The Short Fiction of Poul Anderson

Poul Anderson was one of the most prolific and honored writers of American science fiction, and this collection brings together short stories from early in his long career, drawn from the pulp magazines of the 1950s. His range shows even here, with hard science extrapolation sitting beside planetary adventure, first-contact puzzles, and tales of humans stranded far from home. In “Star Ship” a crew marooned on an Iron Age world is pulled into a local war while their vessel hangs useless in orbit, a setup that lets Anderson chew on his lifelong themes of power, loyalty, and the stubborn business of survival. Clear-eyed, well engineered, and quietly humane, these stories mark the start of a career that would win the field’s highest awards. Free to download as a PDF or EPUB.