Customer Reviews (5)

Exciting adventure trough time
I read this novel when I was about 30 years old (now almost 70). I can only say that I enjoyed it very much then. A page-turner. Maybe I'll have to read it again.

Not Free SF Reader
The Corridors of Time is a different story.The world has two opposing political powers, and part of this struggle ends up taking place in the timestream.No Everard Manse here.

A lot of it in this case, in ancient Denmark.So, quite enjoyable to see a different setting handledin this way compared to the usual sort of places.

A thrilling book, but...
I will not say a word about story here (there are people who done it before me) but I will say a few comments. First, author often says that past can not be manipulated which I think is not true, and based on that he leads story development in one way. Word "full circle" will come into Your mind when You read a book, and few paradoxes as well. Why can't they travel in future? I know that that is explained later in text but that explanation is not good enough, and why couldn't they change the past? After all Warden and Rangers are higly advanced civilization in technology, why couldn't they come in some dark and forgotten past whith heavy machinery and create their own world? In this book there are questions who reamined unanswered or illogicaly answered, it looks like the author did not want to bother himself with that kind of questioning. Read this book, if you like Soap Operas and Heroism, if You like "hard" SF or something that better deals with time travel, read Stephen Baxter's "Time Ships"

A Quick Romp Through Time
You can always count on Poul Anderson for a good time travel story, and The Corridors of Time is no exception.

In the 40th Century, the world is dividing into two camps - The Wardens, who control the Eastern Hemisphere, and the Rangers, who control Western. To Malcolm Lockridge, an ex-marine college student of the 20th century, the distinction between Good and Evil is an easy one to determine after he recruited by Storm Daraway, one of the leaders of the Wardens.

Storm, using the cover story of hiring Lockridge to help recover some long lost Ukrainian Freedom Fighter gold buried in the Jutland, steals him away to Neolithic Denmark and fills him in on the war between the Wardens and the Rangers that is being waged across all of time. She brings Lockridge in on her side - and as her lover - and that choice is an easy one for Malcolm after Brann, the ruler of the Rangers, leads a hoard of Indo-European barbarians against the peaceful village that is hosting them in an attempt to capture Storm - which he does and then proceeds to torture her for information.

Lockridge, decides to escape and seek help. He makes his way through the local Time Corridor to Reformation Europe in search of a contact that Storm said would be waiting each All Hallow's Eve at an inn in Viborg. This contact will lead him to her cohorts who will mount a daring rescue attempt using English warriors from the 16th century.

But, Malcolm must determine if he has chosen the right side in this war... or even if there is a right side; and through it all he will learn his pivotal role in the future that follows the 40th Century.

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A Guide to my Book Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Grand Time Opera with a Twist
The Corridors of Time begins as a Time Opera.That is, it's a Space Opera only it involves a vast war through time instead of space.Malcolm, an ordinary college student who happens to be a martial arts expert, isrecruited by a mysterious, imperious, incredibly beautiful woman to helpher recover a treasure.He agrees and promptly learns he's actually beenrecruited to fight in a war between good and evil.Soon the twist comesin.He learns more and begins to suspect he's fighting on the wrong side. Or is he? Is this just an ordinary war?Or are both sides equally bad?Oris he misunderstanding the situation? This is that rarity, a slambang,non-stop action thriller filled with fighting, romance, thought, philosophyand a very serious ethical dilemna.I give it five stars just for thewillingness to explore serious questions about morality, ethics, thedangers of utopias, free will and the future of mankind all the whileengaging in almost non-stop hand to hand combat.It's quite anachievement! ... Read more

Product Description
Dominic Flandry, troubleshooter for the decaying Terran Empire, returns to the spaceways and becomes tangled up in the well-laid plans of his lifelong enemy, Aycharaych. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Maybe this will help
from the back cover of the 1975 Signet edition

The Terran Empire was crumbling -

And it required the remarkable talents of Sir Dominic Flandry, bon vivant and universal troubleshooter, to put the pieces back together.A hint of trouble and the purchase of an aristocratic slave girl sent Flandry on a quick flight to Diomedes aboard his well-equipped spacer, Hooligan.As he suspected, there was a deadly plan for galaxy-wide insurrection and civil war that could blast the tottering Empire into its component planets.Time was running out, and only Dominic Flandry, half a universe away, had the knowledge to prevent an explosion which could spark the beginning of the end for Terran civilization...

Dominic Flandry grows up
In "A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows," Poul Anderson did the nearly impossible and unthinkable before this book.He managed to get Dominic Flandry to grow up.

Before this book, Flandry, while a brilliant secret agent for the Terran Empire, always was a bit juvenile, and reveled in it.He figured that if he was going to die soon anyway (as secret agents rarely live long lives), why not make the best of it?So, he slept with many lissome women, ate lots of good food, and drank lots of great liquor along the way.

His other attributes, of loyalty, self-sacrifice, intelligence, a certain type of shifty honesty unusual in a secret agent -- well, they always were underplayed, partly because Flandry was an interstellar James Bond and that might not have been "sexy," and partly because Flandry looked at them as bad qualities.

Well, no wonder.The Terran Empire was in decay, and only people like him were holding it together, before the advent of this book.At the start of this book, Hans Molitor has seized the throne -- with Flandry's blessing, as at least he was a strong military man, and as he was better than any of the other contenders for the throne.And trouble's brewing all over the Empire . . . .

Without the trouble, there's no way Flandry would have been able to go off on his own.He's now in his 40s, and although he's still an international bon vivant, he's not the same man he used to be.He's found out he has a son, Dominic Hazeltine, by Persis D'Io (the dancer in "Ensign Flandry), and he's starting to perhaps slow down a bit in his travels.

But his mind is as keen as ever, so when an exotic, aristocratic slave girl from Dennitza shows up, his interest is piqued.The more he finds out, the more upset he gets.Then, he flits off with her, to find out the truth -- which is more shattering than he ever expected.

