Poul Anderson Books

The Andersons did a great job melding the myths and legends of Europe into this epic. You will need 2 bookmarks for this book -- it includes a very thourough and interesting appendix of factual historical notes about the characters, events, etc. Anyone with an interest in dark ages history or religious history will love it. Much more than just another fantasy epic.

This is a stunning series. It has a wonderfully complex plot that weaves actual late-Roman Empire events with Breton myth, but one of its greatest attributes is the way the characters are brought to life. By the end of the books, what you remember most isn't the plot but the emotional struggle of the main character, Gratillonius, as he loses everything that was ever dear to him, and has to go on. The final scene is only a few pages long but is gut-wrenching because you feel every bit of pain it brings him. I normally don't enjoy fantasy because many books seem like a pale attempt to imitate Tolkein. This series is completely different but yet has the same ability to pull you into the story until you feel like these events actually happened. A word of warning: like the Lord of the Rings, it is written in slightly stilted, 'epic' English, which may bother some readers.

_The King of Ys_ enchanted me. It started as one of the very best fantasy series I've ever read. The setting is historical and meticulously detailed, containing a wealth of both magical and mundane details. Heck; the Andersons actually include an extensive collection of endnotes to each chapter detailing the factual elements of their story. In every way, this is a real world.

These people are not modern people stuck into a fantasy setting. They have the values of 4th-and-5th century people, exactly as they should. The gods aren't wimpy, ever-loving, beneficent friends; they're savage and demand obedience brutally. Bad things can happen to good people.

That's how I felt for the first three books, anyway. The fourth is kind of a letdown. The elements above are kept, but... I don't know. I can't go into exactly *why* it's a letdown, because I don't want to spoil the plot, but the story loses cohesion and really falls apart, if you ask me.

However, I still have to give it a "9" because, even though the last quarter was a disappointment, the first three quarters kept me riveted as few books have. Highly reccommended. And heck, you might even find more of worth in the end than I did.

I usually don't care for fantasy, but this is certainly an exception. The story, like most of Anderson's, starts slow, but by the time you get to Book 3: Dahut, you will see the horrible events coming but will be unable to put the book down. Not only fantasy, but possibly also a classic of horror literature.

A superbly researched and written book. Anderson transports the reader to a historical period with wholly plausible possiblities. A should-read for any who appreciate a well written book with the ability to grab and hold one's interest with an iron grip. A must-read for any who enjoy historical-fiction/fantasy

Would be tycoon David Falkayn and faithful friend gets him into and out of trouble as he tries to make some good, reasonable deals, and not get perforated, blasted, blown up, or die of hangovers in the process.

Van Rijn cameos to give the occasional ok to some new opportunity escapades, hijinks and cashflow possibilities.

Trouble Twisters : The Three-Cornered Wheel - Poul Anderson
Trouble Twisters : A Sun Invisible - Poul Anderson
Trouble Twisters : The Trouble Twisters [short story] - Poul Anderson


Some problem solving under fire for David Falkayn.

3 out of 5


Stars and planets to be found for Falkayn, although maybe no great rush given the company, once done.

3.5 out of 5


Falkayn has to get out of his pyjamas when he sees barbarian conflict in front of him. Consulting with Van Rijn he gets the ok to try and open up trade with the planet of such. This will involve a lot of punting, boozing, and swordplay, in various orders.

3.5 out of 5




3.5 out of 5

This is the first book in an overlooked "future history" series by author Poul Anderson. Essentially, it postulates: 1) mankind develops cheap interstellar travel within a few centuries; 2) there are quite a few worlds inhabited with sentient beings; and 3) humans and aliens are just as greedy in the future as humans are right now here on earth. Anderson takes these three postulates and projects what I have found to be the most plausible extrapolation about what an interstellar human civilization would be like that I have yet found.
Those familiar with the broad range of Anderson's work know that he believes that the market "functions as effortlessly and as inevitably as gravity." The Trouble Twisters deals with interstellar merchant-adventurers out to make a buck. No "Prime Directive" here. Human civilization is dominated by the Polesotechnic League ("League of Selling Skills") and is unabashadly capitalist. Private corporations and merchant-adventurers dominate space travel for the very good reason that they plan to make a profit by it. (Something to think about in itself. NASA hasn't gone to the moon lately.)
Anderson's characters are well-developed, and the stories will make you think and make you laugh about the predicaments people (and aliens) manage to get themselves into. Recommended.

