Review by Marian Powell   —   January 3, 2002

Why put any book by Poul Anderson into Lost Books? Everyone knows he is one of the classic writers of Science Fiction and the winner of multiple awards, including seven hugos and three nebulas. His career began in 1947 and his final novel is being published posthumously. That's a career of over 100 books, mostly science fiction and over one half century of writing.

There is a problem when you publish that many books over such a span of time. The earlier works are forgotten, no matter how good they are. Many of you reading this were not reading anything, were not even born when the books listed above were published. Therefore, I decided to review the earlier works by Poul Anderson.

I used only the criterion that they must be stand-alone novels, not part of a series. That cuts out the majority of his works. I highly recommend his various series but for the purposes of this review, I chose these samples. My critieria was that besides not being part of a series, they had to be ones I had read or reread recently, ones that are considered to be among his very best and that show his variety. I might add that all are very short. This will surprise those who are only familiar with his last works. All three of these books could probably fit into Genesis or Boat of a Million Years with room left over for another novel or two!

TAU ZERO: A man and a woman are enjoying a last night on earth. They are leaving to colonize another planet. We get to know them and we have an intriguing look at earth in the near future when Sweden is the dominant world power! It's a wonderfully rich beginning filled with promise. You assume the novel will follow the colonists into space and then on to the new planet. However, in space, there is an accident and as a result, the space ship not only cannot stop, it begins to pick up speed. The colonists are unable to repair it. They can only struggle to cope as they speed through the galaxy, through the galaxies, through all the known universe, faster and faster, traveling further and further until....The story ends with a completely logical surprise that is only made possible by the courage of the colonists.

THE ENEMY STARS: This is a wonderful story with a terrible title. The title has nothing to do with the story. When it first appeared in the magazine, Astounding, the title was "We Have Fed Our Seas" , a line from a poem by Kipling. "We have fed our seas for a thousand years and she calls us, still unfed." Anderson quotes it at the very end of the story and it will make your hair stand on end. The story is about exploration and the price it can demand. It is the story of four men, strangers to each other, sent to on a very ordinary mission that goes horribly wrong. They are stranded in space with no hope of rescue and have to find a way to rescue themselves or die. It is a story about men pushed to endure and do more than they believe they can do.

THE HIGH CRUSADE: I'll confess that this is my favorite. It is a lighthearted story written in a mood of friendly good humor. Narrated by a medieval monk, it is the story of aliens from outer space who make the mistake of trying to invade earth by taking on a medieval English army. Anderson actually is making a serious point. An army that depends on high technology may be helpless in hand to hand combat. The English knights quickly defeat the aliens and take over the space ship. Of course they don't understand the ship but their leader thinks he can use it to lead a crusade to the Holy Land. Of course they end up lost in space. It's a contest between ignorant medieval knights and a galaxy full of high tech aliens. Guess who wins and why? Anderson is having fun here but throughout makes comments on the difference between highly motivated warriors and the poorly motivated aliens. It's a pleasure to read and it also gives food for serious thought.

This ends my tour of the Anderson library. I hope it inspires readers to look back in used book stores at the shelves of his works and pick up an afternoon's adventure.