Space Viking Author:H. Beam Piper Vengeance is a strange human motivation -- it can drive a man to do things which he neither would nor could achieve without it... and because of that it lies behind some of the greatest sagas of human literature! — After a galaxy-wide war had left the planetary federation in ruins, every surviving civilized world was on its own. And that was a pe... more »rfect setup for the marauders from the far-out rim.
Trask was one of those dreaded Space Vikings, a warrior spaceman with a crew and a ship that struck terror to a thousand worlds. But Trask had a special personal interest in scourging the stars -- he wanted to draw upon himself the fire of a certain enemy -- a renegade planet-wrecker with a yen for galactic empire building....« less
Space Viking is a favorite of mine. I like that civilization is portrayed as fragile in it, as it shows that H. Beam Piper has a real grasp of history. But it probably deserves a sequel to build the world out more.