He does run into Aycharaych again, but it's almost more of an afterthought.Because before this book is done, his life stands in ruin, and about all he has left is his honor, pride, and a job well done -- rather than the life he'd briefly glimpsed in the eyes of Kossara, the Dennitzan slave girl (who never should have been sold for slavery).

As he destroys Aycharaych, he realizes that nothing, but nothing, can bring back love -- and wonders what's next for him.These are astonishingly adult thoughts for Flandry, and extremely moving.

This book deserves over five stars because of how moving and heart-wrenching it is for Flandry to go through all this.I truly believed in his pain, while enjoying his witty repartee with Chives (his Shalmuan body-servant/cook/batman/everything), Kossara, and son Dominic.Flandry is no intellectual lightweight, and he really does have a heart.Excellent book; truly one of Anderson's best (and I've read most of his output).

Btw, "A Stone in Heaven" is also another great book about Flandry in his age -- I recommend that one, too, extremely highly.

Flandry faces his final betrayal, and his greatest foe.
Anderson's recurring hero, Dominic Flandry, is like Horatio Hornblower, shown at different points of his career. In this, he is middle-aged, with a grown son...and in his final battle with a mind-reading foe from an elder race he has fought many times before.It is their final battle, and in it Flandry is not only betrayed, but goes through a self-betrayal of many of the principles he believes in. In this one, Flandry ceases to be a pleasure-loving, decadent Simon Templer, and instead shows true depth of character, and indeed, true tragedy, on several fronts. Easily the best of all the Flandry books, which is high praise indeed ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not Anderson's Best
This book displays some of the best and worst aspects of Anderson's writing.The basic story idea and many aspects of the background are very good.An imaginative use of what were then relatively new discoveries and ideas in cosmology, very clever constuction of alternative species, and a relatively interesting future history.Unfortunately, there is also a good deal of stilted prose, clumsy attempts at eroticism, and a rather strange combination of simpleminded libertarianism and new-agish pantheism.All of these defects occur in some of Anderson's other books, but not in such concentrated form.Aspects of this book were recycled from an earlier and better Anderson novel - Tau Zero.

Great world building, bad characters
If only Anderson had put the effort into his characters that he put into the setting! Anderson bowed to no one when it came to world building and the universe in this novel -- from the "T-machines" built by the lost and enigmatic Others to the wonderful Betans -- is one of those "playgrounds of the mind" Larry Niven refers to. I would come back to stories set in this future again and again just to learn more about its mysteries.

Too bad it's populated by such an annoying cast of characters. Dan Broderson, Anderson's cookie-cutter Heinlein Hero protagonist, is supposed to come off as an authority-defying, fast-on-his-feet self-made man. His derring-do is mostly yacketty-yack, though, and the exploits he gets away with are only believable because the ineptness of the bad guys is even less credible (how that group of dullards put together a secret cabal that rules two solar systems is a mystery to dwarf even that of The Others). Even less believable is Broderson's (and others'!)constant mooning over heroine Caitlin Mulryan, the best singer, cook, and country doctor in the galaxy. Anderson always tastefully fades to black whenever the clothes start to come off, but one can only conclude that Caitlin must be truly something between the sheets -- anyone else this irritating would have been shoved out an airlock by page 100. For the reader, she just gets in the way of the story.

I recently re-read The Avatar and remembered it fondly, mainly because of Anderson's awesome world building. The cover blurb calls it "His Big One", but Anderson's story telling powers of this era are much stronger in Orion Shall Rise or The Boat Of AMillion Years.

Too stereotyped
A fairly standard plot with some good ideas is marred by excessively predictable stereotype figures (the Brave Buccaneer; the Wicked Politician; the Dutiful Soldier) and by phoney dialogue (notably the dreadful stage Irishisms). What characterization Anderson attempts here is unconvincing.He has written far better than this.

Cloning - the justification
It's a long time since I read this, but every time I hear someone say there is no motive for human cloning, I just wish they would read it! "If livin' were thing that money could buy, you know the rich would live and the poor would die" (All my Trials, Lord)

Pass this one by
I like most of Poul Anderson's work, but he missed it on this one. The story line is good, but the dialog was so syrupy and fake that I couldn't finish it...and my wife couldn't stand it either...try something else. ... Read more

Product Description
From the multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Grandmaster, a new novel of classic science fiction adventure

Mystery, discovery, and wonder on a cosmic scale are the core of Anderson’s latest novel. Lissa, a human Earth woman, and her partner, “Karl,” a giant alien academic who resembles Tyrannosaurs—are interstellar archaeologists investigating the remote and uncharted planet Jonna. There, they seem to have hit the jackpot. For on that distant world they’ve discovered an immense artifact that may have been left by the mysterious beings called the Forerunners. This race predated all the known cultures in the starfaring galaxy and vanished long before any other intelligent species had taken to the stars.

But Lissa and Karl aren’t the first to have made the discovery on Jonna. On the far-off world the archaeologists cross paths with the two freebooters whose plans for motives towards the arcane object are not purely scientific. Their discovery may be the best preserved relic of the ancient beings yet found. Other artifacts from the Forerunners—once reverse engineers—have revolutionized entire fields of technology, reaping huge financial rewards. If the same holds true for this newest discovery, Lissa realizes, only she and Karl stand between the seemingly friendly freebooters and what could be the treasure of a lifetime.
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Customer Reviews (10)

For Melodrama and Bad Dialog
For Love and Glory, like many of Poul Anderson's later works, is a far cry from his best early books. This book is disjointed throughout and frankly full of mediocre dialog that drives the melodramatic love story. it almost had a daytime soap opera feel to it.

Lissa Davysdaughter Windholm of the planet Asborg is a daughter of the powerful House of Windholm who leads altruistic expedition of discovery for the families enterprises. She is not an expert in any field, but a student of all and leads the expeditions and helps out along the way. While exploring a new planet, she meets Torben Hebo, a freelance explorer from Earth. Though she is suspect of his motives at first, this story is essentially a vehicle for their love to bloom over time and aceoss the worlds the travel to. Along the way, Lissa has an affair with her ship captain, they rescue aliens from catastrophe, and life goes on and her destined love grows nearer.

