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Paratime - H. Beam Piper's Paratime World

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From: Mich...@xenite.org (Michael Martinez)
Subject: WorldFAQ: H. Beam Piper's Paratime World
Date: 1998/12/16
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Followup-To: alt.fan.created-worlds
Newsgroups: alt.fan.created-worlds,rec.arts.sf.written,alt.books,rec.arts.books


                            WorldFAQ:
                  H. Beam Piper's Paratime World

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1].  Quick Reference

     Piper wrote a few stories about the Paratime Police, an
     agency from the First Level where Martians successfully
     colonized Earth 75,000 years ago and discovered the
     principal of hypertime transposition that enables them to
     visit alteranate realities (timelines).  The Paratime Police
     make sure their technology is not abused, nor stolen or
     achieved by the peoples in the other timelines.  Primary
     sources are PARATIME and LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN.
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2].  Printed Sources Bibliography

PARATIME, Ace Books, 1981, ISBN 0-441-65170-4.
     This is a collection of the original Paratime short stories
     (sans Lord Kalvan) that were published in Astounding Science
     Fiction in the 1940s and 1950s.  The collection includes a
     non-Paratime story, "He Walked Around the Horses", based on
     a true incident.

     The Paratime stories are "Police Operation", "Last Enemy",
     "Time Crime", and "Temple Trouble".  They are a good prelude
     to the Lord Kalvan stories as they explain the Paratime
     Police and the First Level civilization.

     Carr provides an Introduction to this volume that dwells a
     bit too much on the possibility of reincarnation.

LORD KALVAN OF OTHERWHEN, Ace Books, 1965 (reprinted in 1984),
ISBN 0-441-49055-7.
     Piper originally wrote three Lord Kalvan stories, of which
     two were published.  This book combines all three into a
     novel.  Verkan Vall returns and helps fill in some of the
     background information on the world.  Calvin does his best
     to figure out what's going on, but he is quickly swept up
     into the local politics, and his contribution is significant
     that he averts a slaughter that occurs in similar timelines
     while altering the political structure significantly.
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3].  Visual Sources Bibliography

No known adaptations.
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4].  Related Materials Bibliography

John F. Carr and Roland Green have written at least one book and
two short stories about Lord Kalvan.  Their style is somewhat
different from Piper's but they come close to matching the
original theme and pacing.  Not all Piper fans are happy with
these extensions, however.  I've only read GREAT KING'S WAR but I
liked it well enough.

GREAT KING'S WAR, Ace Books, 1985, ISBN 0-441-30200-9.  Contains
maps.
     This book is nearly as long as the two Piper books combined.
     It sort of finishes off the tale of Calvin Morrison, but
     really leaves new threads dangling.

"Kalvan Kingmaker", in ALTERNATIVES, ed. Robert Adams, Baen
Books, 1989.
     A sequel to GREAT KING'S WAR.

"Siege at Tarr-Hostigos", in THERE WILL BE WAR, VOL. VIII:
ARMAGEDDON, ed. Jerry Pournelle, Tor Books, 1989.


Carr has also made reference to a book he wanted to write (in
1981), THE PIPER PAPERS, to which he made reference in the note
prefacing "When In The Course--" in FEDERATION.  I have not seen
or heard of this book otherwise.

There was a miniatures game based on LORD KALVAN published by
Fantasy Games Unlimited (now defunct) called "Down Styphon".

Robert Adams wrote a series of books called CASTAWAYS IN TIME
which bear close resmblance to Piper's Paratime stories.

Paul Ciszek tells me there is a connection between the Terro-Human
Future History story "Omnilingual" and the Paratime story
"Genesis" that fits the TFHF into the Paratime multiverse as
a fourth level civilization.

David E. Siegel says:
  The _Jannisaries_ Series, by Pournelle & Green, IIRC, bear a very
  close resemblance to the Lord Kalvan stories. This is more true of
  the 1st book, particularly the 1st 1/2 of the 1st book, than it
  is of the later books in the series, IMO. In particular, thre is
  a scene early in the first book when a council of war has to
  determine whether to surrender to an invader, or resist.
  It is almost a direct re-write of the corresponding scene early
  in _Lord Kalvan_.

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5].  Online References

     A)   News Groups

          None.  But Piper's works can be discussed in
          rec.arts.sf.written, alt.books, rec.arts.books,
          alt.fantasy, and alt.fan.created-worlds.

     B)   Mailing/Discussion Lists

          The Works of H. Beam Piper Discussion List
          http://ifrit.web.aol.com/mld/production/yiaaj4v9.html
          NOTE:  The mailing list has moved from the server listed on this
          page, but your request will be forwarded to the correct server,
          which I list below.

          Send email to LISTSERV@LISTS...@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM.  In the body
          of the message put "SUBSCRIBE PIPER-L "
          (no quotes).

          To unsubscribe from the list:
          Send the command UNSUBSCRIBE PIPER-L in e-mail to
          LISTSERV@LISTS...@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM.

     C)   Web sites

          The Unofficial H. Beam Piper Web Page
          http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/piper.html

          SF Author List: H. Beam Piper
          http://www.catch22.com/~espana/SFAuthors/SFP/Piper,HB.html

          H.Beam Piper: Bibliography
          http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/piper_biblio.html

     D)   Online services

          No special forums.

          NOTE:  There is now a Message Board Directory
          which provides links to individual Web-based
          boards, message board providers, and large
          indexes of boards.  Some of these indexes
          include Science Fiction and Fantasy boards
          and may contain content of interest to people
          who read the WorldFAQs.  The Message Board
          Directory is located at:

          http://www.xenite.org/mb_direct.htm

     E)   IRC

          None.

     F)   Comprehensive lists of resources

          None.
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6].  Description

     Piper's Paratime stories imply a combined arrogance and
     temporal responsibility in First Level humanity.  They take
     advantage of timelines that offer resources to benefit their
     civilization and in some cases even move individuals to
     other timelines, but for the most part they simply observe
     and study the other timelines.  The Paratime Police try to
     make sure that meddling doesn't occur, no matter how noble
     the intentions, since the people of each timeline have a
     right to determine their own destinies.

     The most central character is Verkan Vall, a Special Chief's
     Assistant with the Paratime Police.  He travels from
     timeline to timeline on special missions but becomes
     embroiled in the Lord Kalvan timelines.  Calvin Morrison, a
     Pennsylvania State Trooper, is accidentally caught up in a
     temporal field and manages to exit into a world where the
     Indo-European peoples migrated *east* rather than *west*,
     eventually colonizing the Americas.

     Vall figures out that Morrison is trapped in the Aryan-
     Transpacific Sector, specifically in a timeline of the
     Styphon's House Subsector.  Styphon's House is a priesthood
     that controls gunpowder.  The implications of dropping an
     intelligent, educated police officer into this timeline
     don't escape the Paratime Police.  They realize that
     Morrison has all the information he needs to deduce the
     existence of their people and technology.  So they isolate
     the timeline and set up the Kalvan Project, assigning five
     adjoining timelines as controls for a quarantined study of
     the effects that Calvin Morrison has on the timeline.

     In some ways this is really a fantasy world.  Not fantasy in
     the sense of magic or enchanted creatures, but fantasy in
     the sense of "what if...."  The science fiction element is
     there in the Paratime technology and its attendant theories,
     but stories are windows into possibilities, worlds that for
     us never existed.
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7].  Maintainer Information

FAQ owner: Michael Martinez 
Last Updated:  November 1, 1998

Other information was provided by:

Paul Ciszek 
David E. Siegel 
Jason Zavoda 
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