Lone Star Planet (1958)
Posted on June 3rd, 2007
Piper is best known for his Terro-Human Future series and his Paratime series, but I wanted to start with a short standalone title that I thought was hysterical. Politics and the rise and fall of societies are two topics discussed in most of his work, and Piper’s satirical take on politics in Lone Star Planet (originally published as A Planet for Texans) is extreme, but extremely funny.
After authoring an ill-considered “anonymous” article in a diplomatic trade journal, low-level Solar League diplomat Stephen Silk found himself on the first ship out to the colony of New Texas as its newest ambassador. His briefing materials were terse accounts of the fate of the previous officeholders (one went native, one went insane, and the latest was murdered) and a set of holstered six-shooters. Stephen’s task was to investigate the murder, sway the planet to join the Solar League, and fend off an impending alien invasion. No easy task considering that on New Texas, the shooting of politicians is considered justifiable homicide.
Lone Star Planet develops at a quick pace and uses satire to weave together a number of different elements, including courtroom drama, shoot ‘em up, the Texas mythos, foreign relations, and alien invasion. Although written in 1958, it holds together well. If you like Robert Asprin or Keith Laumer’s Retief, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
You can buy a nice new paperback reprint from us here or clicking the book cover above.
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Filed under Piper, H. Beam |