NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Poul Anderson

Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926–July 31, 2001) was an American science fiction author of the genre's Golden Age. Poul Anderson has also written several works of fantasy. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... This page lists a broad variety of science fiction novels (and novel series)--some old, some new; some famous, some obscure; some well-written, some ill-written--and so may be considered a representative slice of the field. ... Note that this partial list contains some authors whose works of fantastic fiction would today be called science fiction, even if they predate, or did not work in that genre. ... Poster for 2001: A Space Odyssey, an archetypal science fiction film Science fiction film is a film genre that uses speculative, science-based depictions of imaginary phenomena such as extra-terrestrial lifeforms, alien worlds, and time travel, often along with technological elements such as futuristic spacecraft, robots, or other technologies. ... Download high resolution version (500x743, 100 KB)The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ... F&SF April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ... Kelly Freas publicity headshot Frank Kelly Freas (27 August 1922–2 January 2005), called the Dean of Science Fiction Artists, was one of the most prolific and popular science fiction and fantasy artists. ... A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 23 miles (37 km) northeast of Philadelphia opposite Burlington, N.J. on the Delaware River. ... Official language(s) English, Pennsylvania Dutch Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area Ranked 33rd - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 kmÂ²) - Width 280 miles (455 km) - Length 160 miles (255 km) - % water 2. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Orinda is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area Ranked 3rd - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 kmÂ²) - Width 250 miles (400 km) - Length 770 miles (1,240 km) - % water 4. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or content. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Smaug in his lair: an illustration for the fantasy The Hobbit Fantasy is a genre of art that uses magic and other supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. ... Gregory Dale Bear (born August 20, 1951) is a science fiction author. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... The Golden Age of Science Fiction, often recognized as a period from the late 1930s or early 1940s through the 1950s, was an era during which the science fiction genre gained wide public attention and many classic science fiction stories were published. ...

He received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married the former Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to the science fiction author Greg Bear. Washington Avenue Bridge at night The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, almost always abbreviated U of M, and sometimes referred to as The U by locals, is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Widow and sometimes co-author of Poul Anderson. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Gregory Dale Bear (born August 20, 1951) is a science fiction author. ...

He was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (pronounced // or //), was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

He was also a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America (SSGA), a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy literature which chronicles the tales of heros and their conquests in imaginary lands. ... Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 - February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor and critic. ... Flashing Swords #1 Contents: Introduction: Of Swordsmen and Sorcerers by Lin Carter A Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser story: The Sadness of the Executioner by Fritz Leiber A tale of The Dying Earth: Morreion by Jack Vance A fantasy of the Vikings: The Mermans Children by Poul Anderson An...

In addition, he was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. The Society for Creative Anachronism (usually shortened to SCA) is a historical reenactment and living history group approximating mainly pre-17th century Western European history and culture. ...

Survey of Political, Moral and Literary Themes

Anderson is probably best known for adventure stories in which larger-than-life characters succeed gleefully or fail heroically. He also wrote some quieter works, generally of shorter length, which appeared more during the latter part of his career. However, Anderson was seldom interested in psychological analysis.

Much of his science fiction is thoroughly grounded in science (with the addition of dubious but standard speculations such as faster-than-light travel). A specialty was imagining scientifically plausible non-Earthlike planets. Perhaps the best-known was the planet of The Man Who Counts — Anderson adjusted its size and composition so that humans could live in the open air but flying intelligent aliens could evolve, and he explored consequences of these adjustments. His stories often depicted a shipwrecked or stranded hero's struggle to survive in the hostile environment of an alien world through ingenuity and sheer drive. Faster-than-light (also superluminal or FTL) communications and travel are staples of the science fiction genre. ...

Space and Liberty

In many stories, Anderson commented on society and politics. Whatever other vicissitudes his views went through, he firmly retained his belief in the direct and inextricable connection between human liberty and expansion into space - for which reason he strongly cried out against any idea of space exploration being "a waste of money" or "unnecessary luxury".

