"The Sky People"

Poul Anderson, "The Sky People" IN Anderson, Maurai And Kith (New York, 1982), pp. 9-71.

If we cannot, for the time being, grind Poul Anderson's "Progress" into even finer particles, then we should turn to his first Maurai story, "The Sky People." I first read both "The Sky People" and "The Game of Glory" in Venture sf magazine, not yet suspecting that each of these stories was an installment of a different future history series.

As a rover fleet of the Sky People approaches and prepares to attack the Meycan city of S' Anton, Loklann sunna Holber, captain of the Buffalo, sees in the harbor a monstrous ship with seven tall masts and an unusual arrangement of sails. Although we do not know it yet, this is a ship of the Sea People called the Maurai and this series belongs to them, not to the Sky People.

We appreciate the descriptions of dawn light tinting cathedral spires rose and flashing off the gilt figureheads of the airships while regretting that the airships are about to raid the city.