Whatever.

Besides the lack of a well connected structure as the characters bounce around and the melodramatic love connections (the lead character actually starts to act like a love-sick school girl from a 1950s era film), For Love and Glory is actually quite boring. An alien comes to the Windholm family to share a secret his race is hiding about a huge scientific discovery - enough of an idea to carry the whole book - but, alas it is only part of the story lacking any real development, and is really just a vehicle of redemption for momentary love interest.

For a well paced, high action, and interesting story of interstellar exploration with a strong female character, check out the Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins books by Jack McDivett beginning with The Engines of God.

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A Guide to my Rating System:

1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.

Incomplete
Like a lot of the written sentences found in this far-future SciFi novel, the entire book has a herky-jerky and incomplete feeling.

It is not a very large book (about 300 hardcover pages, set in a large font, with LOTS of blank space at the ends of the numerous small chapters).This book was apparently Poul Anderson's last work... and as this book was posthumously published, I have to think the author didn't quite finish it, and others undertook the task to fill in the blanks and get it published.There are many gaps and abrupt transitions in the story, and along with many grammatical oddities, and a slew of similar-sounding Swedish names, it often is hard to follow what is going on.Indeed, there are many times when two or more characters will be communicating, and the the identity of the speaker in a given paragraph becomes a complete mystery.

At times the story gets somewhat interesting, especially some of the parts relating to the Torben Hebo character, who has lived so long thru multiple rejuvinations that his brain is full of memories, and he can't function properly without electing to undergo a procedure to backup and purge away old memories to make way for new.

However, the interesting parts of the book aren't enough to make up for Lissa's sappy "love interests" with Valen, Hebo, and others; and shallow characters like Esker Harolsson.I was also unimpressed by the space-travel technology; with humans and aliens unexplainably able to zip instantaneously to any point in the Universe... yet, these same beings who can zip around instantly throughout the galaxy are "awed" by two colliding Black Holes, which supposedly will "unlock great secrets of the universe".When the black holes collide, the author spends a great deal of time going into excruciating detail describing what the event would look like - it ends up sounding like a description of any modern fireworks show... seeing fireworks is exciting - reading about them is boring.

If you are interested in reading some of the works of the Poul Anderson, I'm sure you could find much better examples than this book.I remember reading three Hugo Award-Winning shorter-length stories of Mr. Anderson from the 1960's, which still hold up well today (he won 7 Hugos overall).

A pleasant read, but not up to Anderson's former standard
Lissa Davysdaughter loves adventure. In the far future where humans live their potentially endless lives in cycles, regaining youth repeatedly, she has far more time to do as she pleases than did her ancestors; but she also has a great deal more to lose by risking violent death. Her father, head of the powerful House of Windholm, would like her to start playing it safe (or at least safer). He'd like her to settle down, now that she's already lived a lifetime or two, and start raising a family of her own. But Lissa isn't ready to do that. She's much too busy joining a Gargantuan (think "Tyrannosaur") scientist on a remote archaelogical dig. And after that moving on to the next adventure, and the next....

The search for the fabled Forerunners, whose civilization spread across the galaxy long before humankind's rise, ties the several otherwise disjointed stories in this book together - so loosely that it might be called a collection instead of a novel. While not up to the old master Anderson's former standard (it has an awkward, not-quite-finished quality), it's nevertheless a pleasant read. A lot more fun than some lesser writers' best, in fact!

A good read.Thoughtful galactic adventure.
Poul Anderson is one of my favorite science fiction authors, although I tend to like his earlier works better than his later ones.This novel is one of his later works, but it avoids the bloat that has characterized several of his recent novels, which is a relief.

This is essentially the story of an aristocratic woman of the future, on a distant planet settled largely (apparently) by Icelanders.There are roughly half-a-dozen alien races whose technology is roughly on a par with Humankind.This story to a large extent deals with the interactions of these aliens with humans, and Anderson's speculations about what intelligent alien beings might be like are quite interesting.

The basic plot is straightforward.Other than the several alien civilizations on a rough par with humanity, there was an earlier race known as the Forerunners, which reached a higher-than-human level of technology many thousands of years ago.Forerunner artifacts still exist, and of course to find and control such artifacts could give one or the other alien races a huge military-industrial advantage over the others.Therein lies the struggle.

As Anderson fans know, most of his more recent science fiction novels have assumed that it is inevitable that Earth would eventually become dominated by computerized artificial intelligences, as Man's computers surpass his capabilities and gradually assume most or all vital functions.This novel is no exception, and this premise is there, but thankfully, the novel mostly avoids this topic (which Anderson has thoroughly explored elsewhere) and the real subject of this novel is the interactions of organic human and alien civilizations.

Overall, this is a good read, and much better than much of the recent science fiction that has been published lately.The storyline is reasonably lucid, the characters, while not particularly memorable, are at least somewhat interesting (especially the aliens), and the novel moves along at a smart pace without dragging.Not Anderson's best, but worth taking a look at.

AWKWARD STYLE, NO EDITING
This book needs an editor. The stream-of-consciousness thoughts are not blended well with the dialog or action.

Even worse are the sentence fragments. This book is written. In a very awkward. Writing style. A lot of. Incomplete sentences. And word phrases.

Not much of a story, either. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great telling of myth
If you can read translated myths then you can read this book.That statement is a warning as this book is not an easy read, but it is a worthwhile read.The book IS NOT fantesy, as fantesy is completely created by the author.Rather this book is a retelling of the existing myth.I find it interesting that what seems to be the downfall of many a hero, is that they forget to worship the old gods.Effectively a mythological warning.

A myth well re-told.
Poul Anderson took the Viking saga of Hrolf Kraki and crafted this magnificent fantasy novel from the legendary king's story.Hrolf was a sort of Arthurian equivalent of the northern folk tales and myths, but Anderson brought him to life in this novelized retelling of his exploits.Like much of northern mythology the story is dark in spots, dealing with such items as murderous sibling rivalry, incestuous relationships, and the common every day brutality that must have been common in the era that was rightly called "the Dark Ages".Even so, Anderson captured the heroic nature of the story, as well as the courageous outlook of the original saga recorders.

