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Little Fuzzy

From Wikisource
Little Fuzzy (1962)
by Henry Beam Piper
Henry Beam Piper4641611Little Fuzzy1962Little Fuzzy (1962) front cover.jpg
Our candidate for the most delightful science-fiction book of the year! Our nomination for The Man of the Future. Little Fuzzy. [A picture of a human hand petting the head of what looks like a small brown-skinned person in a very bulky suit of curly gold fur, including a mustache. The small person holds a table knife (proportionately spear-sized) and squats behind an upturned red-brown creature which looks like a cooked lobster with six pairs of walking legs, a pair of claws, and curly tendrils for antennae.] By H. Beam Piper. Avon 40cents F-118

"As soon as he put on the light, something inside the shower stall said 'Yeeeeeek!' in a startled voice.

"He turned quickly, to see two wide eyes staring up at him out of a ball of golden fur. Whatever it was, it had a round head and big ears and a vaguely humanoid face with a little snub nose. It was sitting on its haunches, and in that position it was about a foot high. It had two tiny hands with opposing thumbs. He squatted to have a better look at it.

"'Hello there, little fellow,' he greeted it. 'I never saw anything like you before. What are you, anyhow?'

"The small creature looked at him seriously and said 'Yeek,' in a timid voice.

"'Why, sure; you're a Little Fuzzy, is what you are.'"

And what LITTLE FUZZY is, is one of the most charming and exciting science-fiction novels you will ever read.

AVON BOOK DIVISION
The Hearst Corporation
959 Eighth Avenue—New York 19, N. Y.

H. Beam Piper

TO
KENNETH S. WHITE
who helped Little Fuzzy
find a home in print

Copyright, ©, 1962, by H. Beam Piper. All rights reserved.
Published by arrangement with the author.
Printed in the U.S.A.

Little Fuzzy

Contents (not listed in original)

FRIENDS OF LITTLE FUZZY VS.
THE CHARTERED ZARATHUSTRA COMPANY

The chartered Zarathustra Company had it all their way. Their charter was for a Class-III uninhabited planet, which Zarathustra was, and it meant they owned the planet, lock, stock and barrel. They exploited it, developed it and reaped the huge profits from it without interference from the Colonial Government.

Then Jack Holloway, a sunstone prospector, appeared on the scene with his family of Fuzzies and the passionate conviction that they were not cute animals but little people.

The Company was aghast at this threat to their power and profits. If Holloway could prove the Fuzzies were people, Zarathustra would automatically become a Class-IV inhabited planet, the Company's charter would become void and the Colonial Government of the Federation would take over.

The Company did not hesitate to resort to coercion, murder—even genocide—to prevent the Fuzzies from being declared the ninth extrasolar sapient race.Printed in the U.S.A.


This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was legally published within the United States (or the United Nations Headquarters in New York subject to Section 7 of the United States Headquarters Agreement) before 1964, and copyright was not renewed.

Works could have had their copyright renewed between January 1st of the 27th year after publication or registration and December 31st of the 28th year. As this work's copyright was not renewed, it entered the public domain on January 1st of the 29th year.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1964, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 59 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

It is imperative that contributors ascertain that there is no evidence of a copyright renewal before using this license. Failure to do so will result in the deletion of the work as a copyright violation.

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