(Anderson has another collection entitled Beyond The Beyond. The titles are unhelpful for the purpose of differentiating these volumes.)
I automatically think of a "collection" as an arbitrarily chosen assortment of stories but this is far from being the case. Many of Anderson's collections have a theme. Homeward And Beyond was intended to explore and extend the range of sf. For this reason, the stories are presented in a certain order and each is preceded by "...a brief commentary..." (p. viii) which can be skipped by anyone who just wants to read the stories.
"Wings of Victory" (pp. 1-21) is introduced as being "...clearly identifiable science fiction..." (p. 1) John Campbell suggested an answer to a speculative question in the science of biology and Anderson based several narratives on this suggestion. "Wings of Victory" is also the opening story of The Earth Book Of Stormgate because it describes First Contact with Ythrians.
"The Long Remembering" (pp. 22-36) is based on the science of prehistory and, as published in this volume, incorporates corrections to errors that had been pointed out by Anderson's friend, Francois Bordes, Professor of Prehistory at the University of Bordeaux.
There are seven more stories in this volume but it is getting late here...
Laterz.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Now that's interesting. This is the first time I've become aware "The Long Remembering" has an original and a revised version.
Ad astra! Sean
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