The People of the Wind
Cover of the first edition
AuthorPoul Anderson
Cover artistFernando Fernandez
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherSignet Books
Publication date
1973
Media typePrint
Pages176
ISBN9780839823537
OCLC64586696

The People of the Wind is a science fiction novel by American writer Poul Anderson, first published in 1973. It was a 1974 nominee of the Nebula Award for Science Fiction.[1] The novel is the last book in Anderson’s Polesotechnic League series. However, since the setting of the book is many generations after the series' two main characters, Nicholas van Rijn and David Falkayn, and many generations before Anderson's follow-up series, the Terran Empire; it is more proper to consider this book a bridge between the two series.[2]

Synopsis

The People of the Wind is a story of the clash of two very different cultures living on a planet named Avalon. One culture consists of people who trace their ancestry to Earth and can thus be considered human. They have created a highly organized and complex society. The other culture is made up of winged creatures that have remained ‘as free as the wind.’ Despite the unlikelihood of such two different groups forming a unified society, they indeed created a single nation composed of the best of both races. Unfortunately the two groups are forced into a war, and the population of Avalon is forced to choose a side to support. Unless they choose they are going against both.[3]

Awards

Publication information

The People of the Wind was first published in 1973. It was reprinted by Signet as a mass market paperback on January 17, 1978 [7] and appears in Rise of the Terran Empire, the third volume of the Technic Civilization complete edition published by Baen in 2009 (paperback 2011).

In 1975, Metagaming Concepts published a board wargame titled The Ythri that was based on Anderson's novel.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Nebula Awards Listing". The Locus Index to SF Awards. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Territorial & cultural imperatives: a review of Poul Anderson's The People of the Wind". The Uvula From Betelgeuse-4!. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  3. ^ "People of the Wind Mass Market Paperback". Amazon. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  4. ^ Walton, Jo. "Hugo Nominees: 1974". Tor.Com. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Locus Science Fiction Award Winners and Nominees 1979-1970". Best SF Books. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  6. ^ Boaz, Joachim. "Book Review: The People of the Wind, Poul Anderson (1973)". Science Fiction and Other Suspect Ruminations. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  7. ^ "The People of the Wind". Good Reads. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
  8. ^ "The Ythri (1975)". boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 2022-03-30.
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