The story is a myth retold, rather than historical fiction, although the opening framework sequence is set in historical times with a woman being asked to recount the old myths to a royal gathering during a feast time.Anderson also pens a good introduction which gives some of the historical and legendary background to the tale.Tales, rather, as the saga is actuallya series of stories about several of the warriors who end up in the service of Hrolf. A final battle and glorious defeat mark the end of the story.Like much of Northern mythology there is courage and hope even in the face of tragedy and loss. The parallels to some of Arthurian legend seemed rather marked to me, and made me want to go back and reread some of those tales.

In my mind this is what the best books do, they plant a seed which makes you want to read more.At his best, (and HROLF KRAKI is one of his best) Anderson does this.I've listed below some of his other books that are similar to HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA.

Anderson was probably best know for his great science fiction, but he penned several fantasies and historical romances set in the Viking era and world.Besides HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA,I would also highly recommend THE BROKEN SWORD, THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS, THE KINGS OF YS, MOTHER OF KINGS, SIGN OF THE RAVEN, THE GOLDEN SLAVE, THE GOLDEN HORN, ROAD OF THE SEA HORSE, WAR OF THE GODS, THE MERMAN'S CHILDREN, THE DEMON OF SCATTERY (co-authored with Mildred Downey Broxon) and even THE HIGH CRUSADE (a science fiction story, but one in which medieval knights are captured by an advanced alien civilization, but turn the tables on their captors).Several of these books are still in print, while some others are out of print, but all are worth finding and reading.Let me restate "Highly recommended".

Highly Recommended
It took me a little while to find a copy of this book but it was well worth the wait.This story is a dark, fatalistic and ultimately moving retelling of the legend of the Scandinavian king, Hrolf Kraki.I highlyrecommend this work to those interested in Nordic culture as well as fansof fantasy.

Wonderful tale from pre-Christian northern Europe
In the tradition of high fantasy and magic, Poul Anderson here presents the translated tale of the heathen Danish king, Hrolf Kraki, a sort ofpagan King Arthur. In the dark days of the very earliest middle ages(around the time of Beowulf), we find Hrolf king of a small Norse kingdomin what is today part of modern Denmark. Lord of the ancestors of themodern Danes, this unprepossessing ruler of men gathers about him theheroes of his day (or so legend apparently had it) and creates a briefgolden age in a violent time. But Hrolf is star-crossed, the product of anunfortunate liaison between unhappy lovers (he is both son and brother tohis mother) and scion of a family of violent and bloody strivers, a herowho, in the end, must defend all he has against the predations of his kin.In the process he has numerous adventures, confronts dark magic and buildsa court of war-like champions. It's an episodic story which largely tracksthe original saga itself (since another version, translated by the scholarGwyn Jones, is almost the same although somewhat briefer). But it's anicely told, fast-paced tale and, if Anderson translated it himself, he dida great job of it, turning it into a book in the genre of modern fantasy.Worth the read for anyone who likes fantasy . . . or sagas.

SWM
author of The King of Vinland's Saga ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Aquatical men, Assassins, Time Travelers, and Indians
_The Horn of Time_ (1968) is a collection of six stories by Poul Anderson spanning a range from 1956 to 1963. They are all well-crafted pieces that will give you good value for your money. But the book is not loaded with a lot of classical or near-classical tales. The stories are: "The Horn of Time the Hunter" (as "Homo Aquaticus," _Amazing_, 1963), "A Man to My Wounding" (as "State of Assassination," _Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine_, 1959), "The High Ones" (_Infinity_,1958), "The Man Who Came Early" (_Fantasy and Science Fiction_, 1956), "Marius" (_Astounding_, 1957), and "Progress" (_Fantasy and Science Fiction_, 1962).

Three of the stories are heavily political, with varying degrees of success. "The High Ones" is about some Americans and Soviets trying to understand an alien race: Is it or is it not intelligent? But the anticommunist theme of the story is a bit dated and heavy handed. "A Man to My Wounding" involves a counterspy tracking down assassins in a future Chinatown. In these days days of terrorists, assassins and suicide bombers, I must say that this story is more relevant than the first. But the theme is still a bit obvious, and the characters are cardboard. "Marius" is a story about some hard decision making in a post-apocalyptic Europe. It balances a toughmindedness about what must be done for the common good against a sympathy for the people who are affected by the results. It is the best of the three.

"The Man Who Came Early" is a reversal of a tried and true time travel story. Mark Twain, Manly Wade Wellman, L. Sprague de Camp and others wrote stories of modern men thrown back in time who bring progress to the ancients. Anderson suggests that a modern man in ancient times might be more of a victim than a savior.

"The Horn of Time the Hunter" and "Progress" are clearly the best stories in the book. The first is a haunting account of a first contact between humans and an aquatic alien race and of the sound of a hunter "pursuing a quarry that wept as it ran" (26). "Progress" is another post-apocalyptic adventure story that wrestles with the proper course of humankind. This time, however, the renaissance is centered in India rather than Europe. It is one of Anderson's best stories.

_The Horn of Time_ is not one of Anderson's very best collections. But it is a good one. It is certainly not a time-waster.

Average Poul Anderson
I was massively disappointing with this collection of Poul Anderson short stories from the late 50s and early 60s.Only two were worth reading: `The Horn of the Time the Hunter' and `Progress.'I guess if you are a Poul Anderson completest it might be worth the purchase but otherwise, stay away.The creepy cover is spectacular!

(3.5/5) `The Horn of Time the Hunter', first published in Amazing Stories September 1963.The Kith, evolved from the early human interstellar explorers, became the space faring links between diverse colonies.However, the Kith fled from the humans after a series of persecutions resulting in many colonies severed from other worlds.`The Horn of Time the Hunter' is about a small group of Kith exploring one of these deserted colony worlds (a secret awaits!).However, this is more than a simplistic "let's explore a strange world" tale -- instead, Anderson examines the loneliness, desperation, and fear of the persecuted and cast out Kith, which manifests itself when they are confronted with strange humanoids.I'm more interested in the the dynamics of the spaceship based Kith society (facets of which are hinted at by Anderson) than planetary adventures.There's enough themes present for a novel...

