Ppussjans And Hokas

Ppussjans from Ximba are:

"'...small, slim fellows, cyno-centauroid type; four legs and two arms...'" (Admiralty, p. 56)

Yet another quadrupedal race. How many in Poul Anderson's sf?

Regarding the Hokas, I do not buy intelligent alien teddy bears. On the one hand, the Hoka series is humorous sf. Therefore, its details are not meant to be taken too seriously. On the other hand, I would like to see a more serious treatment of this premise:

"'...my servant...does not consciously believe he's a mysterious East Indian; but his subconscious has gone overboard for the role, and he can easily rationalize anything that conflicts with his wacky assumptions...Hokas are somewhat like small human children, plus having the physical and intellectual capabilities of human adults. It's a formidable combination.'" (p. 58)

But is that not what we are? Protoplasm with an imagination? - that "...Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep."

Genre Stories

When a short story is published in a science fiction magazine, we know that the story is sf. Likewise with a detective magazine etc. However, an sf story published in an sf magazine might also be a detective story whereas I do not think that a detective story in a detective magazine can also be sf? Science fiction has been a more clearly delineated literary ghetto. Isaac Asimov and Larry Niven each pioneered an sf detective series within their respective future histories whereas a futuristic novel would not so easily cohere with a contemporary detective series.

In any case, a text should be self-explanatory. If a story is republished anywhere else, then its genre should be easily discernible, if not from the title, then at least from its opening passage. Poul Anderson and Gordon R Dickson needed to convey that "The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound" was:

science fiction;
an installment of an already existing series;
humor;
at least in part, a Holmesian pastiche.

They succeeded:

the story was published in Universe Science Fiction and collected in Earthman's Burden;
the title is Holmesian;
the opening sentence communicates humor by parodying a line from Gilbert and Sullivan;
the opening paragraph refers to the Inter-Being League, already familiar from previous Hoka stories, and also to the Interstellar Bureau of Investigation, clearly a detective outfit;
by the middle of the second page, we have learned that our regular hero and the visiting IBI man will visit the Tokan equivalent of England, where we might expect them to meet a Hoka Holmes, especially if we have noticed the cover of Earthman's Burden.

Holmes

How many Holmesian allusions are there in Poul Anderson's works? I will not try to list them all. However, there are major allusions in:

"Time Patrol"
"The Queen of Air and Darkness"
"The Martian Crown Jewels"
"The Adventure of the Misplaced Hound" (with Gordon R Dickson)

"Time Patrol" -

- is premised on an untold case mentioned in one of Conan Doyle's stories;
introduces Manson Everard and the Time Patrol;
cameos Holmes and Watson in a scene shared with Everard.

Thus, Holmes is seen by a time traveler. In the remaining three listed stories, he is imitated by a descendant in an extrasolar colony, by a Martian and by a Hoka. It follows that all these works are science fiction.

Since I plan to reread "...the Misplaced Hound," I here share links to some previous posts, on another blog, about the Holmes canon:

The Structure of a Series: Conan Doyle
The Structure of a Series: Conan Doyle II
The Structure of a Series: Holmes Omnibuses