Tales Fly Mountain

This is a collection of short stories by the great Poul Anderson all set in a common near-future in which mankind is colonizing the Solar System. Anderson's main theme is that, to borrow a phrase from one of his other novels, "...the stars are a newer and more splendid America." For the unifying theme of the stories in this collection is that freedom requires elbow room, and that as Earth (including, alas, the USA) trends more and more towards intrusive government and collectivism, those who leave Earth to colonize the Asteroid Belt and perhaps other planets will still value freedom and individual liberty over government-controlled economic security. Despite the political theme, and in fact because of it, these are good "hard SF" stories and are quite enjoyable. I respectfully disagree with another reviewer who characterizes these stories as being written at a teenage or young-adult level. To the contrary, there is a sophisticated political message contained in these stories, and Anderson's speculations about technology and the future of space travel are informed, intelligent, and quite interesting. These stories are a cut above most science fiction that is out there. Poul Anderson passed away in 2001, and when he did the world lost one of science fiction's greats. I hope that this collection of short stories is republished from time to time, along with his other works, because his themes of freedom and mankind's future in space are timeless, and future generations of readers will do well to enjoy Anderson's writing.