![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I just got the new Fuzzy book.
No, not THAT one (which I have, but haven't read yet):
THIS one:
This one is a continuation of the original Fuzzy books by H. Beam Piper, not a "reboot," like Scalzi's just-published Fuzzy Nation.
With the virtually-simultaneous publication of Diehr's and Scalzi's Fuzzy books, readers now have THREE somewhat distinct Fuzzy universes to choose from.
The original Little Fuzzy was written in the late '50's, and eventually published in '62. It took a while for it to find a home. Before it was even published, Piper sold the sequel (Fuzzy Sapiens) to the same publisher (Avon) and quickly wrote it. His publisher was so pleased by the sequel, she asked Piper for a THIRD Fuzzy book about the time the first one was published, which Piper wrote and turned in.
The usual round of publisher musical chairs ensued, and the new editor at Avon rejected Fuzzies and Other People. With the second book already bought by Avon, no other publisher was interested in the third book of a trilogy begun at another publishing house. Piper took his own life a short time later, convinced he'd never sell another story.
Fuzzy Sapiens was published in 1964 under a misleading title & cover blurb that deliberately obscured the fact that it was the sequel to a Hugo-nominated book from the year before. Publishing is weird...
Anyway, interest in Piper's work experienced a massive resurgence in the late '70's, when Ace Books began a campaign that brought every story Piper ever published back into print over an 8-year period.
The two original Fuzzy books sold like gangbusters when reprinted with awesome Michael Whelan covers. With the manuscript to Fuzzies and Other People believed destroyed, Ace commissioned a sequel and a side-quel from William Tuning and Ardath Mayhar, who produced a very enjoyable pair of books, Fuzzy Bones and Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey, respectively.
Just as the Piper boom was winding down, the manuscript for Fuzzies and Other People turned up, and was duly published. It is incompatible with Tuning and Mayhar's books in some fundamental ways, creating the first branching of the Fuzzy mythos.
Almost 3 decades on, the Fuzzy resurgence is rolling again, with the simultaneous publication of TWO new Fuzzy novels.
John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation is a reboot of the series. It essentially retells the story of Little Fuzzy, filtered through an early-21st-century worldview, in contrast to the mid-20th-century tone of the original.
Wolfgang Diehr's Fuzzy Ergo Sum is a sequel to Piper's three originals, and a quick flick-through leads me to believe that it appropriates some ideas from Tuning's book along the way.
I'm going to try and read both books over the 3-day weekend. I re-read 4 of the 5 earlier Fuzzy books a few months back (Golden Dream is still in my to-read pile) so I think I'll start with Diehr's book first. Reviews forthcoming.
No, not THAT one (which I have, but haven't read yet):
THIS one:
This one is a continuation of the original Fuzzy books by H. Beam Piper, not a "reboot," like Scalzi's just-published Fuzzy Nation.
With the virtually-simultaneous publication of Diehr's and Scalzi's Fuzzy books, readers now have THREE somewhat distinct Fuzzy universes to choose from.
The original Little Fuzzy was written in the late '50's, and eventually published in '62. It took a while for it to find a home. Before it was even published, Piper sold the sequel (Fuzzy Sapiens) to the same publisher (Avon) and quickly wrote it. His publisher was so pleased by the sequel, she asked Piper for a THIRD Fuzzy book about the time the first one was published, which Piper wrote and turned in.
The usual round of publisher musical chairs ensued, and the new editor at Avon rejected Fuzzies and Other People. With the second book already bought by Avon, no other publisher was interested in the third book of a trilogy begun at another publishing house. Piper took his own life a short time later, convinced he'd never sell another story.
Fuzzy Sapiens was published in 1964 under a misleading title & cover blurb that deliberately obscured the fact that it was the sequel to a Hugo-nominated book from the year before. Publishing is weird...
Anyway, interest in Piper's work experienced a massive resurgence in the late '70's, when Ace Books began a campaign that brought every story Piper ever published back into print over an 8-year period.
The two original Fuzzy books sold like gangbusters when reprinted with awesome Michael Whelan covers. With the manuscript to Fuzzies and Other People believed destroyed, Ace commissioned a sequel and a side-quel from William Tuning and Ardath Mayhar, who produced a very enjoyable pair of books, Fuzzy Bones and Golden Dream: A Fuzzy Odyssey, respectively.
Just as the Piper boom was winding down, the manuscript for Fuzzies and Other People turned up, and was duly published. It is incompatible with Tuning and Mayhar's books in some fundamental ways, creating the first branching of the Fuzzy mythos.
Almost 3 decades on, the Fuzzy resurgence is rolling again, with the simultaneous publication of TWO new Fuzzy novels.
John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation is a reboot of the series. It essentially retells the story of Little Fuzzy, filtered through an early-21st-century worldview, in contrast to the mid-20th-century tone of the original.
Wolfgang Diehr's Fuzzy Ergo Sum is a sequel to Piper's three originals, and a quick flick-through leads me to believe that it appropriates some ideas from Tuning's book along the way.
I'm going to try and read both books over the 3-day weekend. I re-read 4 of the 5 earlier Fuzzy books a few months back (Golden Dream is still in my to-read pile) so I think I'll start with Diehr's book first. Reviews forthcoming.
