The Van Rijn Method: The Technic Civilization Saga #1 (Hardcover)

~ Poul Anderson (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When the human race spread out among the stars, they took the profit motive with them, and none exemplified that fact better than Nicholas Van Rijn, interstellar trader and capitalist extraordinaire. He might look like Falstaff and talk in a steady stream of malapropisms, but anybody who might take him for a bumbling buffoon would quickly find themselves taken—to the cleaners! In Nick Van Rijn, Poul Anderson created one of the most memorable and popular characters in science fiction, and now, for the first time, all the stories of Van Rijn and the Polesotechnic League will be published in chronological order in three volumes. This first volume includes the classic novel, The Man Who Counts, in which Van Rijn and two associates are stranded on a planet inhabited by a winged race, two factions of which happen to be at war with each other. The planet has no food that is not poisonous to humans, and the three humans have only a small supply of food in their wrecked ship. Somehow the humans must get to another continent, where a human outpost is, before they starve, in spite of the planet’s inhabitants being too busy fighting a war to bother with the troubles of these three odd-looking wingless aliens. An impossible problem? Not for Nick Van Rijn.

 

Also included are more stories of Van Rijn flamboyant exploits, plus stories set elsewhere in the Polesotechnic universe. And, after the three volumes chronicling the Polesotechnic League’s rise and fall will come more volumes, telling of the rise of the Terran Empire and the adventures of Poul Anderson’s other legendary character, Captain Sir Dominic Flandry.

 

About the Author

Poul Anderson was one of the most prolific and popular writers in science fiction. He won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times, as well as many other awards, notably including the Grand Master Award of the Science Fiction Writers of America for a lifetime of distinguished achievement. With a degree in physics, and a wide knowledge of other fields of science, he was noted for building stories on a solid foundation of real science, as well as for being one of the most skilled creators of fast-paced adventure stories. He was author of over a hundred novels and story collections, and several hundred short stories, as well as several mysteries and non-fiction books. He died in 2001.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Baen (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416555692
• ISBN-13: 978-1416555698
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #115,212 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classics, August 22, 2008

By	S. M Stirling "Steve" (Santa Fe, NM United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Anderson is one of the grand masters of the field, and these adventures -- carefully thought-out, with solid worldbuilding and scientific speculation, plus great characters and wonderful action -- are classics. If you want to know science fiction, you should read these. And if you want to have a great time... then read them for that, too.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fans of Poul Anderson Should Own This Collection, December 17, 2008

By	Sacramento Book Review "SacramentoBookReview.com" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This novel is the first in a four-book collection of stories, novellas, and novels set in the Technic Civilization created by SF Grand Master Poul Anderson. Nicholas Van Rijn is a character that speaks in malapropisms and is corpulent and capitalistic, and would not seem to be the ideal hero. Yet, Anderson turns him into one by putting the lie to the idea that "imagination is cheap" or even worthless compared to the one who makes imagination into reality, as the narrator of "The Man Who Counts" claims. Though Van Rijn is the primary protagonist in only 3 of the 11 tales collected here (he is secondary in a few more), the philosophy he is the archetype for permeates them all.

Hank Davis has compiled for the very first time into chronological order the stories of Anderson's Technic Civilization Saga, a set of tales and novels that found publication in many places over a period of 30 years. Fans of SF in the old style of grand world building, strange alien encounters, and high adventure will want to read this unrivaled achievement.

Reviewed By John Ottinger III

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Van Rijn Method: The Technic Civilization Saga #1 , April 3, 2009

By	Donald Jackson "Tiger Surprise" (Georgetown, Kentucky) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

An excelent book for those who like SF of the 50's and 60's. Anderson is a fine story teller, and his characters are some of the most interesting ever created.