A review by andrewspink
Space Viking by H. Beam Piper

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This is an old science fiction book that has not aged well. Some things like characters smoking cigarettes and pipes on a space ship are just archaic.  Use of verier scales is quaint (I bet 90% of under 25s don't even know what that old technology is). All the aristocratic titles are just bizarre.  But what is really bad is all the stuff about how democracy is weak and can only be protected by the occasional massacre of undesirable elements. But then this was written at the time that the CIA was overthrowing democracies and installing dictators in various countries.  Apparently some writers at that time thought that was a good idea as well.