Cosmic Computer

Published in 1963, 'Cosmic Computer' by H. Beam Piper is a science fiction novel set on the impoverished planet Poictesme. The story follows Conn Maxwell as he returns from Terra with news of a legendary military super-computer named Merlin, believed to be abandoned after the last war. The inhabitants of Poictesme see the potential discovery of Merlin as a means to escape their poverty, raising questions about its reality and the consequences of its existence.