Friday, 3 October 2025

Major Bodies Of Work

We remain fascinated by the intricacies and minutiae of several major bodies of work by Poul Anderson:

the Technic History with its elaborate "history within the history," The Earth Book Of Stormgate;

the earlier Psychotechnic History, from the brave age of post-World War III reconstruction to the climax when several Stellar Union Coordinators join the Nomads and carry knowledge through the Third Dark Ages to the benefit of a later Galactic civilization;

the increasingly complicated Time Patrol series;

the Maurai/mutant time travellers future history;

the Old Phoenix multiverse;

the interconnected heroic and historical fantasies and historical novels with fantasy elements (!);

several independent sf novels addressing immortality, intergalactic travel, multi-species civilizations, post-organic intelligences etc. 

The sky is not the limit; it is the first storey.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

But we should keep in mind how dissatisfied Anderson became with the Psychotechnic stories. And the contempt he came to have for the useless UN.

I consider VIRGIN PLANET to be the single best of the Psychotechnic stories.

Ad astra! Sean

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I like the ingenious plot twists seen in "The Snows of Ganymede."

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

I like THE PEREGRINE.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

THE PEREGRINE is not a bad story, but VIRGIN PLANET is far more detailed and fleshed out.

Ad astra! Sean