Wednesday 10 June 2015

Other Planets?

Questions are a good way to go with the blog, now and then. It means that I do not have to know the answers and a blog reader might know them. Does Poul Anderson set any of his sf on solar planets other than Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars or Jupiter?

I can think of two. Earth's Moon and Ganymede are satellites but also big enough to count as planets. In fact, an astronomer told me that Earth and Moon are a double planet rather than a planet with a satellite. Anderson has quite a few works either set on or with scenes on the Moon but for once I do not propose to list them all in this post. Unexpectedly, Valeria Matuchek, born in one novel, becomes the first human being on the Moon in her alternative history in another novel.

Which three Anderson novels involve action on the surface of Ganymede? Asking questions is quite an informative exercise. I had to seek out some information even to formulate the questions accurately. I had thought that Anderson's works featured three satellites big enough to count as planets but two of the three turned out to be Ganymede. Then I thought that two novels featured Ganymede but, just in time, I remembered a third.

Having exhausted planets, which named asteroids do his characters spend time on? I do not know the answer to that one. Asteroids are colonized in two future histories: Psychotechnic and Flying Mountains. Do any named asteroids occur in both?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Snows of Ganymede is one.

Paul Shackley said...

Anon,
Yes, one.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Greetings, Anonymous and Paul!

Drat! I actually thought of that one, but was sure Paul already knew that.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Anon and Sean,
Yes, I did know that one. Some of my questions are me seeking information. Others are me challenging blog readers to think back. So which other two novels feature Ganymede?
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Thinking back, searching my memory....I think THE WAR OF THREE WORLDS is one? Perhaps TWILGHT WORLD is another? And maybe "Murphy's Hall"?

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
The 2 novels that I had in mind were THREE WORLDS TO CONQUER and WE CLAIM THESE STARS. But TWILIGHT WORLD is another!
Paul.

Paul Shackley said...

And "Murphy's Hall," although not a novel, also has action on Ganymede.