Another in Anderson's Polysotechnic Universe, the book is three novella's from the career of interstellar horse trader and protege' of Solar Spice & Liquour's Nicholas Van Rinjh, David Falkyn. I remember these stories fondly from my college days and I'm afraid that Anderson's cowboy capitalist view of interstellar relations has forever prevented me from joining the Trekkie's cashless society of the future camp. It puzzles me that no television producer has jumped on old Nick and David for a sci-fi series. The stories in the series are ingenious looks at cultural collision with a distinctly (almost) conservative Republican bias. In each story, it is not figuring out how to outshoot some nameless menace that makes the story. It is rather the struggle to figure out how two very different cultures can make money off each other without killing each other. I love the whole concept. Hollywood may not be ready for that yet. In Anderson's stories, Van Rinjh is not an altruist and Falkyn is a bit of a chauvinist. What a wonderful antidote to Star Trek's "we've eliminated all want & any need for money" fairy tales as well as the equally "extreme the other way' doom and gloom futures that are tossed at us on the toob. This is the future as Wild West and what a lot of fun it is. Violence tends to be personal and immediate without the unlikely "intergalactic empire" liberal futurists envision (whether benign or evil). Very satisfying and you don't have any magicians mucking up the works (except for the local fraudulent hedge wizard types). I like my sci-fi technical, intellectual and pure like this. Poul Anderson is one of my all time favorite reads and this was a good book! Tom Kin

It has been awhile since I read this book and have been looking to read it again. That alone is one of my criteria for whether a book is any good or not. The main characters have plenty of depth and history but what still grabs me still today is the situations the author places them in and that they have to think their way out. In one instance they have landed with a crippled ship miles away from a repair depot. The depot has the equpment to fix the ship but it is very heavy and needs to be transported. The hitch is the locals consider a circle to be a religious topic and doesn't allow them to be used as wheels (Sacrelige!) How do they transport a few tons of equipment without using a wheel? Not only is it approached from a scientific angle but also how this discussion affects the local population who have lived under the church's limits on thinking about circles. My explanation doesn't to the story justice. Anderson is a master at this type of delimma and tells the tales very well. I'd recommend this book in a heartbeat. Now if only I can find a copy.

If you don't mind having to put it down regularly because you are laughing too hard to hold it, then this is the book for you. This, along with the earlier book Hoka! Hoka! Hoka! are must reads for anyone who likes to just get down and laugh. My only other recommendation would be to pick up a copy of The Sound and the Furry, which brings the entire collection of Hoka stories together.

That's right, the Hokas are back. This is the second book with the teddy bears running awok. Watch them act out both childern's books and history, come right to the edge of doom and than pull back with little or no help from humans. Funny AND a delight to read.

With the earlier publication of "Hokas, Hokas, Hokas" by Baen, all of Anderson and Dickson's wonderful "Hoka" stories are back in print. This volume includes "Full Pack", "The Napoleon Crime", and the novel "Star Prince Charlie." There's an awful lot of humor and joy in these books, along with the usual taps on my "think" button that these authors can't help but hit. If I'm very very good in *this* incarnation, I hope to reincarnate as a Hoka.

Orbiting the G2 star, Brackney's Star III, is the earthlike planet Toka. And, inhabiting the world of Toka are the Hoka, a small, teddy bear-looking race, who are surprisingly strong for their size. Unfortunately their longsuffering human plenipotentiary, Alexander Jones, the Hoka are the most imaginative race in the galaxy, as soon as they discover a new book of fiction, they adopt the roles and live the story...invariably with comedic results!

This book is a collection of three Hoka novellas. The first story is "Full Pack (Hokas Wild)", which was first presented in the book Hoka!, and describes what happens when the Hokas discover the Jungle Books, and meet up with a group of aliens that look like a tiger, a gorilla and a snake (or should I say Shere Khan, the Banderlog, and Kaa?). In the second story, The Napoleon of Crime, also from Hoka!, Hokas across the planet are suddenly introduced to military history with potentially disastrous consequences; can Jones save the day yet again?

