Lloyd Biggle, Jr. (1923–2002)

Delightful light classic light sci fi which could be set anywhere in a not-fully explored planet or galaxy.

Many years have passed since solitary prospector Cern Obrien crashed on Langri, an uncharted planet distant from regular human space lanes. Langri is a paradise, a gorgeous planet with beautiful beaches, exquisite flora, and friendly natives who appear to be descendants of other long-ago shipwrecked humans. But as lovely and unspoiled as the planet seems, there is only one food source show more which is not poisonous to humans, and the natives live a precarious existence, some years with starvation. Obrien is now an old man, having married and become a highly esteemed member of the group. When he realizes he is dying, he desperately creates a Plan to protect the natives from outsiders, aware that one day Langri will be rediscovered by someone who will want to develop it as a vacation destination, which would destroy the natives' way of life and food source. The requisite developer arrives just after Obrien dies, and the natives put the Plan into action, battling corporate might and a galactic legal system which benefits the already-powerful.

Interesting characters and landscape and just enough tension keep readers moving along as they root for the natives against interlopers who are sometimes predictable but nevertheless very entertaining to cheer against. show less

So, a sequel, but not really. I read the first book and I have a quick write-up on it on LT -- interesting plot that then meanders and then hard stop throw-up-you-hands ending. I didn't really like it overall.

I said in that review that I didn't know how they were going to do a sequel, and this really isn't. It's a whole separate story with separate characters and ideas, really only bringing over the central idea from the last book but then using it in a completely different way, although show more still a follow-on to the events of the last book.

This book is actually written by the author's friend -- Apparently and sadly, Sherred had a stroke and discontinued writing but his friend and fellow writer Biggle finished this book for him. And by finish, I'm guessing mostly write including most of the plot and characters. And man, what a difference. I like Biggle a lot and this book reads like a Biggle book from beginning to end.

This book would fit right in as a long form Star Trek story. Like most of Biggle's works, it is thoughtful, interesting, and fun to read. People solve problems through ideas not just action. I liked it a lot. show less

With the sudden arrival of a mysterious, highly instrumented capsule, tears a spiral path of devastation across a rural landscape before crashing, revealing the body of a strangely human but dead pilot inside.

Bowden Karvel, a former Air Force officer, proposes that the device originates from the distant future, and when the capsule is accidentally reactivated during investigation, it reappears with an alien navigator and destroys a small French town. To resolve the mystery of its origin and show more purpose, authorities select Karvel, a disabled veteran missing a leg, to serve as its human pilot and journey through time aboard the device show less

Lloyd Biggle Jr. is best known for bringing the arts to science fiction (just as Mack Reynolds brought sociology and economics to SF). He had a gentle, thoughtful style that made his books a pleasure to read; in that, his work resembles that of James White.

The Still, Small Voice of Trumpets is classic Biggle. The premise may perhaps seem a bit naive in these harsh days of realpolitik; a Galactic Federation which cannot expand unless a planet at its borders becomes a planetary democracy, show more without overt interference by Galactic agents. The natives of the planet, Gurnil, have a relatively low level of technology; they are not aware that aliens walk among them. If they discover that, the planet will be considered "blown", and the Galactic agents will have to withdraw in failure.

Those agents are also hampered by a web of regulations, rules, and maxims.

When Forzon, an officer of the Cultural Survey, is mysteriously reassigned to Gurnil he must not only find out why he was reassigned, but how to apply his speciality, the arts, to turning a brutal monarchy into a peaceful democracy. The natives have a magnificent appreciation of beauty and art, but seem to have virtually no political awareness. Forzon is allowed to introduce one technological innovation to the planet, but how can a single change literally revolutionize an entire world?

Biggle's answer is memorable and believable.

It must be noted that the book was first published in 1968, and that Biggle was not one of the "New Wave" authors who were in ascendence at that time. To some, his style may seem a little old-fashioned, though it's eminently readable. The romantic relationship between Forzon and Ann Curry, one of his agents, may also seem rather a bit dated - although accusations of sexism are not credible, since Forzon never treats Ann with less than respect, and her mistakes are not the stereotypical "stupid helpless female" behavior that was a staple of the poorer sort of science fiction a generation earlier.

The Still, Small Voice of Trumpets is a short, elegant, and thoughtful example of a type of science fiction which is still all too rare. It's well worth reading, and re-reading. Although it's quite a short book, Biggle wrote other memorable books on the same general theme, and most of them are back in print. show less