SPACE VIKING by H. Beam Piper

Copyright 1963

The murder of his wife on the day of his marriage sets Lucas Trask on a mission of revenge. Plunging his personal fortune into a space ship, Trask becomes a Space Viking, set on raiding worlds while simultaneously hunting for his wife's killer. Trask soon realizes that raiding is wasteful of resources and gradually transitions into a trader, building the basis for a galactic empire. Before he can achieve his new goals, however, he has to deal with the dramatically increased power of his wife's killer.

Set in a post-apocalyptic universe after the collapse of a galactic civilization, the Space Vikings are remnants of an exiled group (in some ways similar to the Clans in Battletech) who now raid for profit. Like the tenth century vikings on Earth, the Space Vikings are now settling down in their raid teritories, establishing independent and semi-independent states that may form the basis for an evolving civilization.

SPACE VIKING is not H. Beam Piper at his best (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by this author), but any Piper is worth reading. The universe of SPACE VIKING is intriguing, with various civilizations clawing their way out of anarchy. Trask is an interesting character who grows, over the course of the novel, from a single-minded focus on revenge to taking on new responsibilities for continued life.

Piper's political messages and his Hitler parallels are somewhat heavy-handed, however, and only Trask, of all of the characters in this novel, became more than a charicature.

SPACE VIKING won't change your world view, but you'll find it a pleasant read. Grab this normally out of print and hard-to-find novel if you can.

Two Stars

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