 Piper, H. Beam. Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen. Ace 1984 (cover art by Michael Whelan). |
Piper, H. Beam. Paratime.
Series note: Related stories either collected in Paratime
or assembled into Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.
The contents of those two books have been collected in the
omnnibus volume
The Complete Paratime, Ace 2001 (0441008011).
Summary: A series of tales involving Verkan Vall and the Paratime Police, some more explicitly than others. Allohistorical content is weak except in "He Walked around the Horses" and Lord Kalvan. The infinite parallel Earths of Paratime are classed in five "levels" dependent on the success of the purported colonization of Earth by humanity (which arose on Mars) approximately 75 thousand years ago. Our timeline is classed as Fourth Level since colonization barely succeeded but all memory of it has been lost. The Paratime Police arose in the First Level, in which colonization was highly successful.
Piper, H. Beam. Paratime.
Summary: Collection of
"He Walked Around the Horses",
"Police Operation",
"Last Enemy",
"Temple Trouble", and
"Time Crime".
But except for "He Walked Around the Horses", the parallel Earths described are mostly exotic locales and none have a recent and/or clear divergence from ours.
Comments: Copyright page states that the title is Paratime! but the cover and title page omit the excalamation mark.
Published: Ace 1981 (0441651690), 1983 (0441651704), and 1986 (0441651712).
—
Included in
The Complete Paratime, Ace 2001 (0441008011).
Bookstore: Listed by Amazon.com in paperback, in paperback, in paperback and in paperback (The Complete Paratime).
Piper, H. Beam. "He Walked Around the Horses".
Divergence: 1777 CE
What if: Burgoyne won at Saratoga, forestalling American independence and the Age of Revolution.
Summary: In 1809, Germans investigate a man claiming to be a British diplomat and carrying documents regarding some fantastical French emperor named Napoleon.
Comments: The inclusion of this as a Paratime story is indirectly explained in "Police Operation", q.v.
Published: In Astounding, April 1948;
World of Wonder (ed. Fletcher Pratt), Twayne 1951;
Best SF 3 (ed. Edmund Crispin), Faber 1958;
Aspects of Science Fiction (ed. Geoff Doherty), Billings 1959, J. Murray 1963, and Billings 1970 (0719522153);
Science Fiction Through the Ages 2 (ed. I.O. Evans), Panther 1966;
A Science Fiction Argosy (ed. Damon Knight), Simon & Schuster 1972 (0671211269) and SFBC 1972;
Space Mail (eds. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph Olander), Fawcett 1980;
Paratime, q.v.;
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Treasury (eds. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg and Joseph Olander), Bonanza 1980 (0517336359);
The Golden Age of Science Fiction (ed. Kingsley Amis), Hutchinson 1981; Penguin 1983;
Isaac Asimov Presents the Great SF Stories: 10 (1948) (eds. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg), DAW 1983;
Alternative Histories: Eleven Stories of the World as It Might Have Been (eds. Charles G. Waugh and Martin H. Greenberg), q.v.;
and
The Amis Story Anthology: A Personal Choice of Short Stories (ed. Kingsley Amis), Hutchinson 1992.
Original in: English.
Translation: French by Alain Rague as
"L'Homme qui apparut", in
Histoire de la 4ème dimension (ed. [[editor unknown]]), Livre de Poche 1986 (2253032956).
Translation: German by Eva Malsch as
"Er ging um die Pferde herum", in
Sternenpost 3 (eds. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph H. Olander), Möwig 1984 (3811867350).
Translation: German by Lore Strassl as
"Der Mann, der um die Pferde herumging", in
Schöne verkehrte Welt: Phantastische Geschichten zur Geschichte (ed. René Oth), q.v.
Translation: Italian by Bruno Fonzi as
"Passò intorno ai cavalli", in
Le Meraviglie del possibile. Antologia della fantascienza (eds. Sergio Solmi e Carlo Fruttero), Einaudi 1959;
Le Meraviglie del possibile. Antologia della fantascienza 1 (eds. Sergio Solmi e Carlo Fruttero), Einaudi 1992 (8806129341).
Translation: Italian by Giampaolo Cossato and Sandro Sandrelli as
"Camminò intorno ai cavalli", in
Le grandi storie della fantascienza 10 (eds. Isaac Asimov and Martin H. Greenberg), S.I.A.D. 1984, Bompiani 1993 (8845220532).
Piper, H. Beam. "Police Operation".
