Going for Infinity

(Reposted from a previous blog.)

Going for Infinity; Poul Anderson (Tor Books, cover art by Vincent Di Fate).

This is a combination of a collection of short stories and excerpts from some novels plus autobiographical passages that precede each story. You get a gem of a collection plus some wonderful stories in the autobiographical sections (learn, for example, how Poul Anderson, Jack Vance and Frank Herbert all built a houseboat together, how they had some wonderful times on the boat, and how that boat ultimately sank).

Counts as 18 stories for the 2004 Short Story Project.

The collection is made up of The Saturn Game, Gypsy, Sam Hall, Death and the Knight, Journey’s End, The Horn of Time the Hunter, The Master Key, The Problem of Pain, Quest, Windmill, Three Hearts and Three Lions (excerpt of the novel of the same name), Epilogue, Dead Phone, Goat Song, Kyrie, A Midsummer Tempest (excerpt of the novel of the same name), The Shrine for Lost Children, The Queen of Air and Darkness.

Saturn Game dates from 1981 and was well received at the time (and still holds up nicely). It was inspired by roleplaying games and the fear that people would become more and more trapped in a fantasy world (you all probably remember some of the urban legends and far-right lore that was springing up back then). While the paper roleplaying games that inspired the story are fading (somewhat), the tale that Anderson tells could just as easily be inspired by the various aspects of virtual reality that are rearing their heads these days (videogames, the internet, etc.). Good story, and a strong start to the book.

Gypsy carries some themes that Anderson excelled at: yearning, loss, sadness. I don't know if it was his Norse background, his love of the sea, or what, but even a relatively minor or unknown tale such as this leaves you thinking.

Sam Hall explores another common Anderson them: fighting against repression (see, for example the novel Harvest of Stars). Inspired (he says) by Clifford Simak, it feels a lot like something that John W. Campbell, Jr. (writing as Don A. Stuart) or Robert A. Heinlein would have produced.

Death and the Knight is probably the least effective story in the collection. I think that is due to the fact that it was a story that appeared in a shared universe anthology (in this case, tales of the Knights Templer as created by Katherine Kurtz).

Journeys End I had read once years ago in an otherwise forgotten anthology. I had totally forgotten the story, or the fact that it was by Anderson. All I remembered was the overall idea (telepathy) and the ending of the story (if you had total access to another person’s mind, could you find "true love"...or even tolerance?). Another one that leaves you thinking long after you've completed it.

The Horn of Time the Hunter is set in the same fictional universe as Anderson's novel Starfarers (written late in his career, and itself is an expansion of a story called Ghetto). Anderson notes that he originally was going to incorporate Horn into Starfarers, but was convinced not to by his wife as if was "too dark". It is a pretty dark tale. Star travel, genetic isolation, and a meeting again of two branches of the family tree.

The Master Key is one of two tales in the book that is set in what is probably Anderson's most famous work: the Technic series that includes independent stories, stories of Master Trader Nicholas van Rijn and stories of the (eventual) Terran Empire's agent Dominic Flandry. The Master Key is a tale in which van Rijn appears, but is not central, it is a tale told by one of his agents of what happened on a planet that van Rijn's company was trying to open up for trade. The second tale set in that overall series is The Problem of Pain, and deals with humans trying to understand the psychology and religion of their alien allies. Anderson excelled at creating aliens that were more than just humans in funny suits.

Quest is set in the same universe as one of Anderson's funniest works, The High Crusade. It is set after the events of that book. Knights with swords that really sing (thanks to tapes), atomic bombs and starships. Oh my!

Windmill is set in the same overall arc as Anderson’s tales of the Maurai, found also in the story The Sky People and the novel Orion Shall Rise. There was always one quote that seemed to appear on his books (naturally, except for this one!) about reading his stories and getting a shock that you realize you have been cheering for the wrong side. This story fits that bill.

Three Hearts and Three Lions is an excerpt from the novel of the same name. I was surprised to realize that I had never read the novel (well, that just gives me something else new to read!). This was probably the weakest entry (next to the Knights Templer tale) in the book, as it is an excerpt. But, strong enough for me to order the book for the complete read!

In Epilogue, Anderson seems to have foreseen one possible result of the Vernor Vinge's Singularity. The story was inspired by an article by John von Neumann on what has become known as von Neumann machines, machines that can replicate themselves (reminds you of anybody you know?). Explorers return to Earth after a very long voyage and find things changed a bit more than they expected.

Dead Phone is going to set me on another quest. In the introduction, Anderson states that the main character of the tale, Trygve Yamamura (a private detective of Japanese-American and Norwegian ancestry) starred in three novels and several short stories. Argh! What novels...what stories? Another quest to find things by Anderson that I seem to have missed. Dead Phone is a fairly straight forward detective story with a few fantasy/horror elements.

I recall first reading Goat Song in one of the anthologies that I received as a gift in the early 1970's. One of the oddest things about the tale was learning (in Anderson's introduction to the story in this collection) that the genesis of the tale arose from the same writing workshop that brought us Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream! Both deal with (in a general sense) downloading personalities into a computer, but you couldn't have ended up with two more different ways of exploring that theme.

Kyrie is a relatively brief tale with a nice punch. It uses one of Anderson’s more common themes, trying to bridge the gulf between human and alien.

A Midsummer Tempest is another excerpt of a novel. Imagine if everything that William Shakespeare was true. Fun stuff, and I recommend you seek out the novel if you’ve never read it.

The Shrine for Lost Children grew out of a conference that Anderson and his wife attended in Japan. Is it science fiction (telepathy)? Is it horror or fantasy (ghosts)? A powerful psychological tale.

The Queen of Air and Darkness is Anderson at his best. It’s a wonderful mix of hard SF, mythology, fantasy. Anderson wrote it for "his" issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (1971). It won several awards and has been anthologized a number of times and has lost none of its charm even today.

There we have it, one of the best books I read in 2004, tied for first place. Anderson's loss leaves a big hole in the field; I hope that publishers do not do the usual and let his books go out of print. It would be an absolute shame if people starting out in the field of science fiction did not have the Trading Team, Ensign Flandry, Nicholas van Rijn, and all the other countless wonderful Anderson characters and the dozens of wonderful Anderson planets and Anderson plots to entertain them!