(2/5) `A Man to My Wounding', first published as `State of Assassination' in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine December 1959.Post-World War III devastation, killing has evolved into the art of political assassination.Our nameless assassin hero is on the quest to kill some Chinese.Set in a Chinatown sort of environment in America, Poul Anderson pulls the basic sort of plot strings mixed with the basic sort of exotic local ostensibly to examine the evolution of war -- in short, boring and somewhat predictable. There are some odd tidbits, for example, white women getting eye surgery to look like Asians...

(2/5) `The High Ones', first published in Infinity Science Fiction, June 1958.A mixed crew of Soviets and Americans arrive at Tau Ceti and discover an alien race with vastly superior technology.Standard unoriginal fare -- I mean, the psychological screening by the Soviet Controlled Earth authorities didn't work at all (mutinies and hatred between the subjugated Americans and Soviets).Oh, and how didn't they see from orbit city which covered most of the planet?Argh, and why are all super-intelligent cultures so culturally monolithic? I guess it fits into his main argument -- Communism and totalitarianism are bad.

Avoid this story at all costs unless you're in the mood for some simplistic 1950s propaganda.

(2/5) `The Man Who Came Early', first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1956.American soldier stationed in Iceland is transported back in time to the pre-Christian Iceland of the year 1000.There isn't much redeemable about this stilted caper.Well, Poul Anderson's pessimistic theme that the modern man is unable to function in the past despite his superior technology is somewhat interesting despite the story's poor delivery.

(1/5) `Marius' first published in Astounding Science Fiction, March 1957.Post-Soviet occupation of France and the rest of the Western Europe political maneuvering and mutinies with some tenuous Roman analogies...Not much interest or originality here either.

(4/5) `Progress', first published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1962.This story almost rescues the collection -- a high-tech sailboard in a post-War of Judgment future (odd names for places/peoples/languages derived from modern names) with spies (Maori) arrives off the coast of India.Extrapolated futures about India are almost always worth reading.

Assorted future-histories of post-apocalypse humanity
Back cover synopsis: `The 20th century played a game of nuclear Russian roulette. And lost. Man must escape his own dead world, raid hostile planets, subdue his human nature to survive in a strange cosmos. Poul Anderson explores the future of this blood-chilling narrative that spins from Earth to distant galaxies as he foretells the ultimate destiny of mankind.'

The Horn of Time Hunter - 3/5 - Planetary explorers discover a seemingly hostile amphibious human-like intelligence. The aliens' reactions must be read carefully as to discern the nature of their being. 16 pages

A Man to My Wounding - 4/5 - A counter-spy slinks around Chinatown looking for Chinese assassins in a government sanctioned assassination game. The evolution of war has come to this. 17 pages

The High Ones - 4/5 - A non-native subterranean alien species is discovered on a planet but they react in a non-intelligent way. The divided explorers put themselves forward to understand the culture and technology of the aliens. 24 pages

The Man Who Came Early - 3/5 - Unwilling time traveler is sent back to 11th century Iceland where he stays in a village though he has no skills to provide the township. A kind man takes him under his wing for better... but not for worse. 23 pages

Matius - 2/5 - Coup-minded man confronts the chief to change leadership. When the chief waves the suggestion away, the real racket begins and choices must be made. 13 pages

Progress - 5/5 - The seamen (or pirates or spies) approach the Bangladeshi/Indian coast in disrepair hoping for assistance. The tension between landlubbers and sailors is high as information to their origins and benevolence is questioned. 41 pages ... Read more

Product Description
From the aftermath of World War III to a world inherited by robots, where humans are unwelcome ... from a handful of human survivors on a starship desperately searching for other ships carrying survivors of the destruction of the entire Earth by an unknown enemy, who may strike again at any time, to another starship hurtling through the cosmos at a speed so close to that of light—and unable to slow down—that relativistic effects make millennia fly by for each tick of the clock onboard . . . from a team striving to make Venus habitable for humans to a group of men who find the ominous secret behind a new quasi-religious philosophy that is sweeping the world. . . . The wide-ranging imagination and exciting storytelling of Poul Anderson brings many different worlds to vivid life in a great volume of his best stories that will thrill all fans of science fiction.

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Customer Reviews (3)

A tired review of Anderson's early work
The first story in this volume can be found independently as the short novel "Tau Zero".I highly recommend you read that book.The rest of the volume is filled with various examples of Anderson's early novellas, none of which are examples of his better work.If you're an Anderson completist then I'd avoid this one until you can find it as an inexpensive used paperback.If you're not a completist then I'd skip this one entirely.

thanks
After the first seller I tried to purchase this book from failed to deliver, this seller was excellent,the book arrived on time and in the condition noted

A hard-hitting, fast-paced collection
Poul Anderson's TO OUTLIVE ETERNITY AND OTHER STORIES paints a number of evolutionary scenarios, from a world after World War III inherited by robots to starships carrying humans to other destinies. This collection also holds the complete novel AFTER DOOMSDAY, and thus binds all drama and themes together in a hard-hitting, fast-paced collection perfect for any library that holds some of Anderson's works and wants a hard-hitting short story collection to add to the mix. ... Read more

Product Description
While the new Terran Commissioner will do whatever is necessary to preserve the Empire, Ivar, a fugitive sought by both the Empire and Terra's alien rivals, becomes a potent symbol to those who would resist Imperial rule. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

power struggle & politics... zzzzz
There aren't many sci-fi themes which don't interest me. Further, there aren't many theme which make me yawn with boredom... this book had everything which makes a boring book just that- BORING.
Action? Yea, in the last 10%.
Dialogue? Yea, shocking the characters themselves don't fall sleep.
Love? Yea, just as lame as the dialogue.
Plot? Yea, somewhere in the mix of yawns and zzzs.

