Poul Anderson was born on this date, November 25, in 1926. He passed away in 2001. It’s hard to believe that he’s been gone that long.
Anderson was best known for his science fiction, but he was also an accomplished fantasy author. I debated whether to post this tribute over at Futures Past and Present, but decided to go with the main blog.
It’s hard to go wrong with Anderson. I grew up reading his future history and from there branched out to his other works. In more recent years, I’ve read mostly his fantasy.
Unfortunately I’ve not read much of his work in recent years. Too many other things demanding my attention. The last thing I read by him was The Broken Sword. It had been part of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, and I had been intending the review to be my next post in my look at that line for Black Gate. Life got in the way, and I had to let some things drop. The BAF series of posts was one of them. Enough time has passed that I would need to reread the book before I reviewed it. Too many details have faded. Another project for a different day.
If you’ve not read Anderson, or not read much of his work, or not read him in a while (this would be me), do yourself a favor and check him out. He was one of the giants of the field, and it’s a shame that he may be forgotten by the younger generation. Much of his work is available in inexpensive ebook editions. NESFA Press has a series of his collected short fiction available in hardcover (in case anyone was wondering what to get me for Christmas).
