Poul Anderson SF recommendations?

[AE35Unit]

I've read, and enjoyed Tau Zero and The Enemy Stars, but many people know him more for his fantasy. But what other hard SF works of his are worth hunting out?

 

[j d worthington]

I think you might well enjoy his early novel, Brain-Wave. Also, given some of the other things you've enjoyed, you might like his Dominic Flandry series, and possibly those about the Kith.

I would, however, skip War of the Wing-Men if I were you....

By the way... if you are willing to give some of his fantasy a try, I'd strongly suggest The Broken Sword, Hrolf Kraki's Saga, and A Midsummer Tempest....

 

[J-Sun]

I'll second Brain Wave and Flandry (the Terran Empire) but also van Rijn/Falkayn (Polesotechnic League) which comes earlier in the same future history. I wouldn't even skip War of the Wing-Men. This makes up about a dozen novels and a half-dozen collections but the latest Baen printing has them all in seven collections. Also The High Crusade and After Doomsday are pretty good but really, you've already read two of the best non-Polesotechnic/Terran Empire novels (Brain Wave being another). But I'd also recommend hunting down his stories as he wrote a huge number of those and many are excellent. Then again, if you have enough anthologies with enough of his stories, that might do.

 

[AE35Unit]

I think you might well enjoy his early novel, Brain-Wave. Also, given some of the other things you've enjoyed, you might like his Dominic Flandry series, and possibly those about the Kith.

I would, however, skip War of the Wing-Men if I were you....

By the way... if you are willing to give some of his fantasy a try, I'd strongly suggest The Broken Sword, Hrolf Kraki's Saga, and A Midsummer Tempest....

Ah I forgot about Brainwave-that was my introduction to Anderson. Great read.
Ill skip his fantasy, for now...

 

[AE35Unit]

I'll second Brain Wave and Flandry (the Terran Empire) but also van Rijn/Falkayn (Polesotechnic League) which comes earlier in the same future history. I wouldn't even skip War of the Wing-Men. This makes up about a dozen novels and a half-dozen collections but the latest Baen printing has them all in seven collections. Also The High Crusade and After Doomsday are pretty good but really, you've already read two of the best non-Polesotechnic/Terran Empire novels (Brain Wave being another). But I'd also recommend hunting down his stories as he wrote a huge number of those and many are excellent. Then again, if you have enough anthologies with enough of his stories, that might do.

I discovered I have a collection of his called Conquests!

 

[Fried Egg]

I really liked "Planet of No Return" and would recommend that.

I've read quite a bit of mediocre SF novels by Anderson so you need to pick them carefully.

 

[AE35Unit]

Thanks Simon, will look it up.

 

[Ian Whates]

Satan's World, one of the Falkayn/Van Rijn sequence of novels, is well worth reading. I'd put it right up there alongside Tau Zero, Brainwave and A Midsummer Tempest as my favourite Anderson's, though that's by no means a comprehensive list of everything worthwhile.

He was an author I read avidly for many years.

 

[AE35Unit]

Satan's World, one of the Falkayn/Van Rijn sequence of novels, is well worth reading. I'd put it right up there alongside Tau Zero, Brainwave and A Midsummer Tempest as my favourite Anderson's, though that's by no means a comprehensive list of everything worthwhile.

He was an author I read avidly for many years.

Sounds good, cheers!

 

[williamjm]

I thought Brain Wave was very good, and The High Crusade was good fun. I read a couple of his later books as well, The Stars Are Also Fire and The Starfarers, I thought both of them had some interesting SF ideas but I felt Anderson's writing maybe wasn't quite as good as earlier in his career.

I think his fantasy novel Three Hearts and Three Lions is my favourite of the Anderson books I've read so far, although I've still got to read some of his more famous works like Tau Zero and The Broken Sword.