"I was young and poor and wanted money to travel on; I could write derring-do very fast; why not? Therefore I churned out a total of about a dozen. That was all. They caused persons who think in categories to dismiss me as nothing but a blood-and-thunderer, and these folks took a long time to change their minds. Some never have. No matter. I don't feel the least apologetic for having thus earned the means to widen my horizons. Those tales were in no way memorable, but they weren't pretentious either, and if they gave a little diversion to most of their readers, they served their purpose."
-Poul Anderson, "Concerning Future Histories" IN Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America, Volume 14, Number 3, Fall 1979, Whole Number 71, pp. 7-14 AT p. 8.
The inconsequential Dominic Flandry story illustrated by the attached cover image was incorporated into Anderson's substantial future history series, the History of Technic Civilization, where it serves as a prelude or prologue to the major Flandry novel, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows. Thus, even this pulp-magazine-published action-adventure short story has made itself memorable.
I have some points to make about the above quotation but they will require several posts which might be sparse over the next week or so. I will also, perhaps at a leisurely pace, finish rereading Anderson's Technic History novel, The People Of The Wind.
Happy Solstice, which this is. The Christian half of a Christian/Wiccan handfast/marriage has just rung with seasonal greetings because they are unable to host a party/gathering/ritual/meal this year. We hope that life will be better in 2021 and in the ensuing future history.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteI remember that bit you quoted, and the truly lurid covers typical of PLANET STORIES. But I would not speak so minimizingly as did Anderson for the stories he wrote for PS. All of those which I've read were well worth reading and I used "Warriors From Nowhere" to help write my "Crime and Punishment in the Terran Empire" article. So even "Warriors" was more than merely a pulp story.
Ad astra! Sean