Complete Fuzzy

H. Beam Piper (1904-64) was one of the premier science-fiction authors of the 1960s, and should rightly be considered one of the all-time greats in that field. Among the wonderful books that Mr. Piper published during his all-too-short career were a series of three books set on the future world of Zarathustra. This book is a compilation of those three books.In Little Fuzzy (originally published in 1962), an aging prospector discovers that the planet is actually populated by a race of small, furry humanoids, which he names fuzzies. Little does he know that the discovery of *intelligent* humanoids on Zarathustra would void the charter of the company that owns it outright, and the Chartered Zarathustra Company is too powerful to be threatened with impunity.In Fuzzy Sapiens (1964), the head of the now Charterless Zarathustra Company is shocked to find a fuzzy in his high-security apartment. Someone is kidnapping fuzzies, but why? This is going to get complicated.In Fuzzies and Other People (written in 1964, but then lost after Piper's tragic suicide; found and published in 1984), the trial of the Fuzzy kidnappers is coming up, and all the friends of this newly discovered sentient race are hoping for a decisive conviction. However, the kidnappers' lawyer, Hugo Ingermann, has a few aces up his sleeve, the biggest ace being that a standard lie detected will now show when a Fuzzy is lying, making their testimony inadmissible. The biggest problem seems to be that Fuzzies do not understand the concept of lying, so now the race is on to find a Fuzzy that can lie.I must admit that I was hoping for a little something extra in buying this book, a new introduction perhaps. But, I was disappointed. Even so, my copies of the original books were becoming worn-out, and it is nice to be able to get a new copy of these books.H. Beam Piper was an excellent author, who was expert at creating new worlds with unique problems, that are nonetheless familiar seeming and realistically drawn. I have loved the Fuzzy stories for many years now, and keep rereading them over and over again. If you are a fan of excellent sci-fi from the 1950s and 60s, then I can guarantee that you will love this book!