The third story, Star Prince Charlie, which is longer that the other two combined, takes the action off planet. When young Charles Stuart and his Hoka tutor visit the planet New Lemuria, he finds it a world on the edge, waiting only the prince of prophecy who will overthrow the hated tyrannical king. And then, Charlie's Hoka notices how close everything is to the story of Scotland's Bonnie Prince Charlie. Once this ride begins, all Charlie can do is hang on to his hat...and his head!

Each of these stories is literally laugh out loud funny, with lots of action thrown in. Most story collection out there are a mix good and not-so-good stories, but that is not the case with this book, all three are hilarious! This is a great book, one that I highly recommend to everyone! (If you like this book, and you will, check out the books Hoka! and Hoka Hoka Hoka.)

This story is truly one-of-a-kind; a labor of love (being dedicated to the author's wife) as well as a tour de force. It can be savored on four levels: first as "simply" a fine and original fantasy novel; second as a clever and "natural" (that is, unforced) interweaving of characters and locales from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, with a light seasoning of Arthurian themes; thirdly as a masterful adaptation of the language rhythms of a Shakespeare play (with the chapters/acts divided into "scenes"); and finally as an extraordinary, subtle (that is, unobtrusive) integration of poetry (again a la Shakespeare) into prose narative. For example, chapters or "scenes" occasionally end with a rhymed couplet, but that is only the most obvious of the many Excellencies. All four levels are seamlessly incorporated in a most extraordinary manner. The first time I read this book - in 1974 - I was halfway through before I began to realize what the author had achieved. Thus lovers of fantasy can thoroughly enjoy the story, while connoisseurs of the English language will find additional reasons to rejoice. This book is a gem - a masterpiece. I have treasured my paperback copy for 27 years. I assume it is reprinted regularly, but I have never seen it again in bookstores. It deserves a fine hardcover "limited" edition with illuminated script highlights and four-color illustrations by a top artist sympathetic to the genre. I plan to commission one as soon as I win the power ball.

I am sometimes sorry I cannot give less than one star to some books I have read (I read hundreds of books professionally). On this occasion I am sorry I cannot give more than five stars.

It is absolutely superb, a perfect jewel of a book which I had never heard of and discovered only by chance. The heroic scale and width of concept, and I say this with all seriousness, can be called Shakespearean. Splendid descriptive writing, action and characters, with resonances at the very centre of great mytho-poetry. I knew Poul Anderson was a great writer, but this took my breath away! The best novel I have discovered in years!

This is one of my two or three favorite Poul Anderson books and one of my top 20 favorite novels, period. It's a combination alternate history-swashbuckler-magical fantasy set in the era of the war between Cavaliers and Roundheads, but with a difference: they have railroads already. Well plotted, well paced, inventive, suspenseful, great descriptions. Not too deep, though--just great fun. Characters: Traditional but not stereotypical hero, heroine, sidekick, villain, a few historical figures, some familiar literary non-humans and a guest cameo appearance by a character from one of my other favorite stories of his. This story makes one really appreciate how well grounded in history and literature Anderson is. He also displays that all-too-rare ability to use the English language of the past with complete accuracy, a skill the lack of which can easily break the spell of an effort which might have otherwise succeeded. Attention English majors: There's one other feature I won't completely give away so as not to spoil your fun of discovery, but I will say--pay close attention to the dialog

This is one of those books you want to keep and read again over the years. It's a historical what if? story. What if there was a world where Shakespeare's stories were history rather than fiction and in this world railroads were built 200 years early? It's a wonderful story with all the elements of fantasy of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" combined with the battle between Royalists and Roundheads in a world of premature steam industry. The only thing that would be more wonderful would be if it were twice as long! This is a book you can read today and it is still as great as when it was written.

While running from the Nazis in occupied Norway, Holger Carlson is struck unconscious, and awakens in an alternate Earth. In this Earth, it is still the medieval period, and the forces of Law and Chaos are locked in a life and death struggle. Lawful humans seem to believe that Holger is a great knight-errant, who will carry the battle to the Chaotic elves.

This wonderful fantasy book was written one year before Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (and 16 years after The Hobbit), and was a major influence on the original Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game. It is a great adventure, and quite a view into the early history of modern fantasy literature. This is a great book, and I recommend it wholeheartedly.

