Thursday 27 August 2015

Looking Back

Poul Anderson Appreciation, published purely for pleasure, not profit, proceeds unpredictably. Looking back, it is possible to discern certain unplanned directions of reading or rereading. Recently:

Poul Anderson's many works, including his two short stories of realistic alternative history;

SM Stirling's many more elaborate alternative history novels;

Stirling's Time Patrol short story, "A Slip In Time";

early chapters of Anderson's Time Patrol novel, The Shield Of Time.

Despite this unplanned procedure, several consistent themes emerge:

Anderson made major contributions to several literary traditions;
he systematically addressed issues like time travel or AI from every conceivable angle;
his central characters are problem-solvers, often realizing and implementing the solution to a current problem before explaining it to their colleagues and thus to the readers;
Anderson regularly wrote detailed descriptive passages, appealing simultaneously to several of the senses;
thus, his works bear endless rereading to appreciate such details;
another part of the appreciation of his works is to engage with arguments and values presented in the texts;
he asks and answers ultimate questions about the significance of life and intelligence.

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