The connection between space flight and freedom is clearly (as is stated explicitly in some of the stories) an extension of the essential Nineteenth Century American concept of the Frontier, where malcontents can always advance further and claim some new land. And the space frontier is in most of Anderson's stories free of the taint of injustice and brutal dispossession of the native Americans in the original; Anderson's pioneers either bring life to what were barren asteroids as in "The Tales of the Flying Mountains" or settle on earthlike planets teeming with life but having no native intelligence (for example, "New Europe" in "Star Fox"). In the second case, the colonists take much better care of the environment than did Nineteenth Century Americans. A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary, or of a different nature. ... Native Americans are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ...

As repeatedly expressed in his non-fiction essays, Anderson firmly held that going into space was not an unnecessary luxury but an existential need, and that abandoning space would doom humanity to "a society of brigands ruling over peasants".

This is graphically expressed in the chilling short story "Welcome" in which humanity abandoned space and as a result ended with an overcrowded Earth where a small elite not only treats all the rest as chattel slaves but also regularly practices cannibalism, its members getting their chefs to prepare "roast suckling coolie" for their banquets. This article is about consuming ones own species. ... A breastfeeding infant Breastfeeding is the practice of a woman feeding an infant (or sometimes a toddler or a young child) with milk produced from her mammary glands, usually directly from the nipples. ... Coolie labourer circa 1900 in Zhenjiang, China. ...

Conversely, in the bleak Orwellian world of "The High Ones" - where the Soviets won the Third World War and gained control of the whole world - the dissidents still have have some hope, precisely because space flight has not been abandoned. By the end of the story, rebels have established themselves at another stellar system - where their descendants, the reader is told, would eventually build a liberating fleet and set out back to Earth. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Soviet redirects here. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

World Government

While naturally horrified by the prospect of the Soviets winning a complete rule over the Earth, Anderson was not enthusiastic about having Americans in that role, either. In fact, several stories and books describing the aftermath of a total American victory in the Third World War - such as "Sam Hall" and its loose sequel "Three Worlds to Conquer" as well as "Shield" - are scarcely less bleak than the above-mentioned depictions of a Soviet victory. Like Heinlein in "Solution Unsatisfactory", Anderson assumed that the imposition of an American military rule over the rest of the world would necessarily entail the destruction of American democracy and the imposition of a harsh tyrannical rule over the United States' own citizens. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 â€“ May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... Solution Unsatisfactory is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein. ...

Interestingly, both Anderson's depiction of a Soviet-dominated world and that of an American-dominated one mention a rebellion breaking out at Brazil in the early 21st Century, which is in both cases brutally put down by the dominant world power - the Brazilian rebels being characterised as "Counter-Revolutionaries" in the one case and as "Communists" in the other.

In the early years of the Cold War - when he had been, as described by his later, more conservative self, a "flaming liberal" - Anderson pinned his hopes on the United Nations developing into a true world government. This is especially manifest in "Un-man", a future thriller where the Good Guys are agents of the UN Secretary General working to establish a world government while the Bad Guys are nationalists (especially American ones) who seek to preserve their respective nations' sovereignty at all costs. (The title has a double meaning — the hero is literally a UN man and has superhuman abilities which make his enemies fear him as an "un-man"). For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... It has been suggested that World Federation be merged into this article or section. ... Un-Man is a science fiction novella by Poul Anderson that was first published in the January 1953 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. ... The foundation of the U.N. The United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate co-operation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress and human rights issues. ... It has been suggested that World Federation be merged into this article or section. ...

