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.

An old and much loved friend

I first read this book in the early 1960's. Over the next forty-odd years, I have worn out innumerable paperbacks and at least one hard copy. Despite the rather "fuzzy" (sorry, I couldn't help it)title, this is one of the most intelligent, well-written, and touching first contact novel out there. Yes, it's technology is dated and so are the mores,but given the period it was written in, those small faults are understandable. Thank you audible for making this old friend available and please, record the rest of the series.

Interesting accents

One of the things I like best about audiobooks is that it makes me hear character dialogue in different ways. I've read this novel numerous times, and I never heard the accents in my head that Peter Ganim brings to the book. Now that I think about them, they make sense.
The Gerd van Riebeek and other characters with Afrikaner-type names have Afrikaner-type accents. Judge Pendarvis has a French accent, as does his wife, Claudette. And the American (can't call them English, as there are no English accents) are also done well.
The only disagreement I have is the cornpone accent of "Pappy Jack" Holloway. He may be a 70-year-old coot, but he never came across as a hick. But that's the impression I get from Ganin's interpretation.
I would like to see the other two books in this series posted ("Fuzzy Sapiens" and "Fuzzies and Other People.")

Lovely classic sciffy

This is a sweet story. I had read it years ago, and find it a bit dated, but still a treasure.

Fun!

Reminiscent of original Star Trek--light and fun listening. You will find yourself rooting for Little Fuzzy!

The awesome tale of Little Fuzzy!

I was surprised to find one of my most favorite tales finally in audio format. The story teller was enjoyable. I wished that they had used the artwork from Michael Whelen. I believe if they had it would increase the sales of this wonderful classic. Make sure that you get this audio book!

Old Classics!

Easily one of my favorite sci-fi stories of ALL TIME, and a pleasure to be able to share it with my children in this format. The narrator doesn't grab you right away, but the longer I listened the more he grew on me. The story itself makes it well worth listening to.

Add the others, audible!!

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.

Entertaining and different

I liked this book. It was engaging and even paced, keeping my interest throughout. It wasn't rocket science, but I don't want every book I get to make me think or ponder the great questions, I just want to be entertained. This book entertained me.

Fantastic book ruined by a poor performance

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

One of my all time favorite Golden Age novels that I've recommended to friends many times.

What didn’t you like about Peter Ganim’s performance?

Mechanical and droning. He does his best with the accents, but this was a very difficult listen because at least 70% of the book sounded like it was read by a robot.

Any additional comments?

This is a fantastic book that is one of my all time favorites. Unfortunately, Mr. Ganim's performance is at best poor. He does his best with a limited range of accents, but his style of mechanically reading in a monotone, droning voice is incredibly distracting and really detracts from a wonderful story that is filled with all sorts of emotional moments.

I hope they put out more "Fuzzy" audiobooks.

I love this story and being able to listen to it again after many years was great. This is another "one sitting" book for me (one really LONG sitting) and it kept me listening intently throughout the day, evening into the wee hours.

The narrator did an excellent job giving each character their own voice and that makes it easy to enjoy.

Highly recommended!