Whenever I see a Foundation, Dune, Star Trek or Star Wars volume on a bookshelf, I think how much better is Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization. Whenever I see a reference to the Doctor Who TV series, I think how much better is Anderson's Time Patrol series. There may be other examples but, for me, the Technic History and the Time Patrol are two essential texts. How bad their competitors can be highlights how good they are.
As Good As
In this second category are:
Neil Gaiman's Inn of the Worlds' End and Anderson's Old Phoenix Inn;
Gaiman's immortal Englishman, Hob Gadling, and Anderson's immortal Tyrian, Hanno (both mention the Wandering Jew);
Gaiman's and Anderson's adaptations of Norse mythology;
Gaiman's long The Sandman series (fantasy throughout history) and Poul and Karen Anderson's The King Of Ys Tetralogy (historical fiction with a fantasy element) (both feature the Roman Empire).
But there are several major and minor parallels between Gaiman and Anderson.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree in sharing frustration on how often we see the FOUNDATION, DUNE, STAR TREK and STAR WARS books in SF sections, while Anderson's far superior stories are shamefully neglected.
I suggest, however, that Frank Herbert's DUNE and its first two sequels are not that bad. However, I recall how another online friend criticized DUNE for having no LIKABLE characters. While possibly exaggerated, I thought she made a good point after I thought about it.
I only wish Anderson had written one or two more Old Phoenix stories! Two, plus the interludes in A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST, were not enough.
And I really long for good, accurate filmed versions of some of the Nicholas van Rijn and Dominic Flandry stories. If done well, I'm sure they would be vastly superior to STAR DRECK or STAR WARS!
Ad astra! Sean
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