Library Entries - Alex Borders?
Henry Piper
Henry Piper is a fictional character in a series of short stories and Novellas by Stephen Silk? (a pen name for John Hartman, a former diplomat in the Gushemege sector)
Piper is a diplomat in service to the Imperium. Almost every story takes place in a different system, as one of the conceits of the series is that Piper is always transferred away at the end of the adventure by a superior whom he embarrassed over the course of the story. The exception, Piper's Perfect Paradise occurs when he prevents a genocidal plot against a low-tech sophont race while on vacation, and receives a rare commendation. In the following story, An Imperial Recall, Piper has been assigned to the planet, but quickly reverts to form and prevents a GeDeCo scout from establishing an exclusive trading base on the planet, after they had tricked his boss into granting the license.
There is little established chronology to the stories, and the setting is also deliberately vague. The only recurring character is Ethel K'wang-Li, Piper's friend in the Assignments Office who is constantly having to find him a new post, although there are regular mentions of Lisa Piper, Henry's mother, who is constantly sending nagging letters to him. Piper will often refuse to open them, treating them similarly to a boobytrapped package, until opening them at the end of the story, before moving on to a new posting.
Many readers have speculated on whether Silk based the character of Piper on himself, or someone he worked with in the Diplomatic Corps. Similarly, there have been questions about whether Ethel, or Lisa, are based on individuals from John Hartman's life. Hartman himself has never done more than acknowledge having written the stories, and has never granted an interview.
