''The People of the Wind'' is a science fiction novel by American writer

Poul Anderson Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...

, first published in 1973. It was a 1974 nominee of the Nebula Award for Science Fiction. 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.

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.

Awards

* 1974 Hugo Science Fiction Award nominee * 1974 Locus Award Nominee * 1974 Nebula Award Nominee

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 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 Metagaming Concepts, later known simply as Metagaming, was a company that published board games from 1974 to 1983. It was founded and owned by Howard Thompson, who designed the company's first game, '' Stellar Conquest''. The company also inven ...

published a board wargame titled ''

The Ythri ''The Ythri'' is a board wargame published by Metagaming Concepts in 1975 that is based on the 1973 science fiction novel '' The People of the Wind'' by Poul Anderson. Background In Anderson's novel, set on the planet Avalon, human settlers have ...

'' that was based on Anderson's novel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:People Of The Wind 1973 American novels 1973 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Novels by Poul Anderson Signet Books books