Space Viking

<p><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Space Viking is a </em><em>science fiction novel</em><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> written by </em><em>H. Beam Piper</em><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> and is set in his Terro-Human</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span>future history<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. It tells the story of one man's search for his wife's murderer and its unexpected consequences. The story was originally serialized in </span><em>Analog</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> magazine.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><h2><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Background</span></h2><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Ten thousand refugees from the losing side of The Big War (The System States War of </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Cosmic Computer</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>) fled far beyond the boundaries of the Terran Federation and colonized the planet </span>Excalibur<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. By the beginning of </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Space Viking</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> they had expanded to a handful of Sword Worlds (so-called because they are named after legendary swords) and had grown to a total population of three and a half billion organized in a </span>feudal<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> system of kingdoms duchies and other small states ruled by frequently-warring noblemen. Despite their isolation and the political instability the inhabitants managed to retain a high level of technology including space flight.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>One day a starship rediscovered the Old Federation. Civilization had collapsed presumably due to the war; many of the planets had regressed to varying stages of semi-barbarism. Taking advantage of the situation Space Vikings (reminiscent of Norse </span>vikings<span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>) proceeded to raid the poorly defended Federation worlds over the next three hundred years for loot.</span></p>