Friday 9 December 2016

Recycling FSF Concepts

OK. Rewatching Smallville, we recapitulate some fantasy and science fiction concepts, then ask: in which work(s), if any, did Poul Anderson address these ideas?

telepathy
invisibility
metamorphosis
werewolves
time travel (handled very badly in Smallville)
precognition
mind transference
aquatic humanity
ghosts
immortality

And probably more that I will remember after I have posted.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Off the top of my noggin, this is what I remember:

Telepathy, "Journeys End," THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN, "Honorable Enemies," and other stories showing the telepathic Aycharaych. And one of the Maurai stories, "Progress," shows us an artificial kind of telepathy.

Invisibility, OPERATION CHAOS

Metamorphosis, the various were men seen in the two OPERATION books.

Werewolves, THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS and the two OPERATION books.

Time travel, The Time Patrol stories, THERE WILL BE TIME, THE DANCER FROM ATLANTIS, THE CORRIDORS OF TIME, and short stories like "Wildcat" and "Welcome."

Precognition, this one rings no bells.

Mind transference, THE HARVEST OF STARS books, the later parts of THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS, GENESIS.

Aquatic humanity, "The Horn Of Time The Hunter."

Ghosts, this too rings no bells.

Immortality, WORLD WITHOUT STARS, FOR LOVE AND GLORY, THE BOAT OF A MILLION YEARS. But all of these stories shows us how "immortals" can also be killed.

Merry Christmas! Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Thanks. I think a "metamorph" would be someone who can assume any shape?
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think "metamorphosis" can be defined either narrowly or broadly. The more limited or narrower sense is what we see in THREE HEARTS and the OPERATION books.

Sean

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Sean!

As to ghosts, there's the Trygve Yamamura story, "Dead Phone." It's ambiguous whether a ghost was really involved, but that is one explanation.

Merry Christmas!
Nicholas D. Rosen

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Nicholas!

You're right! I should have thought of "Dead Phone" for an Anderson story POSSIBLY involving ghosts. Darn and drat!

Merry Christmas! Sean