The People Of The Wind

It is refreshing when rereading Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization to open an entire novel, The People Of The Wind, that is set long after the life times of Nicholas van Rijn and David Falkayn yet long before the birth of Dominic Flandry. These are the three main series characters yet three novels and thirteen short stories do not feature any of them.

Although Christopher Holm appears only in The People Of The Wind, his position in the History is strengthened by references in The Earth Book Of Stormgate to his activities as translator and compiler. And an ancestor of his is a supporting character in one Earth Book story.

The People Of The Wind describes in detail the physical environment of the planet Avalon, the nature of the winged Ythrians who have jointly colonized it with human beings, how the two races affect each other, the imperial pressure that builds into a war between Avalon and Terra and the massive destruction wreaked during a battle between space fleets.

Ythrian ways are different and some human beings are drawn to them. Christopher Holm, having become Arinninan, is now under choth law and custom, not human law. The opening paragraph sets the scene for a stormy period in Avalonian history:

"'You can't leave now,' Daniel Holm told his son, 'Any day we may be at war. We may already be.'" (Rise Of The Terran Empire, New York, 2011, p. 437)

Read on...