I first read this book over thirty years ago. I remember how much it meant to me even though at that time I didn't understand all the references. I was a little afraid that rereading it again after all these years might prove disappointing to me. It wasn't- if anything I love this book more than ever. I am also amazed that it was written in 1953, for its talk of parallel universes and the principles of quantum physics long predates the popularization of those topics.

Briefly, this is the story of an Americanized agnostic engineer of Danish descent who finds himself battling the Nazis on a beach during WW2. A head wound sends his consciousness across to the other world that he simultaneously inhabits. It is a parallel universe in modern terms, or a "higher plane" in esoteric terminology, but, as he tells himself, this is just substituting words for the same reality. But both worlds are connected, and the agnostic engineer concludes that the connection between the two is...God. He finds that in both the same battle of Law versus Chaos rages. In our world the Nazis threaten to engulf the planet, and in the realer, purer realm of which ours is but a pale reflection, the Middle World threatens to blot out Light forever. But Chaos had failed to account for the fact that in its time of need the universe will call forth a champion on all planes. The only problem is that the champion may not immediately recall who and what he truly is...

As the dust jacket reminds us, before Zelazny and Amber, before Moorcock and Melnibone, before Thomas Covenant and the Land, or Simon Tregarth and Witch World, there was Holger Carlsen in the Middle World on the marches of the Empire. You can read this as a pure adventure romance (witches, warlocks, elves, faeries dragons, giants, trolls, etc.) or you can get a little more out of it, but it is definitely worth your time.

This particular Science Fiction Book Club 50th anniversary edition makes a nice addition to your permanent library. It is the one that I chose for mine.

When an adolescent,40 some odd years ago,this book stood out as a beacon of meaning within the imaginative world of science fiction.I read all the well known sci-fi writers of the time,& learned from some of them,much of what I later realized was the nature of bitterness,cynicism,absurdism,,nihilistic pain,and the hollowness of having what the Native Americans called losing my center.The story of how my center found me is not the point.I kept going back to this book because it closed with a focus on belief in the victory over corruption,old and evil,and an attempt to go back to a world where truth & justice and glory meant something,& where right was fresh and clean,& wrong was really wrong.I later found the writers who gave Anderson his own literary inspiration,and who gave them theirs.I am still grateful for this book,and I include my thanks for its ability to bring back wonder to daily life,and make me realize that life HERE is glorious,and will be better.
Oh,and it's just great entertainment,and fun,too.

At it's worst, SF can be cheap schlock insulting the reader's intelligence or poorly-thought out boring drivel. At it's best, SF is lucky to come close to Poul Anderson's _The Night Face_. A short, intense page-turner, it has a rich cast of compelling characters, and the narrative is as lush as the thick greenery on the world of Gwydion - the planet where the action (and mystery) is set.

Three characters form the story's center, whirling through the book in a race of misinterpretations and incorrect assumptions. Of them, one is a Gwydiona, and two are of the visiting space travellers: one is Raven, leader of the expedition's military branch and of warrior-race ancestry; the other is Miguel Tolteca, a more peaceful republican seeking commercial and scientific rewards.

These three intersect - collide - thorought the story, their misaprehensions framed in the gorgeous natural scenery of Gwydion. The other characters are fleshed out as well, the dialogue is sharp, and the story is fluid, unencumbered, and hypnotizing. It is definitely the work of a master.

As both Anderson says in his Introduction and (in my 1978-edition copy) noted SF critic Sandra Miesel notes in her Afterward, _The Night Face_ can fit in Anderson's Technic Civilization series, but it stands brilliantly alone. It is evocative and chilling; its brevity not an obstacle to a well-detailed and satisfying story.

Originally titled _Let The Spacemen Beware!_ (and based on a novellete called "A Twelvemonth and a Day"), my only gripe with _The Night Face_ is the blurb on the back, which gave away the story's chief hook: the mystery surrounding the too-peaceful life of Gwydion's inhabitants, rooted in their extensive myths and legends.

My recommendation for this book is in two parts: read it as soon as you can get a copy, and do not read any blurbs anywhere on it (even Larry Niven's short, glowing review, inside the book). They will ruin the suspense. But definitely hunt down a copy of _The Night Face_ - it is powerful, unforgettable, and the only thing more tragic than its sad, gripping story would be a missed opportunity to read it.

