Little Fuzzy is an unassuming title to one of my most beloved sci-fi stories.  It was a book that I had never heard about, that sat on one of the many bookshelves in my childhood home.  I’m not sure why I picked it up one day.  I can’t even remember how old I was when I decided to give it a go.  What I do know is that I instantly fell in love with Jack Holloway and the cutest little family of aliens that are basically like incredibly smart and loving teddy bears.

Little Fuzzy was written by H. Beam Piper and published in 1962 going on to win the Hugo Award in 1963.  It’s a fairly simple tale.  Jack Holloway is a reclusive miner on a far flung planet owned by a giant corporation.  One day after he comes home he finds a little creature that has broken into his house.  The little guy is a creature he’s never seen before that looks adorably like a miniature human covered in fur.  

At first Jack believes Little Fuzzy is just a highly intelligent animal but calls in some friends who work at documenting and studying the alien planet and creatures to come take a look.  Word get’s out and some men from the ‘corporation’ come as well.  In which arises some antagonism between the ‘corporation goons’ and Jack and his friends.

Unfortunately this eventually leads to a tragedy involving Little Fuzzy’s family, who have all come to stay with Jack, which in itself leads to a new revelation about the little aliens.  They might just be sapient beings, not animals.  However, if this is the case the ‘corporation’ will lose their rights to the planet and a lot of money.  And so we have a tale of David vs. Goliath as Jack and friends seek to protect their fuzzy friends from the corporation. 

This tale is old school fiction at its best.  An intriguing story raising questions about what it means to be human and the struggle between the corporations we rely on to advance technology and humanity and the need to still see and respect the individual.  I am so thankful that I picked this book up and read it and I continue to re-read it every time I need a heart-warming tale.  There are also two more tales about Little Fuzzy and his family in Fuzzy Sapiens and Fuzzy and Other People.  Also, if you like the Fuzzie’s John Scalzi wrote a book called Fuzzy Nation that is a reimagining of Little Fuzzy with a more anti-hero version of Jack Halloway.  This is also a great read and an interesting take on the tale of Little Fuzzy.  However I prefer Little Fuzzy myself as it is the more endearing of the two books, at least, in my opinion.