Uller Uprising

By: H. Beam Piper

Narrated by: B. J. Harrison

So the Ulleran challenge begins, with the rantings of a prophet and a seemingly incidental street riot. Only when a dose of poison lands in the governer-general's whiskey does it become clear that the "geeks" have had it up their double-lidded eyeballs with the imperialist Terran Federation's Chartered Uller Company. Then, overnight, war is everywhere.

How it will end is in the merely two Terran hands of the new governor-general, a man shredw enough to know that "it is easier to banish a habit of thought than a piece of knowledge". The problem is, the particular piece of knowledge he needs hasn't been used in 450 years.

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Great Classic Story

Piper Excelled at retelling historical events as future Sci-Fi stories. This reframming of the Seapoy rebellion is a great example. Set in the far future on a colony world, Piper gives it the human touch with his viewpoint characters. A well written little adventure story and a good yarn for your enjoyment. I've re-read this story many times over the years. The Bubba Approves. Do Recommend.

great boof

I have loved this book for years and love this production also.

the natives are restless and the terrans got troubles.

Planetary colonialism and nucs

H Beam Piper’s Uller Uprising (also known as The Petrified Planet), is an early 1950’s era military sci-fi tale. Uller is a planet with an intelligent race (with four arms) that has been transformed into a mining colony under the direction of corporate interests. The natives function at a pre-industrial level with royalty determined through trial by combat. The Earth governor is assassinated which sets off a planet wide uprising. Response is harsh but concerns that the natives have learned about nuclear weapons (due to labor off planet involving nucs for mining) creates the potential for an arms race.

Piper offers economic and governmental systems that were going away at the time of this writing. Time delays due to interstellar distances results in an almost wild west with a heavy authoritarian tendency. Politics are primitive and a bit simplistic.

The narration is well done with reasonable character distinction. The Uller accent contains a ‘clicking’ sound which may have been fine for reading but produces an annoying cadence with the native tongue. Pacing is brisk.

Early THFH Novel

Set in Pipers Terro-Human Future History this novel is during the early expansion of the Federation. This story is set on the planet Uller, which like the Solar System planet Uranus orbits with is poles parallel to its plane instead of perpendicular like a normal planet.
Uller is a world like earth in size and length of year but because the north pole points directly at its star in summer and directly away in winter the seasons are very extreme. The equatorial belt which is tropical on Earth is temperate and most comfortable for humans. The mid latitudes and polar region's swing from extreme heat in summer to extreme freezing in winter because the day is months long as is the night time resulting in killing heat or chilling cold every year. Intelligent natives evolved to survive these extreme changes are dense, strong and far tougher than any human. They make ideal workers and soldiers for the Federation so long as their extreme dietary needs can be met by their employers and when a rebellion against the company breaks out it is uncertain the loyal troops will be able to keep their human allies and employers alive until the Federation navy can send help to suppress the rebellion. Paralleling the Sepoy Mutiny when Indian native troops tried to expel the British East India company this is a rollicking good story with interesting characters and all new alien situations.
The Audible version is a fun listen with the characters going through exciting events with realistic tones that help you feel the danger the characters are in.

Boring

Sorry, but this book just couldn't raise any excitement in me. There were moments when I thought it might finally get more interesting, but it always just went back to dragging along the same dull base line.

Narrator ruins the story

I do not usually write reviews, but have to do so with this book. Actually, I am not far into the story - just at the beginning of chapter two, to be exact. I am going crazy with the way this narrator reads! There are times I honestly feel as if a second grader would do a better job. The way this guy reads is truly unbearable. I have lost track of how many times I had to "rewind" so I could actually understand what was said or to follow the storyline. He hesitates in spots making me unsure if he is exaggerating a comma or starting a new sentence. I understand he has a lisp, but that has nothing to do with HOW he reads. It is so distracting and takes the joy out of listening to what seems to be another good book by the author. I would love to be able to return this book for one read by another narrator!!