Poul Anderson

Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was a prolific science fiction author of the genre's Golden Age; some of his short stories were first published using the pseudonyms "A. A. Craig", "Michael Karageorge", and "Winston P. Sanders". Poul Anderson also wrote fantasy such as the King of Ys series.

Survey of his fiction

Anderson is probably best known for adventure stories in which larger-than-life characters succeed gleefully or fail heroically. Though he also wrote quieter works, especially at short lengths and later in his career, he was seldom interested in psychological analysis.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Much of his science fiction is thoroughly grounded in science (with the addition of dubious but standard speculations such as faster-than-light travel). A specialty was imagining scientifically plausible non-Earthlike planets. Perhaps the best-known was the planet of The Man Who Counts—Anderson adjusted its size and composition so that humans could live in the open air but flying intelligent aliens could evolve, and he explored consequences of these adjustments.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In many stories, Anderson commented on society and politics. He often returned to libertarianism (which accounts for his Prometheus Awards) and to the business leader as hero, most notably his character Nicholas van Rijn. Beginning in the 1970s, his historically grounded works were influenced by the theories of the historian John K. Hord, who argued that all empires follow the same broad pattern—in which the Terran Empire of the Dominic Flandry spy stories fit neatly.

Related Topics:
Libertarianism - John K. Hord - Spy stories

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He set much of his work in the past, often with the addition of magic, or in alternate or future worlds that resemble past eras. A specialty was his ancestral Scandinavia. Frequently he presented such worlds as superior to the dull, over-civilized present. Notable depictions of this superiority are the prehistoric world of "The Long Remembering", the medieval society of The High Crusade, the quasi-medieval one of "No Truce with Kings", and the untamed Jupiter of "Call Me Joe". He handled the lure and power of atavism satirically in "Pact", critically in "The Queen of Air and Darkness" and The Night Face, and tragically in "Goat Song".

Related Topics:
Scandinavia - Medieval - Jupiter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maybe fitting his love for olden years is that Ander-Saxon is named after him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~