Fuzzy Sapiens

In Little Fuzzy, the plot hinged on whether a primitive race who did not use fire could be considered sapient. The question has now been answered, and Fuzzy Sapiens deals with the consequences of that ruling: Zarathustra goes from an uninhabited planet to one with a native population and from effectively being a company world to one with a colonial government.

My comments on Little Fuzzy still stand but with the addition of colonialism to add to the mix. I also found the descriptions of Fuzzies to be more than a little patronising (it was rather more obvious). I still enjoyed the story very much.

A reasonably entertaining yarn, but this has got to be the most naively improbable first contact story I have ever read. Humans have discovered another sentient race, with about 100 known individual "fuzzies"; and their first priority is to set up an Adoption Agency so the cute little rascals can be adopted by human families? Still, it's not without charm, and certainly takes you back to an era when sci-fi was a lot less pretentious.

A continuation of the highly-entertaining "Little Fuzzy", entertaining in its own right.

Yes, much of the technology is outdated, archaic, but do we spurn "Jane Eyre" or "Macbeth" because there are no electric lights? Do we degrade "Ulysses" because there are no cars? Of course not. We enjoy reading stories for what they are, what tales they tell, even though they might sound outdated.

But back to my review: "Fuzzy Sapiens" is very much enjoyable, on a par with the first book.

This is the second of the Fuzzy books that feature among the most memorable aliens in science fiction. Mind you, they're so cute as to induce sugar shock. Creatures "two feet tall, with wide-eyed... face... covered with soft golden fur," playful, sane, sweet and emotionally and intellectually about ten years old. The first book dealt with some sophisticated concepts. The "Fuzzies" are on a planet colonized by humans and largely owned and ruled by a corporation under a charter only valid if there are no sapient indigenous life forms. So when the Fuzzies first show up, it soon becomes a very serious matter indeed whether they're just cute animals--or people. The second novel develops some issues not resolved in the first one, and is still show more entertaining, although perhaps not as fresh in conception. I did like how in the second novel things were less black and white. Piper's not an elegant prose stylist. There are point-of-view jumps, and flaky section breaks (might be more an issue of bad editing than writing) and at times clumsy phrasing. But Piper's a good storyteller nevertheless and presents appealing characters--human and non-human alike. It's an good read. show less

The fuzzies are as adorable as ever to the humans...so the little beggars continue to exploit the clumsy things. I enjoy Piper's ability to show us alieness, or imperialism in his clever fashion.

I used to love this when I was younger, but now I find it badly paced, lacking in plot and with an attitude towards the Fuzzies that is so paternalistic and treating them as little more than pets that it sets my teeth on edge.

I think I liked this much more when I read it many years ago. I agree with the other reviewers. Fuzzy Sapiens is a reprint of The Other Human Race, published by Avon Books. What I remembered most was the Fuzzy attitude to making beds; I'm a convert.

"The blankets and cushions were all piled at one end; bedmaking, it seemed, wasn't a Fuzzy accomplishment. A bed was to sleep in, and no Fuzzy could see the sense in making a bed and then having to un-make it before he could use it." [p.33]