The Day of Their Return

Flandry #4

by Poul Anderson

While the new Terran Commissioner will do whatever is necessary to preserve the Empire, Ivar, a fugitive sought by both the Empire and Terra's alien rivals, becomes a potent symbol to those who would resist Imperial rule. Reissue.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Collections, Adventure, Space

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Maria Dobos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mda. Bărbații vânează, femeile gătesc, țiganii în căruțe, un tânăr nobil care luptă pentru libertate pentru că...? Pentru că poate, probabil.
Singurele care m-au impresionat au fost animăluțele controlatoare de minți.

[Ana-Maria Negrilă · Rating 3 out of 5]

Din păcate, unele cărți SF nu îmbătrânesc bine.

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

My least favorite Anderson book so far. Some good concepts but too much explaining in exposition while things happened off screen.

[A.B. B. Lucian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually love Poul's stories but this was strange. Main Character was unlikeable and the plot seemed to stand still. I was surprised. I could not make it past the middle of the book although I loved the premise.

[Dragoș · Rating 3 out of 5]

The day of their return is, in a way, the anti-Dune. Dune is, somehow, more than the sum of its parts - a treatise about philosophy, religion and the consequences of eon-long schemes that reek of hybris. Plus space feudalism, facets of humanity and uprisings. The day of their return is the same only the hybris fizzles out, the schemes fail and the charismatic young leader looking to lead a desert world to galactic greatness through space-jihad accepts a cozy job as a planetary figurehead for a soul-less, empire wide bureaucracy instead. It would be refreshing if it wasn't so dull along the way.

Don't get me wrong, there are things to like about this book.

Poul Anderson is a prolific old master of sci fi worldbuilding and his talent is at full throttle here. We are presented with a world divided among many cultures, different econ-social organization forms, a rich background and differing tech levels in a galaxy-faring society - peasant farmers with space-donkeys, local nobles and academics and the imperial mandarin caste keeping the wheels of commerce and peace well greased. This, in theory, is exactly my kind of jam, so much so that i got angry in the first 50 or so pages as I was writing something absurdly similar.

Unfortunately Poul Anderson is also a product of his day and age. Which is why those rich and well shaped diferring cultures and economic strata making up this singular rim-world are comically cliche and borderline racist. You have the nomad traveller troublemaker race "fueled by their passions" and ready to lie cheat and steal, travelling in covered wagons around this distant world while being unable and unwilling to integrate into the rest of society. These are so obviously roma/traveller/etc. that if Joanne Rowling would have named them, they would all be called Gyppo O'Stealerson or the like. You have the northern feudal people of the land who are basically northern lords transported to the galactic age (a nod to the High Crusade perhaps?) and the river travelling, asian-flavored honorable trader types called stuff like Ling Mi and with boats that all referrence jade and gates, two things that are not in abundance on seas and riverways. The Orcans are the most interesting of the cultures - a sort of agnostic spartans living in progenitor ruins. As I said - interesting if flawed ideas.

The biggest flaw, however is the dullness. The book is not exceedingly long but barely anything happens in it. I could excuse this if it were part of a series (which it is technically, but not its own) but as a standalone... it is this.

Interesting, if flawed.

[Baron Greystone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of Anderson's best SF yarns. He liked creating societies and worlds, and tried to emulate his friend author Hal Clement in that respect. In this case he shows us that contrary to so much SF out there, a whole *world* should have multiple cultures on it.

In addition to that, this book fits into the whole Dominic Flandry series. It shows what happens to a world *after* Flandry's part of the story. It should be read after The Rebel Worlds.

Anderson's ideas are wonderful, his worlds are believable. If you enjoy the Flandry books, y0u should read this one. Even though Flandry himself does not appear.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this a LONG time ago. From what I remember it was pretty good exept the whole time I was reading, I expected at some point "they" would return. lol They don't. Now I didn't say EVER, but just not between the two ends of this cover. Trust me I just did you a favour, you won't be disapointed like I was. *sigh*

[Bearcatgary · Rating 2 out of 5]

The basic story is a good one, but Anderson’s extremely detailed verbiage makes for a long and tedious read. The book is only 180 pages, but it took me weeks to read. I’d probably have to reread it to understand everything that occurred. But I’m not going to do it because I’ve already devoted enough time to the book.

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably among the best, or at least the most interesting, of the Flandry-era Poul Anderson books I've encountered so far, though it is itself Flandry-free. It might help to read The Rebel Worlds first (collected in Flandry or Young Flandry).

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Profetul Vorbi:
„Chemat nu ştiu de ce, am mers acolo unde oamenii nu fuseseră încă.
Cu o bucată de piatră de cretă, luată din dărâmătură, mi-am însemnat cărarea; dar era aproape ultima sclipire a simţului meu uman, pe când marcam kilometru după kilometru, tot mai aproape de sfârşitul drumului meu.
„Am găsit-O într-o încăpere unde lumina strălucea rece, venind de la un lucru înalt pe a cărui simplitate ochii mei alunecau; am putut să văd numai că era probabil o maşinărie şi că cea mai mare parte a sa era nu materie ci energie; înaintea ei stătea ACEASTA pe care o port acum pe cap. Mi-am aşezat-o pe frunte şi… „nu sunt nici cuvinte nici gânduri pentru ceea ce veni…”
„După trei nopţi şi zile am urcat; şi în mine exista Caruith Străvechiul, Salvatorul planetei Aeneas…”
Un cuvânt s-a furişat până la mine şi urechea mea i-a prins şoapta. În clipa când viziunile nopţii frământă gândul, când oamenii sunt cufundaţi într-un somn adânc, teama şi fiorul au venit peste mine şi toate oasele mi-au tremurat. Un duh a trecut apoi pe dinaintea mea, părul mi s-a zbârlit; şi stătea acolo, nu i-am putut desluşi înfăţişarea; o formă era înaintea ochilor mei, tăcerea stăpânea şi am auzit un glas…
IOV, IV, 12-16.

[Shortsman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is just a work of amateur philosophy, and not a good one either. The connection to the previous books is tenuous, it's the same universe, and the same solar system as book #3, but not a single character from previous books remains.

[C. M. Kosemen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts like a Dune remake with a bit of Star Wars and an even tinier bit of Robert Silverberg sprinkled in - and ends with a cool plot twist. Verbose at times, yet full of well-crafted societies and creature concepts.

[Bent Andreassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 3 1/2 stars.

[John Behnken · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's pretty darned slow. Decent characterization though. And an interesting story, which kept me going. I'd like to read the rest of Anderson's 'future history' to get a better perspective. I've read several over the years, but never close enough together to really tie the big picture together. One of these days...

[Michelle Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the many problems with reading old science fiction is that alot of the premises are no longer true.. and this book is like that..

Also.. is rather slow to start.. and drags esp for the first half of the book..

[Erik Graff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although part of the Terran Empire period of Dominic Flandry, Flandry himself does not appear in this science fiction novel.

[SciFiOne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grade D-

[Angela Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

not what i expected i think and left me hanging at the end. wanted more!

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flandry - clever one - should re-read these at some time

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

As others have noted, it was a bit slow, but good characters. It didn't really grab my interest until the last half or so.

[Norman Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prequel to the Flandry stories

[Anthony Faber · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tale of interstellar espionage and skullduggery. I remember Aycharaych, but he may appear in other books.