In later years Anderson completely repudiated this idea (a half-humorous remnant is the beginning of Tau Zero — a future where the nations of the world entrusted Sweden with overseeing disarmament and found themselves living under the rule of the Swedish Empire). In Star Fox, his unfavorable depiction of a future peace group called "World Militants for Peace" indicates clearly where he stood with regard to the Vietnam War, raging when the book was published. A more explicit expression of the same appears in the later The Shield of Time where a time-travelling young American woman from the 1990s pays a brief visit to a university campus of the 1960s and is not enthusiastic about what she sees there. Tau Zero is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam Peopleâ€™s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

Libertarianism

Instead of a world government, the above-mentioned "Shield" resolves the problem of an American-dominated world dictatorship in a truly libertarian manner: The protagonist, who is hunted by various power groups for the secret of a personal impreganable force field which he brought from Mars, finally decides to simply reveal it to the entire world, so that every individual could thumb his or her nose at each and every Authority. See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... In science fiction and fantasy literature, a force field is a physical barrier made up of energy to protect a person or object from attacks or intrusions. ... Adjectives: Martian Atmosphere Surface pressure: 0. ...

Anderson often returned to libertarianism (which accounts for his Prometheus Awards) and to the business leader as hero, most notably his character Nicholas van Rijn. Van Rijn is, however, far from the modern type of business executive, being a kind of throwback to the merchant venturer of the Dutch Golden Age of the Seventeenth Century - if he spends any time in boardrooms or plotting corporate takeovers, the reader remains ignorant of it, since virtually all his appearances are in the wild space frontier. This article is about the individualist philosophy, which is supportive of private property. ... The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ... Nicholas van Rijn is the central character in the first half of Poul Andersons Technic History. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...

Beginning in the 1970s, Anderson's historically grounded works were influenced by the theories of the historian John K. Hord, who argued that all empires follow the same broad cyclical pattern — in which the Terran Empire of the Dominic Flandry spy stories fit neatly. Dominic Flandry is the central character in the second half of Poul Andersons Technic History science fiction. ... The genre of spy fiction â€” sometimes called political thriller or spy thriller or sometimes shortened simply to Spy-fi â€” arose before World War I at about the same time that the first modern intelligence agencies were formed. ...

The writer Sandra Miesel (1978) has argued that Anderson's overarching theme is the struggle against entropy and the heat death of the universe, a condition of perfect uniformity where nothing can happen. Sandra Miesel is a medievalist and journalist. ... Ice melting - classic example of entropy increasing[1] described in 1862 by Rudolf Clausius as an increase in the disgregation of the molecules of the body of ice. ... The heat death is a possible final state of the universe, in which it has reached maximum entropy. ...

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

A non-fiction essay which is embedded in There Will Be Time and attributed to the book's fictional protagonist, but which seems to reflect Anderson's own views, sharply criticizes the American Left of 1972 (when it was written) for two instances of a double standard: for neglecting to address human rights violations in the Soviet Union and for failing to notice Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... A double standard, according to the World Book Dictionary, is a standard applied more leniently to one group than to another. ...

References to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict crop up quite frequently in Anderson's fiction, through various analogues and the conflict's past, future and alternate permutations. Significantly, Anderson's position on the Middle East conflict was considerably more dovish than his stance towards the United States' own wars, such as his the aforementioned support for the military involvement in Vietnam. Consistently, he regarded the conflict as one in which both Israelis and Palestinians have some measure of justice on their side, and Israeli characters often express criticism of their country's policies. Israel, with the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is often claimed to be at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict, is an ongoing dispute between two peoples, Jewish Israelis and Arab Palestinians, that both claim the right to sovereignty over the Land... Pacifism is opposition to the practice of war. ...

