Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was born on this day, November 25.

I ahven’t had time to read anything to review for his birthday, and I was wondering what to write about that I haven’t said before in a previous birthday post.

Anderson was a master of both science fiction and fantasy. Sometimes blending the two genres together.

Aanderson first began seeing his work in print in the late nineteen forties. He lived in the same rooming house as Gordon R. Dickson while they were in college. (And he collaborated with Dickson on the Hoka stories later.)

Anderson came in at the end of the pulp era. Witihin a decade, the pulps would be gone, replaced by the digests and paperbacks. And that got me thinking.

You could argue that’s a dangerous thing, and who would I be to argue with you on that point?

Let’s look at some of the writers from that time period. I’m going to classify them into two groups. Those that excelled at one genre, usually science fiction, and those that excels at both fantasy and science fiction. This list is not intended to be complete. Just the names that came to mind as I was  writing.

On the single genre side, we have Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Clifford D. Simak, and Fred Pohl. Writers who wrote in both genres included L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, and Gordon R. Dickson.

Everyone in that last list wrote in both genres, although some are better known for their science fiction, such as Dickson, than they are by their fantasy.

One could make the argument that the writers who didn’t write much fantasy were the ones who had more solid science and engineering backgrounds. Except that’s not true.

De Camp had an engineering background. Anderson majored in Physics.

I’m not sure how things break down among contemporary writers. Larry Correia writes both. So did David Drake. Other than that, I couldn’t say. My reading has tended to msytery and thriller the last few years.

Anderson drew on his scientific education for his science fiction. He was generally considered a hard science fiction writer. His Technic future history is a prime example, as is the novel Tau Zero.

Anderson drew on his Scandinavian heritage in much of his fantasy, such as The Broken Sword and Mother to Kings.

Anderson is one of those writers whose body of work is so extensive I haven’t read all of it yet. He’s one of my favorite writers, those. Some years ago, I wrote a post here listing the authors whose work I would want with me if I were marooned on a desert island.

Anderson was on the list.

Anderson drew heavily on history. Other writers have done the same. H. Beam Piper and David Weber have. But I think Anderson is the gold standard when it comes to future histories. Niven and Heinlein come close, in my opinion , and by all mean read their future histories if you haven’t.

But I think Anderson tops them all.

So I’ll raise a glass tonight in his memory.

What are your favorite Anderson stories or books?