Little Fuzzy

When prospector Jack Holloway discovers a family of small, friendly, furry creatures on the planet Zarathustra, he assumes they are charming animals. Then he begins to suspect they can reason, make tools, and understand him, which would make them people under the law. That single question threatens everything, because the powerful company that runs Zarathustra holds its charter only so long as the planet has no native intelligent life. What follows is part gentle first-contact tale, part gripping courtroom drama about how we decide who counts as a person. H. Beam Piper wrote it with warmth and a light touch, and it earned a lasting place among science fiction’s most beloved short novels. Published in 1962. Offered here as a free PDF and EPUB edition.