This volume collects one short novel and one short story by classic science fiction author Poul Anderson. "Industrial Revolution" originally appeared in Analog Science Fact & Fiction, September 1963. "Duel on Syrtis" originally appeared in Planet Stories, March 1951.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Golden Age At An Affordable Price,
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This review is from: Two Worlds of Poul Anderson: Science Fiction from the Golden Age (Paperback)
A study in contrasts, "Two Worlds" contains two important works by the Golden Age master, Poul Anderson. Anderson's fantasy works, such as "The Broken Sword," are often cited by accomplished authors such as Michael Moorcock as influences. But Anderson was, first and foremost, a science fiction author whose career spanned decades of change in that genre. This chapbook consists of the optimistic novella "The Industrial Age" and the dark short story "Duel on Syrtis." Originally published in Analogue in 1963, Industrial Age is an action story that tells of the development of the asteroid belt by roughneck entrepreneurs pitted against a controlling home-world government. Syrtis originally appeared in Planet Stories in 1951. Without spoiling the story, it is best to say that Syrtis paints a far grimmer picture of what human expansion might look like. Ultimately, Anderson uses the Raygun genre to show us both the dark and the bright of American culture. We are fortunate that Wildside publishes chapbooks from the vaults at a price that the non-collector can afford.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
As different as night & day!,
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This review is from: Two Worlds of Poul Anderson: Science Fiction from the Golden Age (Paperback)
Industrial Revolution
Fourteen pages into this story and I thought I would have to poke my eyes out to get some action. Don't get me wrong, the story itself is interesting but I can't understand why it took so long for the action to actually begin. Suffice it to say, the pacing is much too slow for me. Of course for fans of deep cyber space stories, this one will be an interesting read but for those who only have a mild interest in such stories, they'd lose interest long before page fourteen. At various points throughout the story, I did find myself getting lost, then back on track only to be lost again. The story felt choppy as if the writer was making it up as he went along; it just didn't quite connect in places. Pronouncing some of the names could become a chore like Mboro and Leibknecht. But overall, the descriptions were clear and vivid though sometimes a bit too long. Duel on Syrtis The pace of this story is good and flows well. It makes for an interesting read and one I was glad to do. This story has guts; it gets to the meat of the story pretty fast and you knew almost right away who's doing what. The conversations between Riordan and Wisby are quite lively which helps to keep the reader in the moment of the story. The descriptions were quite vivid and clear and you knew right away where the characters were. Early in the story I knew whose side I was on. This story harkens to real life events and shows the thin lines of slavery, equal rights and justice all in a alternate world. This story really opened up my imagination and I felt as if I was standing there observing all the action. Both these stories are as different as night and day though they shared some similarities like government calling all the shots. These stories would make a die hard science fiction reader happy.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sci Fi from Yesteryear,
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This review is from: Two Worlds of Poul Anderson: Science Fiction from the Golden Age (Paperback)
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - 1963 It reads like a story of Big Government trying to shut down Independent Business. The setting is early in the 1960s at the advent of the modern space age. An enterprising company has set up a mining endeavor on an out-world to collect, process, and sell atmospheric gas products. The company is initially successful and an unnamed government entity of Earth has mobilized the Navy (??) to manufacture an incident to enable to government to shut down the operation and subsequently take it over. The company rebels and, led by the protagonists Mike Blades and Jimmy Chung, manage to derail the incident and save the company. This leads to the eventual successful establishment of quasi-independent out-worlds able to hold their own in the marketplace without Big Government control. A good, is somewhat fanciful story smacking of the time in which it was written. Worth the effort. DUEL ON SYRTIS - 1951 A good short period piece of the "Buck Rogers" style. A trophy hunter of the future has arrived on Mars to "bag" a wild indigent Martian before they are all gone. You immediately form a dislike of the hunter and find yourself siding with the Martian character who is intelligent and aware. The hunter has all the modern advantages, and the Martian has little besides his cunning. In the end, the Martian survives and the trophy hunter is defeated, receiving a fitting end to his heinous quest. A quick enjoyable read.
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