Piper, H. Beam. Uller Uprising. 1953. Introduction to Uller Uprising by John F. Carr. Introduction: The Silicon World by Dr. John D. Clark. E-book ed., Gateway, 2015. Federation 1.
H. Beam Piper was in his mid-forties when he published his first story in 1947. He was a prolific author of short stories and a few novels until his suicide in 1964. It is commonly thought that he felt despondent because of the low income produced by his work. That work became better known after his death. Jerry Pournelle, then an editor at Ace, republished many of his works in book form in the 1980s, and John Scalzi has written an affectionate reboot of Little Fuzzy, arguably his best novel.
Many of his works are loose alternate histories that remind me of Asimov’s Galactic Empire and Foundation series. Asimov raided Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in ways that are sometimes hard to recognize. Piper also took many liberties with history. According to John F. Carr’s introduction, Uller Uprising was inspired by the 1857 Indian revolt against the Raj and the British East India Company. The Terrans are, I guess, stand-ins for the British and the various Silicon-based aliens for the Indian factions. The original introduction by John Clark is notable as an outline for the ecology and lifeforms of Uller. Clark was an expert on the Conan series and a well-known figure in science fiction circles of the time. He may have written the introduction for the shared-world collection in which Uller Uprising first appeared, or another writer may have used his name as a pseudonym. The novel is planet-based mil-SF in which the combatants are harassed by old-school Nagasaki-class nukes. There are at least two kinds of nostalgia. ( )

I actually abandoned this half way through, I couldn't get on with the style at all, just great big chunks of description spattered with dialogue. I'm sure some hard ore fans may like it but it was not for me. ( )

Piper clearly has a thing about how native peoples are treated, which I was familiar with from Oomphel. This story was originally part of a set of novellas that were based on a seed idea written by Dr. Clark. He gave the writers two worlds to work with and they ran with it. Piper threw in the "Bengal uprising against English-held India" (as stated nicely in a very good introductory essay about Piper's work by John F. Carr). We are also introduced to the common theme of Piper's characters having a cocktail hour and smoking, something that is kind of both soothing and off-putting. Seriously though, the intro essay is really great and pretty much covers the themes that made me want to tear through the Terro-Human series— In these stories we see Terro-Humans at their best and at their worst: Individual heroism and bravery in the face of grave danger in Uller Uprising; Federation law and justice in Little Fuzzy and its sequels; and, in "Omnilingual" and "Naudsonce," the spirit of science and rational inquiry. Yet we also see colonial exploitation and subjugation in Uller Uprising and "Oomphel in the Sky," the greed and corruption of Chartered land companies in Little Fuzzy, and political corruption in Four-Day Planet. These stories are about a living Terro-Human culture, not a utopia. ( )

I thought this was quite a bit better than Fuzzy Sapiens. The two alien worlds are described in more detail and generally better conceived; the characters are a bit smarter; the aliens have a lot more depth; and the plot is much more interesting. The discussion about and eventual decision to use a nuclear bomb also raises interesting questions. Some web source (I don't remember where) indicated that the alien uprising is modeled after an actual revolt under British colonial India. One minor drawback is the completely unneccesary romance between the general who saves the day (despite the ineptitude of the career diplomats) and a young lady who starts as an alien sympathizer and ends up as his adjutant. ( )

Uller Uprising was written and originally published in The Petrified Planet. It consisted of three stories, all using the same scientific essay which described the planets to be used as the basis for each. Piper fans, and in particular Terro-Human Future History fans, owe Dr. John D. Clark, who wrote the essay, a debt of thank. Uller Uprising is the foundation of Piper’s TFH and Dr. Clark’s essay is the underlying support.

Uller Uprising is a straightforward action/war story. The disgruntled Ullerans rise up and revolt in an attempt to throw off the yoke of the Terran overlords. Through better weapons, leadership and luck, the humans defeat the natives and retain control of the planet. There is much left unresolved at the end of the story, but it what will happen is implied in the story.

The story is wonderfully written and extremely well paced. The action starts immediately and continues throughout, barely giving the characters (and the reader) a chance to catch a rest, until reaching it’s explosive climax. The major part of the story concerns war, and it is treated seriously. The horrors of war are clearly shown, as are the costs, in both the destruction of property and lives taken. ( )