law and justice in _Little Fuzzy_ and its
sequels; and, in "Omnilingual" and "Naudsonce," the spirit of science
and rational inquiry. Yet we also see colonial exploitation and
subjugation in _Uller Uprising_ and "Oomphel in the Sky," the greed
and corruption of Chartered land companies in _Little Fuzzy_, and
political corruption in _Four-Day Planet_. These stories are about a
living Terro-Human culture, not a utopia.

It was Piper's attention to historical realism and his use of actual
historical models that have helped his work to pass the test of time
and have led to his becoming the favorite of a new generation of
readers more than twenty-five years after his death.

_Uller Uprising_ is the story of a confrontation between a human
overlord and alien servants, with an ironic twist at the end. Like
most of Piper's best work, _Uller Uprising_ is modeled after an actual
event in human history; in this case the Sepoy Mutiny (a Bengal
uprising in British-held India brought about when rumors were spread
to native soldiers that cartridges being issued by the British were
coated with animal fat. The rebellion quickly spread throughout India
and led to the massacre of the British Colony at Cawnpore.). Piper's
novel is not a mere retelling of the Indian Mutiny, but rather an
analysis of an historical event applied to a similar situation in the
far future.

* * * * *

Like many philosophers and social theorists before him, Piper
attempted to chart the progress of human-kind; unlike most, however,
he did not envision or try to create a system of ethics that would end
all of humanity's problems. The best he could offer was his model of
the self-reliant man: The man who "actually knows what has to be done
and how to do it, and he's going to go right ahead and do it, without
holding a dozen conferences and round-table discussions and giving
everybody a fair and equal chance to foul things up for him."

Piper brought his own ideas and judgments about society and history
into all of his work, but they appear most clearly in his Terro-Human
Future History. While not everyone will agree with Piper's theories
they give his work a bite that most popular fiction lacks. One cannot
read Piper complacently. And one can often find a wry insight
sandwiched in between the blood and thunder.

Other future histories may span more centuries or better illuminate
the highlights of several decades, but until a ri