Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
in Federation;
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. Short Stories. HTML: This classic science fiction tale from H. Beam Piper takes place in the Federation universe that served as the setting for many of his stories. In the distant future, the inhabitants of the strange planet Poictesme have long heard rumors about a remarkably powerful computer that is hidden away right under their noses. They come to believe that finding the device will put an end to the grinding poverty and bleak outlook that have long plagued their society. Will the search prove successful�??and will their hopes be confirmed?
User reviews
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Good story, but it immediately makes me want to read Junkyard Planet/Cosmic Computer. The basics are there - Merlin, Poictesme falling apart and salvaging Federation goods, Conn using what he knows to build it up into a new start. This is much shallower - for one thing, it stops at the decision to
Show More
make the push rather than going on to see some of the results. Characterization is also shallower. Of course, it's a short story, it doesn't have room to get all that deep. It's still fun and an excellent sketch of a crisis and a way - not around, but past it. I don't remember if the book has the lines of poetry that supply the title of the story - they're quite good, and apparently Piper's own work (in the story, they were written by a Martian colonist). Show Less
Language
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Piper |