Thus, in the story "Ivory, and apes, and peacocks", the Time Patrol's resident agents in the Tyre of King Hiram are a Twentieth Century Israeli couple, who express their wish to help the ancient Tyrians "in order to compensate a bit for what our country is going to do here". (The story was written during the Lebanon War of 1982, when Israeli planes bombed the modern Tyre and caused heavy civilian casualties). The Triumphal Arch Tyre (Arabic , Phoenician , Hebrew Tzor, Tiberian Hebrew , Akkadian , Greek TÃ½ros) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. ... Hiram (Hebrew Ahiram; my brother [god] is exalted), also called Huram in 2 Chronicles 2, was the king of Tyre and ally of Israel from 970 BC to 936 BC. When King David of Israel built a palace in Jerusalem, he asked Hiram to provide both the timber and the... The term Lebanon War is used to describe either of the following events: Lebanese Civil War (starting 1975) 1982 Lebanon War (also known as Operation Peace for Galilee) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The aggressive mutants of Dromm in "Inside Straight", who totally subdued their own planet and embarked on interstellar conquest, had started as a persecuted minority. The Dromman character in the story - who is clearly the villain but is nevertheless depicted with considerable empathy - thinks of his people's history of having been the target of "whipped up xenophobia, pogroms and concentration camps", in one of which his own grandfather died. He also thinks of how angry his people were when an off-world philosopher told them: "Unjust treatment is apt to produce paranoia in the victim. Your race has outlived its oppressors, but not the reflexes they built into your society. Your canalised nervous system make you incapable of regarding anyone else as anything but a dangerous enemy". Look up xenophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Russian word pogrom (погром) refers to a massive violent attack on people with simultaneous destruction of their environment (homes, businesses, religious centers). ... A concentration camp is a large detention centre created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ...

In "Fire Time" is given the detailed history of a prolonged escalating conflict on a planet colonized simultaneously by humans who call it Mundomar and the non-human Naqsans who call it Tseyakka: The historical film of the human leader Sigurdsson declaring the independent republic of Eleutheria in the midst of war is clearly reminiscent of Ben Gurion declaring Israel's independence in 1948; in a later war, the Eleutherians conquer the Naqsan continent of G'yaaru, rename it Sigurdssonia and establish settlements in it. David Ben-Gurion was the first prime minister of Israel. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ...

There is in this context a short reappearance of Gunnar Heim, the protagonist of "Star Fox". In the earlier book, Heim personally, as a privateer waging an undeclared war on the Aleriona, forced a reluctant Earth into an all-out war - which Heim felt was needed since the Aleriona were ideologically committed to the universal conquest of everybody else (apparently, in this context, the analogue of Communism - though the Aleriona do not resemble Communists in any particular detail). With regard to Mundomar/Tseyakka, however, the same Heim is the voice of moderation, calling for compromise and coexistence between the two warring parties and strongly condemning the uncritical support of Earth for the aggressive Eleutherians (which seems an analogue of US support of Israel). Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

In a related story, a group of isolated humans had been living for several generations on an alien planet, on extremely good terms with its non-human inhabitants and without the slightest conflict with them. Nevertheless, the captain of an arriving Earth ship forces them at gunpoint to leave the planet, stating: "Can you speak for your grandchildren and for their grandchildren, for generations which will grow more and more numerous and need more and more land? When my ancestors arrived in Palestine, they did not intend to disposes the local Arabs and drive them into refugee camps - but in the end, that's what they did." (The captain's family name is "Ben Yehuda" - the name of the noted Zionist linguist Eliezer Ben Yehuda who had a major share in transforming Hebrew, a purely liturgical language for many centuries, into a spoken language again). Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (אליעזר בן־יהודה) (b. ... â€œHebrewâ€ redirects here. ...

This is a typical example of Anderson's frequent motif of a tragic conflict - a story with no villains at all, with all protagonists having the best of good intentions and still forced into bitter conflict.

Fairness to the Adversaries

In the numerous books and stories depicting conflict in science-fictional or fantasy settings, Anderson takes trouble to make both sides' points of view comprehensible. Even where there can be no doubt as to whose side the author is on, the antagonists are usually not depicted as villains but as honourable on their own terms. The reader is given access to their thoughts and feelings, and they have often a tragic dignity in defeat. Typical examples are The Winter of the World and The People of the Wind.

