Harvest the Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

Poul Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest the Fire | Publication Date: November 15, 1997

Poul Anderson, a legend of SF, is the writer whom the mantle of Robert A. Heinlein descended upon. Anderson devoted his career to the visionary enterprise of creating science fiction set in a carefully extrapolated human society of the future in the spirit of Heinlein.

Nowhere does he succeed more powerfully than in the works set in the future history that began in Harvest of Stars, continued in The Stars Are Also Fire, and now leaps into the distant future in Harvest the Fire. This is no less than the tale of the expansion of humanity to the limits of the solar system and beyond. It also chronicles the evolution of machine intelligence, until humans and machines come into conflict in an age when the outward urge and the urge to change are the chief barriers to utopia for many humans--and for their machines.

Harvest the Fire is the story of politics and poetry: of a poet, Jesse Nicol, who aspires to great work in an era when human literary greatness is apparently all in the past, who travels to the Moon and falls in love with a beautiful revolutionary, Falaire--a woman determined to escape from the care of machines. For the machines are now the masters of humanity, and the great work of Falaire is freedom, which must be stolen from the machines.

With the precision and clear focus of a master, Poul Anderson tells a sharp and poignant tale against an epic interplanetary background. Harvest the Fire is hard SF raised to the intensity of poetry.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In the far future, a poet and a revolutionary find themselves in the midst of a conspiracy to liberate the human spirit from the benevolent but stifling patronage of the machine intelligence: Teramind. Veteran sf author Anderson demonstrates his talent for prose and narrative economy in this latest addition to a series that includes Harvest of Stars (Tor Bks., 1993). Deceptive in its brevity and simplicity, this gemlike story of passion and the poetic soul belongs in most sf collections.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This is the third volume (the last was The Stars Are Also Fire ) in Anderson's saga about humanity's strife-ridden future among the stars. Anderson spellbindingly demonstrates the complex rivalry between human and machine through the eyes of both a human and a cybernetic protagonist. Jesse Nicol is a Terran poet who longs for a greatness in his craft that only adventure can inspire and whose wish is granted by his love for the wild, moon-born revolutionary Falaire. Nicol's android counterpart, Venator, carries the resurrected consciousness of a long-dead human whose talents are needed by the ubiquitous Teramind to forestall a possible rebellion against the cybernetic-controlled Federation. The fates of poet and android intertwine when Venator tracks the rebel leader to a well-armed starship bound for the solar system's outermost world, Proserpina, and Nicol joins Falaire on board. Anderson fuses elegiac prose and a sweeping vision of man's technological future as only he can--brilliantly. Already, at its current three-book length, this is one the best sf future histories. Carl Hays --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Tor Science Fiction (November 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812553756
• ISBN-13: 978-0812553758
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a good book, but I don't get why P.A. wrote it., August 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Harvest the Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

The third in the series after Harvest of Stars and The Stars Are Also Fire, Harvest the Fire is more like a novella in size and seems kinda weird compared to other Anderson works considering there are drawings inside. When I saw those, I thought I had made a mistake and picked up a children's book. When I read it, it was good enough, though. It wasn't as sweeping by far as the previous two novels, but no less entertaining for it. It focuses mainly on the plan for a big antimatter heist, and is really cool just for that aspect. You should give Anderson enough respect to read this before you move on to the fourth in the series: The Fleet of Stars.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Transitional Part of Enthralling Series, April 9, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Harvest the Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

This is partially in response to the review above from Dayton, Ohio. This is not a lengthy novel. Take out the pictures (by di Fate) and it is less than 150 pages, with few words per page. As far as background is concerned, there is little. Again, this is a short book, and follows Harvest of Stars and The Stars are Also Fire. No one could possibly need any more background after reading those two books, which I would give 10's. They are replete with background. As far as the characters are concerned, Nicol is a confused, emotional guy but is likeable. We know Venator from The Stars are Also Fire. Part of what makes good writing is having imperfect - even unheroic - characters. Nicol is not necessarily unheroic, as you may see. The meshing of the characters, who certainly have distinct aims and personalities, is well done. It is rare to say this about so short a book, but I found the first half slow and the second great, and satisfying. I would not advise reading this alone, but as part of the series. You will discover that there is some foreshadowing - when you read Fleet of Stars. As far as saving your money goes, do it: it is a tiny book to pay $6 for. Buy it used (as this college student wishes he had done). If you are reading the series, do not skip this. It's well worth a couple hours. (Disclaimer: Big Poul Anderson fan)

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only for Diehard Anderson Fans, March 27, 2000

By 

T.P. McArdle (Lincoln, Nebraska USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvest the Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an insubstantial little novella or novellete which is probably not worth paying the cover price for. It belongs more in a short works collection. I actually enjoyed this more than the long and ponderous Harvest of Stars (I haven't read the second book in the series because of it.) It seemed obvious to me that Nicol was being manipulated by the Lunarians all along so it was no big surprise. I didn't find the ending very satisfying either. The illustrations didn't seem to complement the storyline very well, except for the one with the robot at the end which is a scene which does appear in the book. The illustration of Falaire isn't how I pictured her as described in the book.