Favourite Poul Anderson Novel

[Elckerlyc]

Found it. Only available in English. Probably never been translated.
Well, that's no problem.

 

[Parson]

Found it. Only available in English. Probably never been translated.
Well, that's no problem.

Sigh! I'm jealous of being very literate in at least 2 languages. There is no other language that I could read a novel in.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Sigh! I'm jealous of being very literate in at least 2 languages. There is no other language that I could read a novel in.

Look at it this way: English is the world no. 1 language. So there is little need for you to bother yourself with learning a second language, just to be able to get around in the world. And getting 'very literate' (your words, not mine) can take a lot of time and energy. You can put that energy in learning other stuff that suits you best.
Though I won't deny that knowing two or more languages is a great advantage.

 

[Parson]

(Grins) "Very literate" was my way of saying I know a little of a couple of languages, Greek and Hebrew, and now that I'm retired I'm spending an hour probably more each night learning Spanish. (200 + nights so far) But as insightful as any of that can be, and sometimes it's very insightful indeed, it's not the same as being able to read and communicate in a which is not absolutely painstaking and frustrating. I'm trying to learn Spanish because I want to make the increasingly numerous number of Spanish speakers moving into our area feel welcomed and accepted. --- I really wish more American schools made learning a foreign language mandatory.

 

[Elckerlyc]

(Grins) "Very literate" was my way of saying I know a little of a couple of languages, Greek and Hebrew....

Ah! I was wondering about that, you being the Resident Parson. Not languages to get easily 'very literate' in.

I really wish more American schools made learning a foreign language mandatory.

It is in the Netherlands, on any school. Whether or not there is a practical need (or aptitude), it does broaden your mind and cultural outlook..

Anyway, all this has little to do with Poul Anderson.

 

[Parson]

Ah! I was wondering about that, you being the Resident Parson. Not languages to get easily 'very literate' in.


It is in the Netherlands, on any school. Whether or not there is a practical need (or aptitude), it does broaden your mind and cultural outlook..

Anyway, all this has little to do with Poul Anderson.

True that. Thanks

 

[Bick]

My favorite Poul Anderson is not one listed it's "The Only Game in Town." I also voted for "The Boat of a Million Years" and "Time Patrol." I've probably not read as much of his stuff as I should have, bu those three are definitely memorable.

The Only Game in Town is the fourth Time Patrol book, so I only listed the first - a vote for Time Patrol kinda encapsulates the sequels, perhaps.

 

[Parson]

The Only Game in Town is the fourth Time Patrol book, so I only listed the first - a vote for Time Patrol kinda encapsulates the sequels, perhaps.

But I've got to wonder about that list. I see the title in a "Time Patrol" omnibus but I know of certainty that what I read was a stand alone and I really think novel size. I remember distinctly picking it up at a used book store in the late 80's after an acquaintance had told me that her son read all of Poul Anderson he could get a hold of, and I had not read any of his stuff at that time. There is nothing that I remember in "The Only Game in Town" about the Time Patrol it is a story of a mongol from before Genghis Chan's time who is hijacked to a time when the mass of people are illiterate and have no knowledge of history and the computer controlling human society presents history in the form of what we would call "reality shows." His only way of living in the time is to join the game and play a mongol, which of course he was. Could Anderson have reworked it into a novel at another time?

Edit: I found the short story and skimmed it. That story is not the story I read. --- Now I'm really flummoxed.

 

[Bick]

Okay I've done some research, Parson. The Only Game in Town is a novellete, only 27 pp. first appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and it is included in Time Patrol. It is the fourth story in that series. The stories are loosely associated, not necessarily closely linked. Given its not a novel, I feel vindicated to not include it separately. It also explains why I hadn't heard of this great lost Poul Anderson novel!

 

[JimC]

My favorites were "The Man Who Counts", and the "Operation" stories.
"Operation"s Virginia Greylock character was based on Ginny Heinlein.

 

[J-Sun]

That was tough - Tau Zero and Brain Wave were easy and "Any Polesotechnic League/Terran Empire Future History book" would have been my third. Without that option, I was torn between van Rijn/Falkayn and Flandry and thought I might just go for an independent novel instead, but then was torn between The High Crusade and The Enemy Stars, so I ended up going back to van Rijn/Falkayn. (BTW, Mirkheim is one of those and People of the Wind is a Future History tale not in the main two subseries.) Unless everybody else was having the same problem I was having, I can't believe no one but me has voted for van Rijn/Falkayn/Flandry yet.

 

[ginny]

For a look at his earlier work I'd recommend After Doomsday.
I enjoyed
Mirkheim
and
The Dancer from Atlantis

 

[J-Sun]

For a look at his earlier work I'd recommend After Doomsday.

I'd second that - I don't put it in his very top-tier, but it's really good.

 

[JimC]

" I can't believe no one but me has voted for van Rijn/Falkayn/Flandry yet".

I did, in the post immediately preceding yours - 'The Man Who Counts'

 

[J-Sun]

" I can't believe no one but me has voted for van Rijn/Falkayn/Flandry yet".

I did, in the post immediately preceding yours - 'The Man Who Counts'

I meant in the poll options - until I checked the Falkayn/van Rijn box there were 0 votes for it and there are still 0 on the Flandry option so far.

 

[Mike J Nagle]

Bick,

I have read nearly all of Poul Anderson's works.

It was incredibly difficult to narrow the field down to only three choices.

Mike

 

[Mike J Nagle]

Bick,

I have read nearly everything Poul Anderson has written, and enjoyed nearly all of it.

It certainly wasn't easy narrowing it down to only three choices.

Mike

 

[psikeyhackr]

I selected Brainwave.

Tau Zero is one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again. I have read Brainwave multiple times but every time I have tried to reread Tau Zero I just lost interest.

The ending is just Too BIG and if you already know what it is.....

 

[Vertigo]

I selected Brainwave.

Tau Zero is one of those books that I wish I could read for the first time again. I have read Brainwave multiple times but every time I have tried to reread Tau Zero I just lost interest.

The ending is just Too BIG and if you already know what it is.....

Yes, I'd agree with that. It's a bit like Asimov's short story The Last Question; probably my favourite short story ever but once you know the end it's hardly worth reading again!

 

[The Big Peat]

I've no read as much Anderson as I'd like but The Broken Sword is a masterpiece.