Customer Reviews

The Winter of the World

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This is one of Anderson's better novels. Set on Earth several thousand years in the future during a glacial period, The Winter of the World uses a relatively conventional adventure story to present a clever idea about human evolution. The clever idea is the development of a new hominid species. Anderson suggests a mechanism of geographic isolation of a small population followed by intense selection to produce a new species. This is a straightforward extension of Mayr's allopatric model of speciation, now accepted as the predominant mode of speciation. Much of the book is devoted to describing the nature of these new hominids. The behavior of these alternative hominids is that of a romanticized and modernized noble savage. The plot is clunky; Anderson had some difficulties in melding his adventure story with the revelation that principal characters are a different kind of hominid. The quality of writing, like much of Anderson's work, is competent rather than good. There is a substantial element of wish fulfillment in this book. Anderson was a politically conservative individual with a pronounced libertarian bent. At the same time, he had strong reservations about the nature of capitalism. Many of his books present a longing for an 'organic society' based on strong individualism but with society based on strong personal ties and respect for the natural world. In this book, he achieves his wish by altering human biology.

The Winter of the World portrays a far-future earth in which the Northerners have evolved just enough to have their differences show what is lacking in the future medieval-human civilization. Donya of Hervar meets a human bent on espionage, in an action-packed, wonderfully war tale and love story. The differences in the two ures bring ecstacy but ultimately sadness to the human half of the love affair. Women are depicted as strong, independent, and thoughtful, somewhat unusual in a medieval tale. Highly recommended for all but the most ardent warrior-types.

This novel is short. It skims over many action sequences and jumps ahead several months at a time between chapters. Winter seems to have been an outline for a much longer series of novels involving the characters in this post-apocalypic primitive world. The number of names and places thrown in are sometimes confusing even for the seasoned reader