The Many Worlds of Poul Anderson (also known as The Book of Poul Anderson) (1974) was originally edited by Roger Elwood. This DAW Books edition leaves out Elwood’s introduction, but leaves everything else just the same.

Poul Anderson had a long and successful writing career. This anthology incudes a nice range of his stories. My favorite is “The Queen of Air and Darkness,” a SF mystery story where a distraught mother hires the only private investigator available, Eric Sherrinford, to find her missing son who vanished during an expedition in the wilds of a frontier colony world.

 Another Poul Anderson favorite story is “The Longest Voyage,” where a party of daring explorers attempts to circumnavigate their world. While on their dangerous journey they encounter an island civilization which claims to have a prophet who fell from the stars. ” The Longest Journey” won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1961.

I’m a fan of DAW Books’ “The Book of” series that features the works of a single author. Check out another book in the series, The Book of Fritz Leiber here. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• “Tomorrow’s Children” (novelette) (Poul Anderson and F. N. Waldrop (uncredited)) — 9
• “The Queen of Air and Darkness” (novella) (Poul Anderson) — 36
• “Her Strong Enchantments Failing” (essay) (Patrick L. McGuire) — 81
• “Epilogue” (novella) (Poul Anderson) — 106
• “The Longest Voyage” (novelette) (Poul Anderson) — 153
• “Challenge and Response” (essay) (Sandra Miesel) — 184
• “Journeys End” (short story) (Poul Anderson) — 204
• “A World Named Cleopatra” (essay) (Poul Anderson) — 213
• “The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch” (novelette) (Poul Anderson and Gordon R. Dickson) — 225
• “Day of Burning” (novelette) (Poul Anderson) — 245