mutant immortals;
seventeen different historical periods from 310 BC to 1942 AD;
several historical figures;
one chapter that could have been historical fantasy, dealing with legendary figures;
"contemporary" US society (1975);
a fantastic future Earth with immortality, AI and nanotech;
exploration of the Moon and Jupiter;
a voyage of interstellar exploration;
alien contact.
OK, that is not everything but feels like it at the time and is a very great deal. Further, Anderson addresses other sf ideas - telepathy, FTL, time travel, psychotechnics, robots, interstellar trade and imperialism, post-nuclear survival - in many other works. But Boat has the status of a sort of thematic summation.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I would also classify Anderson's THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS as marking the end of his middle period as a writer and the beginning of his late period. And this is not meant to suggest a decline in quality. Rather, beginning with BOAT we see Anderson not content to rest on his laurels but boldly trying out new ideas and themes in his later works. BOAT reminds me in some ways of his early and middle periods as much as it showed Anderson speculating about very different ideas. I still remember how much difficulty the HARVEST OF STARS books gave me the first time I read them. I had to reread them before I could truly appreciate them as the masterpieces of SF they are.
Sean
Sean,
Which works would you say begin and end his three periods?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I would date, naturally enough, the beginning of Poul Anderson's early phase with his "Tomorrow's Children," in 1947. And the end of his early phase with the publication of THE ENEMY STARS in 1958. This early phase was when Anderson was still learning how to write, to find his natural voice as a writer, and when he began writing about the ideas and themes dearest to his mind. This early period is also when we can detect a few false starts, or perhaps merely a change of mind in how he thought about and wrote some stories. The clearest example of that being the Psychotechnic stories.
I would date Anderson's middle period as beginning with the publication of WE CLAIM THESE STARS! in 1959. This middle period is marked by the confidence and strength with which Anderson wrote. And by the most prominent of his "future histories," the stories featuring the Polesotechnic League and the Terran Empire. And, as you know, I date the end of Anderson's middle phase with THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS in 1989. BOAT shows both definite similarities with his "middle" works and also touches on the themes he would focus on during the last 12 years of his life.
And, of course, the idea which comes most strongly to me as marking Anderson's late phase was how WELL he continue to write during his last twelve years, beginning with THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS. These years shows Anderson as not being content with simply rehashing old ideas and themes from his earlier years but boldly trying out new ideas, some of them very strange to me! I refer, of course, to his four HARVEST OF STARS books, STARFARERS, GENESIS, and the posthumously pub. FOR LOVE AND GLORY.
Anderson also continued to write shorter works, such as "Pele," set in Larry Niven's Man/Kzin wars series and "The Lady of the Winds," set in the Thieves World series (both were posthumously published).
Sean
Sean,
Thank you. Could this comment be expanded into an article?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm glad you liked my comments above enough to want them expanded into an article. Very flattering! Yes, I'll print them out and use them for an expanded version.
Many thanks! Sean
Post a Comment