Lone Star Planet
H Beam Piper
In 1999, this novel won the Prometheus Award, Hall of Fame Award for Best Classic Libertarian SF Novel. This tale features a planet of Texans whose dinosaur-sized cattle have to be herded with tanks, and whose system of government derives its character from H.L. Mencken's classic essay "The Malevolent Jobholder". The protagonist is an insubordinate junior diplomat who is appointed as ambassador to this cantankerously independent planet in the hope that he will be assassinated (as the previous ambassador had been), thereby justifying the forcible invasion and conquest of the Texans. The crux of the story is the trial of the previous ambassador's assassins--actually paid killers hired by an alien empire also planning invasion--under a legal system that considers the killing of a practicing politician to be justifiable homicide.
Booko found 24 book editions
Product filters
Booko collects this information from user contributions and sources on the internet - it is not a definitive list of editions. Search Booko for other editions of Lone Star Planet.