So, it has everything which makes a book a book but lacks everything which makes a book interesting. The best Poul Anderson book still stands at Tau Zero. All hail!

Favorite Anderson; Jacket Artwork Superb
This was my favorite Anderson novel. Dark and foreboding gothic feel to life on the run. Although the setting was a distant planet,I wouldn't call this story core, nor necessarily memorable science fiction, in the Asimovian classification. It could have been set in Afghanistan, or more appropriately, prehistoric northern Europe, with a futuristic set of props. Further, it was a little difficult to establish plot, but gave me a sense of a caravan or covered wagon train on the run in the American West. Still, I now wish I had kept my copy, I would be reading it again.

Just can't seem to get started
This novel follows the adventures of Ivar Frederiksen, son of a nobleman of the planet Aeneas, who has dared to challenge the authority of the Terran Empire, and as a result must flee for his life, even while searching for some way to secure his planet's freedom.Having led a pathetically feeble revolt against an infinitely more powerful military force, Ivar has no choice but to hide among the various nomadic peoples of his planet, hoping that their innate distrust of outsiders will dissuade them from betraying him.He gains an ally in Erannath, a large, bird-like creature from another empire, but no one can say for certain what his real agenda is.The story climaxes when Ivar is introduced to Jaan, a prophet who is possessed by a 6-million-year-old member of the race of "Elders" whose archeological remains are venerated all over the planet.Can these two men set in motion forces that will free their people before being captured by Terran police?This reader found himself not caring well before the halfway point of this tedious book.Indeed, the first two-thirds of the novel are painfully slow and pointless, as various characters are elaborately positioned, analyzed, and persuaded.Although Anderson's powers of description are excellent, at times even poetic, and his use of the Elder, Caruith, is intriguing, his action scenes are too often abbreviated, or even skipped, showing us only the aftermath of the action.It was probably a mistake to choose

Frederiksen as the main character, since he does little of significance until the very end.Instead, he spends most of the book running and hiding, and there's very little thrill in this chase since his trackers are seldom close enough or dangerous enough to really engage the reader.Anderson had a good enough idea for this book, showing how a rebellious young man of privilege could join forces with a working-class visionary to shake up the establishment, but he took far too long to get his story started, and by the time things really got moving, it was nearly ended.It's hard to believe that the average reader will even finish this book, let alone enjoy it.

One of Anderson's best,
... and I'm surprised it hasn't received more attention. A few years afterthe rebellion of "The Rebel Worlds," Imperial commissionerChunderban Desai is trying to reintegrate the planet Aeneas into the TerranEmpire. Ivar Fredricksen, scion of an imprtant family, gets a bunch of"freedom fighters" slaughtered by the Marines, and has to fleeacross the world's widely divergent subcultures, accompanied by an Ythrianwhose motives are far from clear. He faces questions that his patrioticidealism can't answer so easily -- What is the nature of freedom? Of faith?Can their price be too high? (Flandry has an offstage cameo, and Aycharaycha major role.) Perhaps you won't agree with the resolution, but you won'tbe able to avoid thinking about it. ... Read more

Product Description
Thor has broken the sword Tyrfing so that it cannot strike at the roots of Yggdrasil, the tree that binds together earth, heaven and hell. But now the mighty sword is needed again to save the elves in their war against the trolls, and only Scafloc, a human child kidnapped and raised by the elves, can hope to persuade Bolverk the ice-giant to make Tyrfing whole again. But Scafloc must also confront his shadow self, Valgard the changeling who has taken his place in the world of men. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Exchangelings
This novel...
dear lovers of fantasy,
... of a human child exchanged at birth and taken and raised by the elves, is a solid bit of writing and a masterful story. We won't go into the details of the tale, since that can be read in the product description, but only wish to say that this is a yarn worth unraveling for those who love sword and sorcery type tales, as well as those of us who love nearly anything about elves and Faerie. This is not modern urban fantasy, ala Charles DeLint or Holly Black, but an adventure set in the days when the Norse gods still walked the earth and elves ruled a part of it. Enjoy!
kyela,
the silver elves

Magical Norse Saga in the Realm of Faerie
Poul Anderson here tells a wonderful tale, full of magic, adventure and peril.It blazes forth at a blistering pace, yet still manages to include sufficient characterization.For me, however, the most beautiful aspect of this book is the language.Yes, the tone is dark, and there are many battles with graphic descriptions, yet I am surprised that more people haven't mentioned the majestic, epic quality to the prose: at once high and lofty, it is yet restrained and noble, often with the feeling of poetry one finds in the Old English sagas.This description, for example:

"He went over hills, the reborn year around him.It had rained in the morning and the ground was muddy, pools and rivulets glittering in the sunbeams.The grass grew strongly, a cool light green to the edge of sight; and the trees were budding forth, a frail tint of new life across their boughs, the vanguard of summer."

Essentially, I feel that Anderson has channeled all of the best qualities of the tone and feel of Tolkien's prose, yet his story is entirely his own.This reads as if an ancient bard is relating a classic tale from long ago, in a time when magic was still real.And it features lots of Vikings, gods, trolls and elves, while at times the din of Odin's hounds and chariot can be heard as he leads the hunt through the cold skies.If you like this kind of subject matter, and a somewhat archaic tone to the prose does not bother you, you can hardly fail to enjoy this.

Master of the Myth
Anderson deserves his reputation as a master in the fantasy genre. His knowledge of Norse myth is impressive, as are his talents as a writer. A rollicking good tale, written in the epic style.

Not Free SF Reader
Faerie biffo. "The elf raid on Trollheim was to be a strong one.Fifty longships were manned with the best warriors of Britain's elves, and veiled and warded by the soreries of Imric and his wiest warlocks." "Ax and sword! Spear and club! Cloven shield and sundered helm and ripped byrnie! Red gusy of elf blood meeting cold green flow of troll's! Auroras dancing death dances overhead!" Trolls 1-0 Elves Skafloc the elf survives, becomes an outlaw, as his evil twin lives it up.He realises he has to fix Thor's broken sword to have a chance to win.He also happens upon the bright idea of asking the Tuatha de Danaan for help.Add those two together, and a whole lot of trolls learning that sleeping with the enemy is really stupid, you have : Trolls 1-1 Elves, Elves win in extra time.

