Little Fuzzy [Audible]

By: H. Beam Piper

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

©1980 H. Beam Piper (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

A classic with all the voices done right

I've loved this book for years, and I was afraid it would be too hard for a narrator to get all the voices right, let alone the Fuzzy "Yeek"! But this narrator does it beautifully. The one less star I gave him was actually for the narrative portions, which are a bit stiff and articulated slowly, but it's not enough to dent my enjoyment.

Read this as a kid and just

I read this as a kid and just fell in love again. so much love and peace in this story. it admits mankind can suck but can also correct itself. good stuff. now to find the rest of the stories.

Fantastic

This is the original book that John Scalzi used to write Fuzzy Nation. I absolutely LOVED Fuzzy Nation and this is really good but probably not quite as good as Scalzi's version. I loved hearing this as there are so many funny advanced science thoughts by the author that miss. Still Tape Recordings and stuff like that but also faster than light travel. Totally worth a listen.

A blast from the past

Developing video, sending video at a 60x rate, and other imaginings about the future from 1962.I guess digital wasn't even an idea at that date. What do with think of as normal today that will sound silly in another 60 years? A really excellent story with a positive spin. The audio was a bit clunky at bits where you would hear a cut-over or a sound that didn't belong, but it wasn't bad enough to distract, so I couldn't bring myself to take a star away. If you have Audible Plus, this is a non-brainer. Get the story and listen to it. If you don't have audible plus, get it anyway. It was nice to read a story where the avarice and failings of men, companies, and governments were recognized without negating the positives that men, companies, and governments provide.

A difficult listen.

Not a bad story, but narrator's voice and timing are robotic and stilted. Struggled to finish.

Must compare with John Scalzes version

This is such a cute story and I loved reading it and comparing it to the spin off Scalze did!

Classic Sci-Fi

Classic sci-fi I have read and reread this novel more times than I can count and most recently I added the Audiobook which was just a delight to listen through. Aging Jack Holloway is a gem miner on a frontier world going about his lonely life when one day a furry short but friendly alien wanders into his homestead. This chance encounter changes his life and the destiny of the Fuzzy people forever.

Good guy underdog vs heartless corporation

The plot is delightfully simple - the Protagonist - a good, old, hardworking lone underdog finds adorable little furry people. Old man keeps little furry people, old man trys to get little furry people recognized as sapient life forms. The Antagonist - a heartless CEO of corporation doesn't want adorable little furry people recognized as sentient life form because the corporation would have to give up the claim for the planet. Heartless CEO hires an equally heartless lawyer to help him with the case. But Jack Holloway - good old hardworking space cowboy - also has friends - scientists, who put Science above personal interests, constable, who puts Law above his own interests, honest lawyer in a plaid shirt, and together they drop whatever they normally do to help the old man with his court case against corporation - good chunk of the story happens either in court or discussing case strategies.

Written in 1963, this story is a product of it's time, when space colonization was imagined like colonization of the West. I personally find the idea of treating burgeoning hunter-gather civilization like children or pets because they are cute by human standards uncomfortable. The science, especially the psychology, is noticeably dated as well.

While the story is a little too naive and black-and-white for my liking, in the light of the recent events - Enron, Monsanto, big banks bail-outs and so on - it is definitely a guilty pleasure to see big players being held accountable by just and impartial judge, even if it's only Sci-Fi.

Weird narration

I listened to this because it's the original story that John Scalzi used in his Fuzzy Nation book. I understand why Scalzi wanted to rewrite it. It's a great story but needed updating so current readers could appreciate it. There's a lot of sexism, smoking, and drinking.

What I didn't like: the narrator. He has some great voices but his narrator's voice sounds like an AI auto reading. It was very off-putting and I almost quit listening. However, the story redeemed itself and I couldn't stop till I finished. I did almost look for the print version though!

Not to diss the narrator completely, he is very talented and he had a different voice for each character, so I always knew who was speaking even before the story told me. I wasn't thrilled with his Jack Holloway voice but I knew who it was anyway while listening. It was only there narration that bothered me.

Read this, then read John Scalzi's Fuzzy Nation. You won't be disappointed.

Precious Fuzzies

After reading a bit you will notice the outdated references (record players instead of downloads or uploads, for example) but you won't pay it much attention for long. I was absolutely captivated! I listened to the entire book in a day. I can see why this book was given awards after it was published in 1962. I love those fuzzies!