Teaser

Fenris, a world where the day lasts for a thousand hours, and the nights just as long. Fenris, where brave sailors hunt monsters for the precious tallow-wax that is their only viable export. Fenris, where a young journalist is about to become embroiled in the story of the century . . .

Review

To get a quick bit of context out of the way, my copy of Four-Day Planet is bundled into an omnibus with another Piper work, Lone Star Planet. Aside from the similarity of titles, there’s nothing connecting the two books. As such, I’ll be reviewing each one independently. Come back soon for my thoughts on Lone Star Planet, or read ahead for my take on Four-Day Planet. The choice, as ever, is yours.

It is odd to me that, after about two decades of looking for them, I have stumbled my way into an almost complete H. beam Piper collection over the course of a single year. Largely, I have to thank my recent trip to the United States. It turns out that American authors are easier to find in America. What an absolute shocker. Four-Day Planet takes place during Piper’s Terro-Human Future History, but like most other books in the saga, it is effectively a standalone. A few familiar planets are named, and the technology is consistent, but otherwise there’s nothing to bind this together with, say, Space Viking. In fact, this is quite a different book.

The term ‘Young Adult’ hadn’t yet been coined by marketers during the early sixties. Heinlein was writing his famed ‘juveniles,’ though, and I dare say Piper was aiming for the same audience when he penned Four-Day Planet. The protagonist is a mere seventeen years old, and works at his father’s newspaper. Like modern YA heroes, Walt is a plucky little chap who knows his way around the seedier side of his home, and is handy with a gun. But unlike modern YA heroes, at no point does he become embroiled in a love triangle. Probably a side effect of there being no real female presence in the book, but we romance-haters take what we’re given.

Given the blurb, you’d think this book would be about a revolution on an inhospitable world, but that’s surprisingly not the case. Fenris’ unique orbital dynamics don’t really come into play. It’s just a cool sci-fi thing going on in the background. The actual plot feels like it could have happened in the eighteenth century. You see, the local whalers are getting tired of having their income stolen by big companies, and are finally resolved to do something about it, even if that means taking up arms and taking down the corrupt local politicians. Along the way we meet such charmingly vintage characters such as the drunk who dresses like a priest, the sneering capitalist, the best friend, and more sailors than you can shake a peg leg at. There’s a lengthy section in the middle of the novel that comes straight out of a Boy’s Own adventure, full of shipwrecks and sabotage and being marooned.

So no, the plot is nothing to write home about, an innovative is not the name of the game. But Piper’s clear and evocative language shines through. He was a man who knew his guns, and clearly knew a fair bit about everything from journalism to whaling, for the amount of detail crammed into this thin book is impressive. All this means that the world feels fully realised. You can’t fault Piper for imagining that the future would look like his present, any more than you can critique present-day authors for the same lack of prescience. And honestly, the shady dealings and politics of the book are as plausible now as they were sixty years ago.

All in all, Four-Day Planet is a fun, if somewhat light, read that gives you the basics of what Piper is all about. For readers of the saga as a whole, it’s also an interesting look at the Federation at its height.

Book Stats

• A Novel of the Terro-Human Future History
• Federation (#2)
• First Published 1961
• This edition published by Ace
• 216 pages