Front cover has a top corner tear and a spine edge crease. Spine also has creasing and all of book has some edge wear. Original owner label on back and a tiny tear on bottom edge. Lots of age browning no marks and intact. Ships very quickly and packaged carefully!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Inventive and cynical science fiction stories,
By frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)
This review is from: The Gods Laughed (Paperback)
Anderson was asked to pick his favorite stories for this collection, published in 1982. If there is a common theme in this volume, it is the idea that man faces things bigger than himself when he starts to confront the larger universe. These are worlds a long way from the notion of man as conquering hero.
Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was one of the great writers of the Golden Age. Potential readers may rather begin with one of his longer works, but this is still a very strong collection. The stories included in The Gods Laughed are: "The Martyr" (1960) Desperate for knowledge, men capture representatives of an alien race. What they find out is different than they expected to learn... "Night Piece" (1961) A man doing research into ESP and other worlds lets his study take him several steps too far. "When Half-Gods Go" (1953) The Harvard Astronomy department agrees to meet a couple who claim to be representatives of an interstellar civilization. "Peek! I See You!" (1968) Sean F.X. Lindquist is fairly convinced that he just saw a flying saucer. The only question becomes what doe she do about it? (This was my favorite story in the collection.) "Details" (1956) Representatives from a distant civilization try to positively influence the historical development of Earth. "Captive of the Centurianess" (1978) An unlikely threesome from different planets gets thrown together, building the base for future Galactic expansion. "The Soldier from the Stars" (1955) A group of mercenaries from outer space appears on Earth and offers their support to the highest bidder. "The Word To Space" (1960) Earth finally makes contact with another species. Unfortunately, the conversation isn't getting very far... "A Little Knowledge" (1971) A group of pirates get more than they bargained for when they kidnap the Trillian pilot Witweet.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some superb stories here, and a couple of average ones,
By Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Gods Laughed (Paperback)
This is a collection of Poul Anderson science fiction short stories. There is no common theme other than Mr. Anderson's authorship.
Let me lead off this review by stating that one of the stories in this collection, "The Martyr," is one of the finest science fiction stories that you are likely to find. It contains dazzling speculation about the possible nature of extrasensory perception together with a storyline that will absolutely rock at least some readers. When I first read this one, I was left thinking about it incessantly for days. Rarely has a short story impacted my thinking in such a fashion. The rest of these stories range from very good to just OK. Poul Anderson was one of the very finest "Golden Age of SF" writers. He loved to experiment with different types of storytelling, different themes, and speculations. The result is what logic suggests: some of his experiments were hugely successful, some were not. But even most of Anderson's less successful efforts are usually well worth the reader's time. This collection is worth its price just for "The Martyr" but several or most of the others will please as well. Highly recommended. RJB.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Jacket review,
By Ray Francis "sci fi enjoyeur" (St. Joseph, MI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Gods Laughed (Paperback)
from the back cover of the 1982 TOR edition
Since before the Age of Space itself, the men and women of Planet Earth have yearned Outward, knowing on the deepest level that the Race's future lay not in the soft comfort of the planetary womb, but in the cold and empty spaces between the Stars, with the unknown rewards and certain dangers of a future all unbounded. Always these brave ones have seen themselves as the carriers of the lamp of civilized humanity unto alien savages sitting in darkness. But what if reality is different - what if, on the arrival of humans bearing the gift of millennia of culture and all our aspirations, THE GODS LAUGHED.
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