H. Beam Piper 1 hr 6 min read

Sometimes getting a job is harder than doing it, and getting out of one is hardest of all. The Emperor Paul, weary of a thousand-year-old symphony, would give much to be free of his throne.

H. Beam Piper's 1958 story is a witty, thoughtful social-SF and space-opera tale of galactic empire and the burdens of rule. Sharp, humane golden-age SF. Read it for a wry story about a reluctant emperor, the machinery of state, and the surprising difficulty of laying power down.

In its time

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

Reading it

1 hr 6 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

H. R. Van Dongen