A classic of the viking-themed sword and sorcery genre
This is a Viking-themed fantasy yarn, told by a master storyteller.

I read this book about 20 years ago, and at the time it quickly became one of my favorite books in the whole "sword & sorcery" fantasy genre. I re-read it at least two more times before finally loaning it to a "friend" who never returned it.

Without giving away any spoilers (that aren't already on the dustcover), it's the tale of two twins who were swapped at birth ... one a mortal, and one a half-elven/half-troll changeling ... one raised in the faerie realm, and one raised among mortals. One born to violence, and the other raised ... well ... a bit less so.

Anyway, one eventually becomes bent on the other's destruction, and as happens in so many yarns the Viking genre, various immortal beings can't help but meddle here and there along the way ... until fate has it's inevitable say.
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Product Description
The explosive new novel that expands the future universe developed in Harvest of Stars and The Stars Are Also Fire to the point where conflicts of human and machine intelligence threaten to disrupt humanity's utopia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

never got the point...
First half of the book I was pretty much bored and confused over the character situation - who was who and the relationships involved. The second half was trying to un-confuse me, but I don't know if it succeed in doing so or not. This would not be top-notch Anderson, unlike his fabulous book Tau Zero. I can't draw any comparisons, as the books are so different and seemingly write by different mindsets of the same author. I never got the point of Harvest the Fire. Additionally, I really hated the artwork. I was no fan of the Golden Age style prints in the book, which made up for about 10% of the entire thickness - simply adding pages to an already sparse book.

Not Free SF Reader
Harvest the Fire is a fairly short book.It is part of a series, and I have not read any of the rest of them, this one being part of a SFBC deal I think.

A future poet becomes involved with some revolutionaries that don't like machine intelligences being in charge of things.A pretty unmemorable novel.

Fast-paced hard sf
The storylines here develop from a strong focus on detailed technology that seems completely real-even if the characters seem slightly less real. I wouldn't call it one of my favorite sf books, but I liked it, even without reading the first two books in the trilogy. I also liked the artwork and the book's fast pace.

Better than predecessors due to its concise nature, but...
HARVEST THE FIRE is the third book of Poul Anderson's four-volume future history that began with HARVEST OF STARS. Unlike the first book and the second, HARVEST THE FIRE is pretty readable because it weighs in at a mere 188 pages, and is actually less than that once you take out the illustrations by veteran science fiction artist Vincent di Fate.

The novella is the brief story of Jesse Nichols, a Terran poet in Anderson's far future, and his run in with several Lunarians who hatch a conspiracy to strike a blow against the cybernetic order that has stagnated civilization. Venator, the antagonist of THE STARS ARE ALSO FIRE, figures again in the form of a resurrected download.

The book moves quickly (I read it in one day) but is low on substance. It really is something of a novelty book.

Although more successful than the first two books of the series, as Anderson has finally left behind most of his quaint language ("fain," etc.), his characters still have little depth. Nichols is brash and irrational and just doesn't make any sense or engender sympathy on the part of the reader. Anderson also doesn't make advantage of potential for a chance of conscience for Venator. Also, the ending is a little fuzzy and doesn't resolve much.

Only for Diehard Anderson Fans
This is an insubstantial little novella or novellete which is probably not worth paying the cover price for.It belongs more in a short works collection.I actually enjoyed this more than the long and ponderousHarvest of Stars (I haven't read the second book in the series because ofit.)It seemed obvious to me that Nicol was being manipulated by theLunarians all along so it was no big surprise.I didn't find the endingvery satisfying either.The illustrations didn't seem to complement thestoryline very well, except for the one with the robot at the end which isa scene which does appear in the book.The illustration of Falaire isn'thow I pictured her as described in the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Contains the 1972 Hugo Award and Nebula Award-winning story, "The Queen of Air and Darkness" and "The Man Who Came Early". Read by Tom Teti. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Award Winner by a Master
I believe this won the Hugo and Nebula, for novellas maybe.It is supposedly a classic, and I enjoyed it.Like love poetry by Ovid and Plato, the very best from long ago sometimes looks cliche due to imitation.This shows a reserve and integrity that remain special and could have been what brought it such acclaim.It is only hackneyed in the most superficial way.I was lucky to run across it in "New America," a TOR book from (?)1983 which includes another good short story and novella.Daniel Coffin appears in Orbit Unlimited, I think.Check Queen out, it leaves you with an interesting feeling.Very well written. ... Read more

Product Description
            Sir Dominic Flandry is now an Admiral, but takes little joy in his new rank. He sees the rot in the Terran Empire on every hand and knows that the Long Night will inevitably fall upon the galaxy. His consolation is that measures he has taken while doing what he can to postpone the Empire’s final collapse may shorten the coming galactic dark age and hasten the rise of a new interstellar civilization. In the meantime, he’ll enjoy the comforts of a decadent civilization—and he’ll always be ready for one more battle against the Empire’s enemies.

            This concluding volume of the Technic Civilization saga, one of the milestones of modern science fiction includes two full-length novels:

• A Stone in Heaven—When the daughter of Flandry’s mentor asks for help, he intervenes, and finds he must thwart a would-be dictator’s plans to seize control of the Empire.
• The Game of Empire—The Merseians, alien enemies of the Empire, have put into motion an insidious plan to bring the Terran Empire down. Flandry’s daughter, Diana, and her feline-like alien friend have discovered the conspiracy, but can they stop it in time?