A common theme in Anderson, and one with obvious origins in the Northern-European legends, is that doing the "right" (wisest) thing often involves performing actions that, at face value, seem dishonourable, illegal, destructive or downright evil. Nicholas van Rijn, in "The Man who Counts," is the "The Man" because he is prepared to be tyrannical and callously manipulative so that he and his companions can survive. The protagonist in "High Treason" disobeys orders and betrays his subordinates to prevent his race (the Human race) from committing a war crime which would bring severe retribution upon them. Dominic Flandry, in "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows," first (effectively) lobotomizes his own son and then bombards the homeplanet of the Chereionite race in order to do his duty and prop up the Terran empire. These actions affect their characters in different ways, and dealing with the repercussions of having done the "right" (but unpleasant) thing is often the major focus of his short stories. The general lesson seems to be that guilt is the penalty for action.

In Star Fox, a relationship of grudging respect is built up between the hero, space privateer Gunnar Heim, and his enemy Cynbe — an exceptionally gifted member of Alerione, trained from a young age to understand his species' human enemies to the point of being alienated from his own kind. In the final scene, Cynbe challenges Heim to a space battle which only one of them would survive. Heim accepts, whereupon Cynbe says, "I thank you, my brother."

Underestimating "Primitives" as a Costly Mistake

Anderson set much of his work in the past, often with the addition of magic, or in alternate or future worlds that resemble past eras. A specialty was his ancestral Scandinavia, as in his novel versions of the legends of Hrólf Kraki (Hrolf Kraki's Saga) and Haddingus (The War of the Gods). Frequently he presented such worlds as superior to the dull, over-civilized present. Notable depictions of this superiority are the prehistoric world of "The Long Remembering", the quasi-medieval society of "No Truce with Kings", and the untamed Jupiter of "Call me Joe" and Three Worlds to Conquer. He handled the lure and power of atavism satirically in "Pact", critically in "The Queen of Air and Darkness" and The Night Face, and tragically in "Goat Song". Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe and includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... HrÃ³lf Kraki (Old Norse), Rolf Kraki or Rolf Krake was a legendary king at Lejre on the isle of Zealand, Denmark, described in several old sagas and other documents such as the Leire chronicle and Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus. ... Hadingus was one of the earliest legendary Danish kings according to Saxo Grammaticus Gesta Danorum where he has a detailed biography. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 70 kPa Hydrogen ~86% Helium ~14% Methane 0. ... Call me Joe (1957) is a science fiction story by Poul Anderson. ...

In many stories, a representative of a technologically advanced society underestimates "primitives" and pays a high price for it. In The High Crusade, aliens who land in medieval England in the expectation of an easy conquest find that they are not immune to swords and arrows. In "The Only Game in Town", a Mongol warrior, while not knowing that the two "magicians" he meets are time travellers from the future, correctly guesses their intentions — and captures them with the help of the "magic" electric flashlight they had given him in an attempt to impress him. In another time-travel tale, The Shield of Time, a "time policeman" from the Twentieth Century, equipped with information and technologies from much further in the future, is outwitted by a medieval knight and barely escapes with his life. Yet another story, The Man Who Came Early, features a 20th century United States Army soldier stationed in Iceland who is transported to the tenth century. Although he is full of ideas, his lack of practical knowledge of how to implement them and his total unfamiliarity with the technology of the period lead to his downfall. Book cover for The High Crusade The High Crusade is a novel by Poul Anderson. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... Cover of The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sixth Series, showing a holmgang involving Gerald Samsson. ... The United States Army is one of the armed forces of the United States and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...

Tragic Conflicts

The story told in The Man Who Came Early is also an example of a tragic conflict, another common theme in Anderson's writing. The knight tries to do his best in terms of his own society and time, but his actions might bring about a horrible Twentieth Century (even more horrible than the one we know). Therefore, the Time Patrol protagonists, who like the young knight and wish him well (the female protagonist comes close to falling in love with him), have no choice but to fight and ultimately kill him. Cover of The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sixth Series, showing a holmgang involving Gerald Samsson. ...

