Poul Anderson's Technic History
"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" IN Future Quest, ed. Roger Elwood, 1974.
"Lodestar" IN Astounding: The John W. Campbell Memorial Anthology, ed. Harry Harrison, 1973.
"Rescue on Avalon" IN Children of Infinity, ed. Roger Elwood, 1973.
Clifford Simak's City future history
"Epilog" IN Astounding... (see above)
(We are talking about only two editors and two authors here.)
We already know what outstanding additions to his Technic History those three stories by Anderson are.
"Epilog" (this should be my last reference to City): the Ants, who have covered most of the Earth with a single Building, and the robots who had helped them have died. The deathless robot Jenkins learns this when the Building begins to crumble and he is able to enter it for the first time. All that it contains is a lot of now dead ant hills. Coincidentally, when the Building begins to crumble, some wild robots who had left Earth in interstellar spaceships visit and take Jenkins away with them. End. Point?
Addendum: There is a serious omission in this post which will be addressed. The title should have been "Four Achievements..."
Later: Now see here.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
All this makes me think Anderson's story with a similar title, "Epilogue," which touches on analogous issues, was far better!
I don't recall reading anything by Simak before, and your commentaries are making me think that's no loss. Or am I being too harsh?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I can't say. I used to like him. Other people like him. We can only make our own judgments which can change.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Granted, what you said how we have to base our views of writers on how react to their works. But, if accepting the validity of your commentaries, I'm finding Simak less and less tempting.
Ad astra! Sean
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