The late Poul Anderson was without any doubt one of the Grand Masters of science fiction. He wrote on an astonishing range of topics within the science fiction genre, including time travel, alternate history, human evolution, and man's future destiny in space.

The Night Face is one of Anderson's finest stories. It is set within his famous "Technic Civilization" future history series. In this story, Technic Civilization has collapsed, the Terran Empire rose and fell, and the post-Empire human civilization is beginning to reach out among its various parts and consolidate. In this story several planets are mounting an expedition to re-establish contact with the planet Gwydion. Gwydion has been isolated from other human planets for over a thousand years. It was settled by a small group of colonists who lost touch with civilization and had to adapt to the new planet without the benefit of most technology. When the expedition arrives on Gwydion they find the folk to be friendly, prosperous, thriving, and startlingly free of numerous of the baser human traits such as excess greed, avarice, and internecine strife. Gwydion appears to be, in fact, almost paradise.

More would be telling, but you may be sure that nothing is as simple as it appears, and the Gwydionians have their own set of problems, forced upon them by their need to adapt to their hospitable but strange planet. This is a great and tragic story that most readers will find deeply moving.

The Night Face merits the overused title of "classic" and it is one of the great stories in science fiction by one of its Grand Masters. This is a wonderful story to which the discerning reader will return many times.

All of us go through a phase of doubting whether we should adhere to the genre. This provided one of my most compelling reasons to continue. Forthwith is the "blurb" from the 1982 Signet back cover.

"THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND Wherever the borders of the Terran Empire and the Ythrian Domain touch, there is the possibility of war. Caught in the middle of this galactic power struggle is the Ythrian colony planet Avalon, a world inhabited by Ythri and humans alike. But Avalon has formed a culture all its own, which it will defend against all comers - including the two most powerful empires in the universe...
THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN Back under the thumb of the Terran Empire after an almost successful rebellion, the Aeneans were looking for trouble - and finding it. A fanatical religious movement was spreading like wildfire. There were rumors of the fabled Elder Race's return. Aeneas' leader was hiding from possible retribution at Empire hands. And agents from the Ythrian Domain and Merseia, Terra's ancient foe, were abroad in the land..."

This may be Anderson's best work. The interplay between two races, the flying carnivorous Ythri and the human Terrans, in the midst of a powerful space attack, makes for an interesting study. The book is also important because it is the bridge between two, originally separate, future histories. A descendant from the chronologically earlier history plays an important part in the later one.

This is seven of Poul Anderson's best stories. The best one is set in a future where we are terraforming the Earth's Moon; Anderson is very good at designing planets.

Another goody features organized crime as part of America's establishment (insert joke of choice here).

Time Travel for Fun and Profit

A Review of "The Time-Machined Saga"

by Harry Harrison

Publication History

Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine - "The Time-Machined Saga" March 1967.
ISBN-10: 020286703X

The Technicolor Time Machine, 1967, Publisher: Doubleday.

Technicolor Time Machine, 1968, Publisher: Berkley Medallion.

The Technicolor Time Machine, 1976, 1980 and 1981, Publisher: Tor Books.
ISBN 0-86007-887-6 and 0-523-48506-9

The Technicolor Time Machine, 1985 and 1991, Publisher: Tor Books.
ISBN 0-812-53970-2 and 0-812-51607-9

This book is a science fiction comedy about a motley group of movie makers who travel to the eleventh century to film a Viking adventure.

For such a short book there are an amazing number of surprises, plot twists and turnabouts.

This is a fun book to read. "The Technicolor Time Machine" is funny book as well as a stimulating adventure story.

See Also:

Analog Science Fiction and Fact, March 1967 (Volume LXXIX, No. 1)

The Technicolor Time Machine

I enjoyed this book; I wholeheartedly recommend it to others.

A collection of eight fantasy stories by Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning author Poul Anderson, including one co-written with his wife, Karen Anderson.


Gods and warriors, lore and legendry live again in these adventures into bygone realms of wonder and danger. This superb collection of fantasy includes "The Queen of Air and Darkness", Anderson's Hugo and Nebula Award-winning saga of changelings and magic on an alien world.