In "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth" a time-travelling American anthropologist is assigned to study an ancient Gothic tribe and study its culture by regular visits every few decades. Gradually he is drawn into close involvement, feeling protective towards the Goths (many of them his own descendants, following a brief and poignant liaison with a Gothic girl who died at birth-giving) - and they identify him as the god Odin/Wodan. Then he finds that he must cruelly betray his beloved Goths, since an ancient ballad says that Odin did so - and that failure to fulfill his prescribed role might change history and bring the whole of the Twentieth Century as we know it crashing down. In the final scene he cries out in anguish: "Not even the Gods can defy the Norns!" - giving a new twist to this central aspect of the Norse religion. Invasion of the Goths: a late 19th century painting by O. Fritsche, is a highly romanticized portrait of the Goths as cavalrymen. ... For other meanings of Odin, Woden or Wotan see Odin (disambiguation), Woden (disambiguation), Wotan (disambiguation). ... For other meanings of Odin and Wotan see Odin (disambiguation) Odin (Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden) is usually considered the supreme god of Germanic and Norse mythology. ... The Norns The Norns of the Norse Mythology are three old crones by the names of Urd (fate), Skuld (necessity) and Verdandi (in the making). ... Norse paganism or Nordic religion is a termed used to abbreviate the religion preferably amongst the Germanic tribes living in Nordic countries under pre-Christian period that are supported by archaeology findings and early written materials. ...

In "The Pirate", the hero is duty-bound to deny a band of people from societies blighted by poverty the chance for a new start on a new planet — because their settling the planet would eradicate the remnants of the artistic and articulate beings who lived there before. A similar theme but with much higher stakes appears in "Sister Planet": although terraforming Venus would provide new hope to starving people on the overcrowded Earth, it would exterminate Venus's just-discovered intelligent race — and the hero can avert genocide only by murdering his best friends. The Pirate is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson that first appeared in the October 1968 issue of Analog. ... Artists conception of a terraformed Mars in four stages of development. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ...

In "Delenda Est" the stakes are the highest imaginable. Time-travelling outlaws have created a new 20th Century — "not better or worse, just completely different". The hero can fight the outlaws and restore his (and our) familiar history — but only at the price of totally destroying the world which has taken its place. "Risking your neck to in order to negate a world full of people like yourself" is how the hero describes what he eventually undertakes.

Fitting Anderson's love for olden years, Ander-Saxon, a kind of learnèd writing with Germanic-rooted words only, is named after him. ...

Awards

The Gandalf Grand Master Award for life achievement in fantasy writing was awarded annually by the World Science Fiction Society from 1974 to 1980. ... The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel has been awarded every year since 1973, except in 1994. ... The Nebula is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years (see rolling eligibility below). ... The Pegasus Awards were founded to recognize and honor excellence in filking. ... Anne Passovoy is active in science fiction fandom and filk music, and has won two Pegasus Awards. ... The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ... Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA (pronounced // or //), was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight. ... The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award is an award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. ...

Partial bibliography (book-length works only)

Science fiction

Hoka

Reissued by Baen as: Gordon Dickson lecturing. ... Baen Books is a publishing house that publishes science fiction and fantasy novels, including numerous military science fiction genre works. ...

The Psychotechnic League

The Psychotechnic League is a future history created by science fiction writer Poul Anderson. ...

Tomorrow's Children

Technic History

Polesotechnic League period of Nicholas van Rijn

(by internal chronology): Nicholas van Rijn is the central character in the first half of Poul Andersons Technic History. ...

The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ...

Terran Empire period of Dominic Flandry

(by internal chronology): Dominic Flandry is the central character in the second half of Poul Andersons Technic History science fiction. ...

The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... The Nebula is an award given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the two previous years (see rolling eligibility below). ...

Time Patrol

History of Rustum

Maurai

Orion Shall Rise is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson, published in 1983. ...

Harvest of Stars

The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ...

Other novels

Question and Answer is a science fiction novella by Poul Anderson that originally appeared in the June and July 1954 issues of Astounding Science Fiction. ... Book cover for The High Crusade The High Crusade is a novel by Poul Anderson. ... After Doomsday is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. ... The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given out annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society (which also publishes a quarterly journal, Prometheus). ... Tau Zero is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. ... Fire Time is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson, first published in 1974. ... The Boat of a Million Years is a book by Poul Anderson nominated for the 1990 Hugo. ... The John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel has been awarded every year since 1973, except in 1994. ...

