Going For Infinity (Paperback)

by Poul Anderson (Author) "There are times when somehow the spirit opens up to the awe and mystery of the universe..." (more)
Key Phrases: Sam Hall, Sir Eric, Father Marcus (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Going for Infinity is a wonderful, wide-ranging collection that aptly showcases one of the greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy.

This collection presents some of Anderson's best-known work, interspersed with his own comments on writing and selected memories of his six-decade career. It's a successful combination: Anderson's likeable, thoughtful persona and his powerful, precise fiction balance and enrich each other, bringing fresh context to both. Highlights include "The Saturn Game" with its characteristic blend of science, psychology, and beautiful prose; "The Problem of Pain," which offers a provocative redefinition of the concept of God; and "Goat Song," a chilling reworking of Greek myth.

Anderson (who died in 2001) was a graceful and deeply humanistic writer who used impeccable science and convincing fantasy to explore the complexities of love, death, sacrifice, necessity, and the wonder of the world. This collection is a must-have for his fans and a splendid introduction for readers new to his work. --Roz Genessee --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
This posthumous retrospective anthology serves as a valentine to SFWA Grandmaster Anderson's legions of fans, and includes hard SF, first-contact stories, fantasy, detective fiction and sword and sorcery, sometimes melded together in surprising ways. Some tales (e.g., Sam Hall ) show their age but well reflect the writing popular at the time, while others, particularly those that play with fantasy elements (e.g., The Saturn Game ), underscore Anderson's tendency toward densely written, emotive prose, with a dollop of soul-satisfying melodrama. Among samples from his many series are The Master Key, a Nicholas van Rijn story from his Technic History series, and The Problem of Pain, one of his tales of the Poleosotechnic League. Both highlight the great divide between human and alien, but of chief interest is not the misunderstanding between the two but rather the human response to loss. The bittersweet Death and the Knight, part of the Time Patrol sequence, repeats a familiar Time Patrol plot (time traveler gone missing must be rescued), but with a twist. Classic must-read stories include Goat Song and The Queen of Air and Darkness, both of which foreground faerie. And Quest, in the sword-and-sorcery-meets-high-tech world of The High Crusade, posits an outer-space quest for the Holy Grail. Anderson provides brief headnotes for each story, full of anecdotes about fellow SF luminaries. This anthology represents the life's work of one of SF's most enduring and versatile writers.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (May 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765305976
• ISBN-13: 978-0765305978
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,608,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science, philosophy, poetry, December 14, 2004

By	Daniel J. Smitherman "phenomenologist" (Missoula, MT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Going for Infinity: A Literary Journey (Hardcover)

"Going for Infinity" contains eighteen stories by Poul Anderson, written over the course of a half-century. Fifty years is an immensely long time in the history of science fiction. It almost is the history of science fiction. In terms of literature, though, fifty years is nothing. Science fiction has hardly begun its life in human culture. No wonder, then, that it has changed so much since its birth, just like a baby does in its first few years. From mute and helpless infant, to crawler and communicator, to walker and talker.

Poul Anderson's writing covers in time most of the life of the genre of science fiction, but the stories in Going for Infinity range less widely in style and substance than the genre as a whole. Anderson says in the Introduction:

"What [Robert Gleason, my editor] had in mind [for this book] was not simply another collection, but a retrospective - besides stories, something about their origins, backgrounds, contexts, a historical overview of the science fiction and fantasy field throughout those decades."

Then Anderson immediately follows with:

"Of course, this isn't really possible. I have been only one writer among many, and how wonderfully diverse a lot they were and are! "

Anderson's own stories in this collection are largely the product of a fairly straightforward synergy of contemporary science (contemporary to the time of writing), and imagination. In introducing the first story, "The Saturn Game," published in 1981, he recounts his visit to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory a few years later "to witness Voyager One's flyby of this very planet." Anderson had also written another story set on the Saturnine moon Iapetus. Anderson wondered,

Would my speculation prove completely mistaken? It's a risk that science fiction always takes, a risk that in the long run becomes an inevitability. But would this piece of mine have any run of might-be-so at all?

