Conflict

By Poul Anderson

Book Overview

Since the first human stood upright the stars have been a source of wonderment, with heaven in the sky and hell down below. In this story heaven isn't so heavenly, those living there being as... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0523485727
• ISBN13: 9780523485720
• Release Date: January 1983
• Publisher: TOR
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.8" x 4.1"

Customer Reviews

Jacket summary

from the back cover of the August 1983 TOR paperback edition ANGELS ABOVE, DEVILS BELOW... Since the first human stood upright the stars have been a source of wonderment and inspiration. All our heavens have been placed in ... the heavens, our hells in the depths of earth. Angels above, devils below. Mankind between. But perhaps heaven isn't so heavenly. Perhaps those who live there are as self-interested and violence-prone as any earthbound mortal. And even if they're not, we will be there soon. Cause enough for CONFLICT. TIME LAG HIGH TREASON THE ALIEN ENEMY THE PUGILIST I TELL YOU, IT'S TRUE KINGS WHO DIE A MAN TO MY WOUNDING AMONG THIEVES DETAILS THE TURNING POINT

Imaginative stories of future conflict!

"Conflict" is comprised of ten short stories all of which deal with conflicts occurring in various times, from the near to distant future of mankind. Poul Anderson is at his best when writing about this subject, and most of these stories are truly excellent. In fact, the only reason I deprived this one of a fifth star is that one or two of the stories were not Anderson's best. But make no mistake: most of these stories are worthy of five stars.There are many different scenarios in this collection, and several of them are outstanding both for the quality of Anderson's writing, which is almost always superlatively good, to the sheer imagination that went into the stories. "The Pugilist" is an utterly brilliant work dealing with a future in which the United States has been subdued and brought into the Soviet bloc. The story postulates an utterly believable scenario and Anderson vividly shows how such a thing might have been. Its question: can the country re-acquire its former love of liberty and freedom? Or has dictatorship and oppression taken root too firmly? Anderson asks the right questions. The ending packs a formidable punch. In "Among Thieves" Anderson takes us to the far future, when mankind has spread amongst numerous stellar systems, but has not outgrown the institution of war. Here, once again, his speculations as to the possible reasons for, and nature of, future conflict make for a superb story.Anderson really cared about both the causes of, and forms of, human conflict, and the depth of his concern is what makes this collection a superb one that most readers will thoroughly enjoy.