Collections

Time and Stars (no ISBN) is a collection of science fiction short stories by Poul Anderson, published in 1964. ... The 2005 Hugo Award with base designed by Deb Kosiba. ... Inconstant Star is a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. ... Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938 Los Angeles, California) is a US science fiction author. ... The Kzin (plural Kzinti) are a fictional, very warlike and bloodthirsty race of felinoid aliens in Larry Nivens Known Space series. ...

Fantasy

King of Ys

Operation Otherworld

For the CIA intelligence project, see Operation CHAOS. Operation Chaos is a 1971 science fiction/fantasy fixup novel by Poul Anderson. ... Operation Luna is the 2000 sequel to the 1971 fixup novel Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson. ...

Other novels

The Broken Sword is a fantasy novel written by the American writer Poul Anderson in 1954. ... The original alignment system of Dungeons and Dragons (which grouped all players and creatures into Law and Chaos) was derived from the Three Hearts and Three Lions novel by Poul Anderson, where a troll is also described from whence derived the D&D description of the monster. ... Hrolf Krakis Saga is a fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. ... A Midsummer Tempest is an alternate history fantasy novel by Poul Anderson. ... Conan the Rebel by Poul Anderson, Bantam Books, 1980 Conan the Rebel is a 1980 fantasy novel written by Poul Anderson featuring Robert E. Howards seminal sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian. ...

Historical novels

The Last Viking

Other novels

Anthologies

Non-Fiction

References

Sandra Miesel is a medievalist and journalist. ... Author of A Handbook of Science Fiction and Fantasy. ...

External links

Categories: American novelists | American science fiction writers | American fantasy writers | Conan the Barbarian writers | Hugo Award winning authors | Nebula Award winning authors | SFWA Grand Masters | Filkers | Science Fiction Hall of Fame | Worldcon Guests of Honor | Libertarian science fiction writers | People from Pennsylvania | Danish Americans | 1926 births | 2001 deaths The Internet Speculative Fiction Database is a database of bibliographic information on science fiction and related genres such as fantasy fiction and horror fiction. ... Science Fiction Writers of America, or SFWA, (SFWA is pronounced seff-wah) was founded in 1965 by Damon Knight and James Blish. ... William Tenn is the pseudonym for the science fiction work of Philip Klass (born May 9, 1920). ...

Contents

Survey of Political, Moral and Literary Themes

Space and Liberty

World Government

Libertarianism

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Fairness to the Adversaries

Underestimating "Primitives" as a Costly Mistake

Tragic Conflicts

Awards

Partial bibliography (book-length works only)

Science fiction

Hoka

The Psychotechnic League

Tomorrow's Children

Technic History

Polesotechnic League period of Nicholas van Rijn

Terran Empire period of Dominic Flandry

Time Patrol

History of Rustum

Maurai

Harvest of Stars

Other novels

Collections

Fantasy

King of Ys

Operation Otherworld

Other novels

Historical novels

The Last Viking

Other novels

Anthologies

Non-Fiction

References

External links

Contents

Survey of Political, Moral and Literary Themes GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Space and Liberty

World Government

Libertarianism

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Fairness to the Adversaries

Underestimating "Primitives" as a Costly Mistake

Tragic Conflicts

Awards

Partial bibliography (book-length works only)

Science fiction

Hoka

The Psychotechnic League

Tomorrow's Children

Technic History

Polesotechnic League period of Nicholas van Rijn

Terran Empire period of Dominic Flandry

Time Patrol

History of Rustum

Maurai

Harvest of Stars

Other novels

Collections

Fantasy

King of Ys

Operation Otherworld

Other novels

Historical novels

The Last Viking

Other novels

Anthologies

Non-Fiction

References

External links

Survey of Political, Moral and Literary Themes