illustration by Victor Kalins for Little Fuzzy

A compendium of background and setting information from Piper's Terro-human Future History yarns, including details about characters, like Duke Angus of Wardshaven on Gram, from Space Viking, and planets, like the world Zarathustra, from Little Fuzzy.

Conservatory

Cover illustration by Michael Whelan for Fuzzy Bones

The Imperial Conservatory of Terro-human Civilization, established in 1360 AE at Imperial University, Odin, is dedicated to increasing the level of knowledge and understanding of the various cultures that one may encounter within the Empire through such publications as its series of Terro-human History Project monographs.

Its first monograph, "Terra: From Many Nations to One Planet," examines the period between Terra's Third and Fourth World Wars, 32 - 109 Atomic Era (AE), which saw a profound transformation of Terro-human civilization. The period marked the end of the era when Terra itself had been politically divided into multiple nations. In the aftermath of the Fourth World War, a single, world sovereignty was forged on Terra. This global government, the "second" Terran Federation, eventually went on to establish the first interstellar Terro-human civilization.

Second Century, AE: The Second Century of the Atomic Era (100 - 199 AE) is a time both of calamity and renewal. It begins with the Fourth World War, also known as the First Interplanetary War because it includes not only conflict between different power blocs on Terra but also the revolt of Terran colonies on Venus and Mars. This war is the last of the Atomic Wars and when it is over civilization in the Northern Hemisphere of Terra has been destroyed.

From this incomparable disaster emerges the "second" Terran Federation, the first fully-global government organized by the major nations of the Southern Hemisphere and including the extaterrestrial former-colony worlds as independent members. The reconfigured Terran Federation begins a campaign of pacification and reconstruction in the Northern Hemisphere while continuing the exploration and settlement of the Solar system. Near the end of the century hyperdrive technology is developed and the first expedition is sent to Alpha Centauri, launching a long period of Terran interstellar expansion.

The Planet Gimli: Although the planet Gimli is never featured centrally in any of the Terro-human Future History yarns, it is nevertheless mentioned throughout the Future History, appearing in both the Federation and Space Viking eras and surviving even into the era of the first Galactic Empire. Most intriguingly, Gimli seems to be inhabited by indigenous, non-Human sapients — though Piper does not describe an encounter with a Gimlian in any yarn.

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