            Plus three novellas and a novelette set in the time of the Long Night and the renaissance of civilization which followed it, concluding one of the grandest adventure sagas in science fiction. ... Read more

Product Description
Since the Howard-de Camp system for deciphering preglacial inscriptions first appeared, much progress has been made in tracing the history, ethnology, and even daily life of the great cultures which flourished till the Pleistocene ice age wiped them out and forced man to start over. We know, for instance, that magic was practiced; that there were some highly civilized countries in what is now Central Asia, the Near East, North Africa, southern Europe, and various oceans; and that elsewhere the world was occupied by barbarians, of whom the North Europeans were the biggest, strongest, and most warlike. At least, so the scholars inform us, and being of North European ancestry they ought to know.... ... Read more

Product Description
Years after Earth is devastated by nuclear weapons, the survivors of a floating solar station above Europe assist the emergence of a low-tech civilization, until a treacherous faction seizes control of the station. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Jacket summary
from the back cover of the December 1984 Pocket Books paperback edition

Centuries after the nuclear cataclysm, Earth is once more turning toward war!

The nature-loving empire of the Maurai is trying to control the atomic-minded North.Europe is beginning to rebel against Skyholm, the hovering aerostat that commands absolute authority.

In this beautiful, frightening epic, lovers, fighters, poets and spies play out the drama of their time.Mankind has learned from its violent history - but now only transcendent heroism and courage can keep the Earth from burning again!

A good imaginative novel
Fortunately, this post-apocalyptic novel doesn't spend too much time telling us how the end of the world as we know it, happened. The first part of the book is a little less fun to read than the last. Maybe because I was trying to understand how the different names for new countries and peoples related to the old. Chicago is Chai-ka-go, etc.
The story is very well paced. The post-nuclear fears and Gaean thoughts are well balanced with each other.

An intriguing examination of the uses of nuclear power
Human civilization is redeveloping after a long-ago nuclear war, and now one society has rediscovered the dream of space travel.However, the earth is resource starved, and atomic energy seems to be the only way to achieve these dreams.This presents a threat to rival societies, where fear of nuclear power lives on in the memory of the ages old horror of the Doom.Can mankind harness the atom to achieve peace, or is it doomed to repeat its earlier failure and unleash the horror of nuclear weapons?

Anderson weaves a global tale, providing credible new societies, each filled with believable characters.His characters are complex, with varying motivations, and are often flawed in some way.The primary protagonist matures through the the book from a vain and cocky young pilot to become a force to reshape the course of civilization.The underlying themes here are quite powerful.This book explores both the human urge to explore and push into the unknown, as well as the question of whether we can ever restrain our tendancies to harness technology to the purposes of destruction.

Anyone not familiar with Anderson's writing style might find portions of this book that are weighted down with excessive descriptions.However, as a whole, this is a fine story and is not an overly difficult book to read.

Not his forte
I am not saying that this is not a good novel.But I think it is clear that Anderson shines when writing about space - not fictional Earth. This is a wellworn scenario that apparently few ever tire of reading - a post-nuclear Earth. My own opinion is that things will not be nearly as pleasant as these type of novels make it appears.

A classic conflict between good and bad, war and peace.Some knowledge survived and with that humans built divergent societies that ultimately clashed.The plotline twisted as it sought to both make a point and tell a tale.I gave it a 3.5 and rounded up.

One of Poul Anderson's Best
An excellent and thoughtful depiction of the world about 800 years after nuclear apocalypse, populated by interesting and well-developed characters.Rich with implicit commentary on the foibles of politics and religion, as is characteristic of Anderson's work.Only slightly marred by a short-cut ending.Nonetheless, highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
During a cruise to Japan, Duncan Reid is suddenly transported into the distant past, where he and three other time travelers try to find the way home. By the author of The Boat of a Million Years. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

From Inside Book Flap
Duncan Reid was standing on the deck of an ocean liner in the North Pacific when something suddenly seized him like a whirlwind of black thunders, and before he had a chance to cry out he was taken from the world of the 20th century.

When he regained consciousness he found himself standing on the rock-strewn ground of a barren land bordering a sea, and he was not alone!Nearby was a yellow-bearded man in a spiked helmet and chainmail; a short, leather-coated rider on a rearing pony; a tall, slender woman wearing a long, white dress.

Each seemed as terrified as he was and the presence of a strange, glowing cylinder added to their fear.With no common language between them, they were forced to use signs and gestures to communicate.But that problem was soon overcome when a man stumbled out of the cylinder and collapsed on the ground.

Badly injured, the man carried two helmets with him and he freely indicated to Duncan to put one on.Somehow the helmet enabled Duncan to understand his language and Duncan learned the fantastic story of how they had all come to this place.

The man's name was Sahir, a time traveler whose vehicle had raced out of control and swept up Duncan and the others.They had been deposited in a distant past, and Duncan was warned that a monumental natural disaster was about to occur.But before Sahir could tell Duncan how they might return to their own eras, he died.

Was there no way back?

With the aid of the helmets they learned each other's languages, and Duncan discovered who these strangers were.The bearded man was Oleg, a medieval Russian; the other man was Uldin, a pre-Atila Hun.But when the origins of the woman were revealed, Duncan was stunned.

Her name was Erissa and apparently she had been thrown back only a few decades from her own time.Although she now lived on Crete, once she had lived in another land that had been totally destroyed in a great cataclysm - ATLANTIS!

Did the destruction of Atlantis cause the wreck of the time machine and, more importantly, could the key to their return rest in that country?

Hugo Award Winner Poul Anderson has written a fascinating, action-packed adventure that takes Duncan Reid and his companions on a perilous journey through the ancient world to reach Atlantis, the most fabled land in all history.

A romantic time travel speculation of an ancient eruption
This book combines romantic science fiction with a historical backdrop.Anderson's strong character development and great storytelling makes this novel a great read. The first time I read this book I could not put it down and nearly did not sleep that night.It was that exciting and fast paced.He uses time travel as a method of moving the main character back to ancient history during the height of Cretan civilization and who falls in love with a beautiful bull dancer.He uses the eruption of Krakatowa as the pivotal event.I recently reread the book and it still works for me! ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Duel on Syrtis is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Poul William Anderson is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Poul William Anderson then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more