This realism, this concern that a story fit the facts, characterizes most of Anderson's stories in "Going for Infinity." These are not William Gibson stories. Most of them are science fiction as a backdrop of unfamiliarity against which the ordinary - but lonely, sad, evil, good, beautiful - stands out in a new and exciting way, or maybe just a simpler, more obvious, less complicated way. Economics, democracy, religion - these are all examined anew under the strange light of an unfamiliar sun.

Another mark of Anderson's stories is the emphasis on the writing itself. He tells stories, but even more he paints images and composes music in language. Not just fantasy clichés of `purple mountains on the horizon', but lines crafted from a conscious and deliberate wielding of language and words and rhythm and space. This, I think, is the most satisfying element of Anderson's work here.

There is more to enjoy, though. Anderson introduces every story with comments on the story itself, or its inception, context, or repercussions. He mentions other writers, other times, other ideas. For Anderson fans, this will surely be welcomed.

Though this collection mostly is of a realistic style, there is some other more fantastic pieces mixed in. "Goat Song" is one of these. Published in 1972, this story was somehow influenced by another science fiction story, "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream," and Cocteau's film Orpheus. It seems appropriate that this story struck me as the most contemporary, regardless of publication date.

"Going for Infinity" is definitely a worthwhile collection to own, and Anderson's stories more than worth reading.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Homage to a grandmaster, June 8, 2002

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Going For Infinity: A Literary Journey (Poul Anderson Collection) (Hardcover)

GOING FOR INFINITY pays homage to one of the speculative fiction's greatest authors of the twentieth century by providing a taste of Poul Anderson's works as well as his retrospective thoughts over the six decades he wrote. The tales run the gamut of science fiction and fantasy with mystery thrown in showing how diverse a writer Mr. Anderson was. Some of the science fiction seems obsolete, but when looked from a historiographic perspective provides insight into the times the stories were written and into the mind of a creative individual. The fantasies and detective contributions hold up better as they clearly show Mr. Anderson's real talent of turning the obviously impossible into something that feels real and genuine; thus leaving the awed audience celebrating the classic works of a noteworthy renaissance writer.

Harriet Klausner

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader, September 2, 2008

By	Blue Tyson "- http://freesf.blogspot.com" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going For Infinity: A Literary Journey (Poul Anderson Collection) (Hardcover)

An autobiographical and chronological wander through the author's career, as written by himself. A reasonable selection at over 3.40, although it includes a couple of novel excerpts, one of which works, the other, no, although the idea is to be representative of the novels mentioned in his introductions.

Anyway, some interesting trivia bits in there amongst the stuff about writing, like the story about him and Jack Vance and Frank Hebert building a boat, having it sunk, and how they refloated it.

A just around 3.75 work, but can round up for the anecdotes in between.

Going For Infinity : The Saturn Game - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Gypsy - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Sam Hall - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Death and the Knight - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Journeys End - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : The Horn of Time the Hunter - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : The Master Key - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : The Problem of Pain - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Quest - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Windmill - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Three Hearts and Three Lions - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Epilogue - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Dead Phone - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Goat Song - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : Kyrie - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : A Midsummer Tempest - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : The Shrine for Lost Children - Poul Anderson
Going For Infinity : The Queen of Air and Darkness - Poul Anderson


Fantasy accident throw.

3.5 out of 5


Traveler homecoming leavetaking.

3.5 out of 5


H for Hitback.

3.5 out of 5


Templar Time Patrol.

3 out of 5


Telepathy no meeting of minds.

3 out of 5


Degenerate swimmers means go.

3.5 out of 5


They domesticated, us wild, for cash, too.

4 out of 5


Flying alien religion misunderstanding poisonous.

3 out of 5


A lot of pommie space knights.

3.5 out of 5


Ecospy bust.

3.5 out of 5


Werewolf mystery.

3.5 out of 5


Robot race Zero radio last men conflict.

3.5 out of 5


A black widow case.

3.5 out of 5


Computer go between has decent pipes.

3 out of 5


Supernova human alien telepathic communication ending prolonged.

4 out of 5


Rupert Shakespeare reality.

2.5 out of 5


Peace place.

3 out of 5


A fairy stole my baby.

4.5 out of 5