Summary: Paracop Verkan Vall searches for an anomalous Venusian nighthound loose
on Fourth-Level Earth.
Published: In Astounding, July 1948;
Space Police (eds. Andre Norton), Cleveland 1956;
The Best of Astounding (ed. Tony Lewis), Baronet 1978 (0894370243);
Paratime, q.v.;
and
Analog: The Best of Science Fiction (ed. anon.), A&W/Galahad 1985 (088365637X).
Original in: English.
Translation: German by Dolf Strasser as
"Der venusische Wuerger", in
SF-Stories 66 (ed. Walter Spiegl), Ullstein 1977 (3548033237).
Piper, H. Beam. "Last Enemy".
Summary: Verkan Vall bails out a psychic researcher on a Second-Level timeline where reincarnation is a proven fact.
Published: In Astounding, August 1950;
Astounding SF Anthology (ed. John W. Campbell), Simon & Schuster 1952;
Paratime, q.v.;
and
Robert Adams' Book of Alternate Worlds, q.v. (eds. Robert Adams, Martin H. Greenberg, and Pamela Crippen Adams).
Original in: English.
Translation: French by Pierre Billon as
"Le dernier ennemi", in Fiction, Special #6, Opta 1966.
Piper, H. Beam. "Temple Trouble".
Summary: Verkan Vall assists a paratime substation disguised as a temple.
Published: In Astounding, April 1951
and
Paratime, q.v.
Original in: English.
Translation: German by Bodo Baumann as
"Machtkampf der Goetzen", in
SF-Stories 5 (ed. Walter Spiegl), Ullstein 1970 (3548028047).
Translation: German by Lore Strassl as
"Tempelschwierigkeiten", in
Das Zeitverbrechen, Pabel 1984 (3811850148).
Piper, H. Beam. "Time Crime".
Summary: Verkan Vall breaks up a crosstime slave ring.
Published: In Astounding, February-March 1955
and
Paratime, q.v.
Original in: English.
Translation: German by Bodo Baumann as
"Sklaven der Zeit", in
SF-Stories 6 (ed. Walter Spiegl), Ullstein 1971 (3548028187).
Translation: German by Lore Strassl as
"Das Zeitverbrechen", in
Das Zeitverbrechen, Pabel 1984 (3811850148).
Piper, H. Beam. Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen [vt Gunpowder God].
Series note: The only Lord Kalvan tale and full-length novel in the Paratime
series written by Piper. Three novel-length Lord Kalvan sequels were
written by John F. Carr and Roland J. Green and in order are
Green and Carr's
Great Kings' War,
Carr's
Kalvan Kingmaker,
and
Carr's
Siege at Tarr-Hostigos, all q.v.
Divergence: c 2000 BCE
What if: Bronze Age Indo-Aryans crossed the Bering Strait to colonize the Americas.
Summary: A Pennsylvania state trooper is transported to a North America where
priests of Styphon exert political control over a network of feudal
kingdoms through their monopoly on gunpowder.
Published: As Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen,
Ace 1965;
Garland 1975 (082401420X);
and
Ace 1984 (0441490557).
—
As Gunpowder God, Sphere 1978.
—
Included in
The Complete Paratime, Ace 2001 (0441008011).
—
Fix-up of
1) "Gunpowder God",
in Analog, November 1964;
Time Wars (eds. Charles G. Waugh and Martin
H. Greenberg), Tor 1986 (0812530489, 0812530497),
The Good Old Stuff (ed. Gardner Dozois), Griffin 1998
(0312192754);
and
2) "Down Styphon",
in Analog, November 1965;
Robert Adams' Book of Soldiers (eds. Robert Adams, Pamela
Crippen Adams and Martin H. Greenberg), Signet 1988 (0451155599).
Original in: English.
Translation: French by Michel Deutsch as
Kalvan d'outre-temps, Opta 1972.
Translation: German by Helmut Bittner as
Der Mann, der die Zeit betrog, Winther 1967.
Translation: Italian by Cesare Gavioli as
Lord Kalvan di Altroquando, La Tribuna 1968.
Translation: Italian by Roberta Rambelli as
Lord Kalvan d'Altroquando, Libra 1979.
Bookstore: Listed by Amazon.com in paperback and in paperback (The Complete Paratime).
Piper, H. Beam. The Complete Paratime.
Series note: Omnibus volume including all of the stories from
Paratime! and the novel
Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen.
Published: Ace 2001 (0441008011).
Bookstore: Listed by Amazon.com in trade paperback.
