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Future History of the Polesotechnic League
The Earth Book of Stormgate
One of the great modern works of the imagination, this book tells of the trader van Rijn and the adventurer Falkayn; it rounds and completes the future history of the Polesotechnic League that spans four thousand years of Earth's interstellar empire; and it chronicles Mankind's encounters with the great-winged Ythri, who kept this record at far Stormgate.
"Behold these animals from the discovery on through the World-Taking. They are garnered from different trees, and few of them will seem at once to grow toward the same sun. Yet they do.
"This is the tale, told afresh, of how Avalon came to settlement and thus our choth to being. This is the tale as told by Terrans, who walk the Earth...
"Then read."
Contents:
Wings of Victory
The Problem of Pain
How to be Ethnic in One Easy Lesson
Margin of Profit
Esau (also known as Birthright)
The Season of Forgiveness
The Man Who Counts (the first appearance of the unedited version of War of the Wing-Men)
A Little Knowledge
Day of Burning (also known as Supernova)
Lodestar
Wingless (also known as Wingless on Avalon)
Rescue on Avalon
"Behold these animals from the discovery on through the World-Taking. They are garnered from different trees, and few of them will seem at once to grow toward the same sun. Yet they do.
"This is the tale, told afresh, of how Avalon came to settlement and thus our choth to being. This is the tale as told by Terrans, who walk the Earth...
"Then read."
Contents:
Wings of Victory
The Problem of Pain
How to be Ethnic in One Easy Lesson
Margin of Profit
Esau (also known as Birthright)
The Season of Forgiveness
The Man Who Counts (the first appearance of the unedited version of War of the Wing-Men)
A Little Knowledge
Day of Burning (also known as Supernova)
Lodestar
Wingless (also known as Wingless on Avalon)
Rescue on Avalon
144 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
2 people are currently reading
317 people want to read
About the author
Poul Anderson
1,625 books1,114 followersPseudonym 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
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
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 3, 2015
I can't tell if this is a novel disguised as a selection of short stories or a collection of short stories designed as a novel.
The selection of stories discuss the history of the terrans' exploration into Anderson's universe, and small number of the various alien species and issues encountered.
It is the first of several stories, but I am not interested in reading any of the others.
The selection of stories discuss the history of the terrans' exploration into Anderson's universe, and small number of the various alien species and issues encountered.
It is the first of several stories, but I am not interested in reading any of the others.
January 14, 2026
I'm somehow disappointed. I chose this book thinking its stories were about or involving the Ythrians of The people of the wind; an interestingly developed species of aliens in the latter book, intelligent avians with some nice thought given to the biological likeliness of such a race, and what it entails in their culture's development.
But this book mainly has stories of adventurers of the author's franchises, which I was not that much interested in. A few deal with unusual races and their equally unusual worlds, those caught my interest more, being more of that stuff I'm looking for - aliens with some alien feeling.
Other than those, well those stories are entertaining but not what I was looking for.
But this book mainly has stories of adventurers of the author's franchises, which I was not that much interested in. A few deal with unusual races and their equally unusual worlds, those caught my interest more, being more of that stuff I'm looking for - aliens with some alien feeling.
Other than those, well those stories are entertaining but not what I was looking for.
November 14, 2022
A nice book which bundles stories which were otherwise only published in Astounding. The best stories are those with Van Rijn/Falkayn. Also a good introduction to both of them. The chronological overview at the beginning is a nice list of books and stories to search and read.
"People of the wind" is the most logical book to read after this.
"People of the wind" is the most logical book to read after this.
August 23, 2018
Further adventures of Falkayn and Van Rijn and some bird-people.
August 1, 2019
An exciting adventure on an alien world with fun characters. Well worth a read.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
January 6, 2022
4 out of 5
August 13, 2016
A collection of story stories from his Polesotechnic League universe.
The frame story is that a Yrthian, after his mother, who wrote The Sky Book of Stormgate about their speices, died before she could do a human companion work, wrote the work she intended. It gives the story introductions a certain -- flair. Especially the metaphors. (Yrthians are winged.) This was for a colony called Avalon, founded by both humans and Yrthians.
The stories cover a range. The first one is first contact with Yrthians from the human point of view. The last two are incidents on Avalon itself. They cover not only all sorts of points in between but all sorts of places there. "How to Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" takes place on Earth; "The Man Who Counts" (elsewhere also known as "War Of The Wing Men") and "Season of Forgiveness" take place on planets appearing in no other story.
Nicholas van Rijn and David Falkayn appear in some.
The quality varies. I skipped "The Problem of Pain" and "Day of Burning" myself, but "Season of Forgiveness" is quite possibly the best SF Christmas story.
The frame story is that a Yrthian, after his mother, who wrote The Sky Book of Stormgate about their speices, died before she could do a human companion work, wrote the work she intended. It gives the story introductions a certain -- flair. Especially the metaphors. (Yrthians are winged.) This was for a colony called Avalon, founded by both humans and Yrthians.
The stories cover a range. The first one is first contact with Yrthians from the human point of view. The last two are incidents on Avalon itself. They cover not only all sorts of points in between but all sorts of places there. "How to Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" takes place on Earth; "The Man Who Counts" (elsewhere also known as "War Of The Wing Men") and "Season of Forgiveness" take place on planets appearing in no other story.
Nicholas van Rijn and David Falkayn appear in some.
The quality varies. I skipped "The Problem of Pain" and "Day of Burning" myself, but "Season of Forgiveness" is quite possibly the best SF Christmas story.
May 11, 2012
Never re-read this Traders book - maybe I should
May 15, 2013
Listened to "The Problem of Pain".
June 28, 2019
Includes a couple of stories already read but others that fill in David Falkayn history and background. All were engaging and enjoyable. My copy is the three books of Stormgate in one.
May 22, 2015
Collection of stories pertaining to the Polesotechinic League"," the Ythri"," etc. Purports to have been collected by one of the Ythri.
Read
December 17, 2016Read 167 of 434 pages.
September 4, 2022
The frame story is a nice touch and the stories themselves are quite engaging, though not much more than that. Definitely worth a reading, three+ stars out of five.
September 11, 2016
Grade A. Short stories. Book B5 & Sg2.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews