H. Beam Piper & John J. McGuire 2 hr 10 min read

On the planet New Texas, where killing a politician is barely a crime, a young ambassador arrives to investigate a murder, and finds diplomacy is a decidedly dangerous business.

Piper and McGuire's 1958 novel (originally 'A Planet for Texans') is a witty social-SF and space-opera romp of frontier politics. Funny, sharp, fast. Read it for a delightful tale of a Texas-flavored colony world where assassinating bad statesmen is practically a civic duty.

In its time

Published in 1958, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

2 hr 10 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).