Recently, Bill Crider reviewed an upcoming Science Fiction anthology, Infinite Stars edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt. In his review, Bill wrote this about SF Titan Poul Anderson: “And there’s a good one by Poul Anderson, now nearly forgotten but a fixture in the digests of the ’50s when I was growing up. He wrote great space opera, fantasy, hard SF, historical novels, and more, and he was good at all of them. Now virtually forgotten, more’s the pity.” Those words motivated me to read The Van Rijin Method, an omnibus edition BAEN Books published back in 2008. It’s almost 700 pages of delight! The best part of this book is The Man Who Counts (aka, The War of the Wing-Men). Classic SF!
And, this volume includes one of my favorite Poul Anderson mystery stories, “Hiding Place,” where Van Rijn has to figure out who aboard a starship carrying zoo animals are the intelligent aliens (who disguised themselves in the cages). BAEN Books published six more omnibus volumes and I’ll be reviewing them over the next few months of FFB. Do you have a favorite Poul Anderson story? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
“PLANETS AND PROFITS: Introducing Nicholas Van Rijn and the Polesotechnic League” By Hank Davis
THE SATURN GAME
Introduction Wings Of Victory
WINGS OF VICTORY
Introduction Problem Of Pain
PROBLEM OF PAIN
Introduction Margin Of Profit
MARGIN OF PROFIT
Introduction How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson
HOW TO BE ETHNIC IN ONE EASY LESSON
Introduction The Three-Cornered Wheel
THE THREE-CORNERED WHEEL
Introduction A Sun Invisible
A SUN INVISIBLE
Introduction The Season Of Forgiveness
THE SEASON OF FORGIVENESS
Introduction The Man Who Counts
THE MAN WHO COUNTS
Introduction Esau
ESAU
Introduction Hiding Place
HIDING PLACE
CHRONOLOGY OF TECHIC CIVILIZATION By Sandra Miesel
Always liked the Man Who Came Early and No Truce With Kings but it has been a long time since I have read them. In longer works I like The Broken Sword.
Steve, the first Poul Anderson SF novel I read as a kid was VAULT OF THE AGES, a YA volume in the WINSTON SCIENCE FICTION series.
Sounds great – far too long since I read him. Thanks George 🙂
Sergio, I’ll be reviewing the other six volumes of Poul Anderson’s TECHNIC series over the next year.
Glad you got inspired to reread some Anderson. And glad to see that Hank Davis is putting these anthologies out there. If Baen’s doing these things, Anderson can’t be forgotten.
Bill, the New England Science Fiction Assocation volumes of Poul Anderson’s short stories are also terrific!
You mean New England Science Fiction Association
Pat, thanks for the correction on the New England Science Fiction Association whose work I admire. Sometimes my brain is fogged!
For about 20 years starting in the late 50s I read tons of SF, including an awful lot of Anderson, who was as good as he was prolific. It would be tough to pick a favorite, but I’d go with “The High Crusade”, in which aliens invade earth during the Crusades. Just wonderful stuff!
Michael, I read a lot of Poul Anderson as a kid (mostly in the 1960s). Loved his work!
George, I was a student already in the 60s but I agree with you re Poul’s work!
In those days his ideas were really wild for a burgeois kid like me.
Fond memories of my first Ace Doubles that I bought – several Anderson novels among them. And then in the 70s I started collecting th old SF magazines (If, Galaxy, F&SF etc) in London, looking for stories from Poul, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber and the like – and evry copy was a kind of treasure trove.
PS:
I was “on the road” and had no time but now I’m back in Hungary in the quiet life – and of course also on your fantastic site!
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve never read him. He’s on my list.
Jeff, there are plenty of writers I haven’t read yet. Poul Anderson wrote prolifically for decades and his quality control was very good!