The Longest Voyage

by Poul Anderson

Original short story

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Novella, Mystery, Adventure, Hugo Awards

Unknown Binding

First published December 1, 1960

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Sonic]

Life is too short for me to be reading shit like "for indeed Froad practiced a most potent gramarye".

[Juniper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novelette is another example of why I think short fiction is superior to novels. The action and plot are controlled but not at the expense of distinct characters or world building. It's written in a similar style to classic sailing fiction (Treasure Island) but is set in a distant future on a planet of space colonists or exiles who have been cut off from the rest of humanity. They have skyships, but no space travel, and are in the process of recovering technology and exploring the world in their age of sail. They develop their own religion around the "Fall of Man" and the Daughter of God, which are alluded to but only in so much as they are interesting and thematic and do not bog down the story as they might in a longer work. The conclusion is heart wrenching and satisfying and not at all predictable. I couldn't find it in print anywhere, but ordered a used copy on Thriftbooks for my own collection after reading it for free on The Internet Archive. I hope it does get another print run someday as it deserves to be remembered and enjoyed.

[Alison M · Rating 1 out of 5]

A promising idea but so full of logical holes that I am slack-jawed to hear it received a Hugo Award! I can accept that an expedition to Jupiter's moon Europa took place hundreds of years before the story is set. But surely we would have sent a rescue mission when the colony fell out of touch? Then there is the 'starman': a human who evidently landed on Europa 40 years ago, damaging his ship slightly in the process. Why was he alone? And again, why no rescue mission? And since his wife "might still be alive on Terra" (Earth), then he must have left there only ~40 years ago. Why did he go alone to Europa, and in a tiny ship? Why was he not continuously in touch with Earth, radioing back news that he had made contact with mediaeval humans? I could go on... So, sadly, only one star.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugo Winner Short Fiction 1961 - A swashbuckler on a planet settled by marooned humans meets a modern human. Besides being grippingly told adventure, it raises questions about when to do things the hard way.

[Scott Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay I guess. A lot of vocabulary words. Couldn't find PALOMER on Google.

[Gr1972 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so incredibly tedious. Why did this receive a hugo award?

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poul Anderson's writing style is a sizeable cut above your typical sci-fi. His characters and settings have that quality of life to them that is so often missing.

[Debra Diggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to get into at first. by the end, I loved it. A Prime Directive story with a twist. The decision is made by person inside the primitive culture.

[Katrina McCollough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pirates, a crashed spaceman and island people. Enough said.

[Alex Memus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Благодаря этой книге узнал, что ртуть добывали еще во времена Римской империи и использовали как лекарство от половых инфекций (хаха) и как краситель (киноварь). И еще Пол Андерсон классно умеет замешивать жанры, даже местами удачнее чем Миллер Младший.

Я прочитал эту книгу для обсуждения на подкасте про научную фантастику «Худо Не Было». Послушать можно тут: https://share.transistor.fm/s/f5d33b5c

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read the Longest Voyage. Enjoyed how the main premise slowly threads through the enfolding of the tale

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Considered a classic and it is easy to see why, well worth reading.