Thursday 2 November 2023

Poul Anderson Paperbacks

A neighbour who is a former sf bookseller has just brought me a bagful of Poul Anderson paperbacks, all in good condition, none that I do not already have but some can replace my copies in poor condition. I already had Planet Of No Return (London, 1971). It begins with a quote from Ecclesiastes, which I have probably noted before. 

The bag of books included Question and Answer (New York, 1978). The author's Introduction explains:

a professional scientist designed the planet Troas;

Isaac Asimov, James Blish and Poul Anderson were each asked to create a narrative about Troas;

originally intended to be published in a single volume, the three works were instead published separately over time;

Anderson's was serialized in Astounding, then published as a paperback entitled Planet Of No Return;

Anderson has now restored the original title. 

Does anyone know which are the Asimov and Blish works about Troas?

(The original shorter version of Blish's A Case of Conscience was produced in the same way. Apparently, there is at least one other story about the planet Lithia by a different author out there somewhere.)

3 comments:

Jim Baerg said...

I found the Wikipedia article on the Anderson story "Question and Answer" which has a link to an article about the Asimov story "Sucker Bait" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucker_Bait

The plot summary of "Sucker Bait" fits my recollection of the story, though I could not remember the title until I found the Wikipedia article on "Question and Answer"

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Jim,
Thanks.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I remember how, in my Andersonian zeal, I purchased many hard cover books by Anderson in 1979. Both used (but in very good condition) and the stories reprinted by Gregg Press. Worth the money to have good long lasting copies!

Ad astra! Sean