The Winter of the World

By Poul Anderson

Book Overview

Classic SF from the Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author of The Boat of a Million Years. Thousands of years from now, after a new Ice Age has reduced our world to frozen ruins, new civilizations and cultures arise from the ice. But as the people uncover the lost technology of the past, they also rediscover war, conquest, diplomacy . . . and betrayal. Previous publisher: Signet.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451152336
• ISBN13: 9780451152336
• Release Date: May 1976
• Publisher: Roc
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of Anderson's Better Novels

This is one of Anderson's better novels. Set on Earth several thousand years in the future during a glacial period, The Winter of the World uses a relatively conventional adventure story to present a clever idea about human evolution. The clever idea is the development of a new hominid species. Anderson suggests a mechanism of geographic isolation of a small population followed by intense selection to produce a new species. This is a straightforward extension of Mayr's allopatric model of speciation, now accepted as the predominant mode of speciation. Much of the book is devoted to describing the nature of these new hominids. The behavior of these alternative hominids is that of a romanticized and modernized noble savage. The plot is clunky; Anderson had some difficulties in melding his adventure story with the revelation that principal characters are a different kind of hominid. The quality of writing, like much of Anderson's work, is competent rather than good. There is a substantial element of wish fulfillment in this book. Anderson was a politically conservative individual with a pronounced libertarian bent. At the same time, he had strong reservations about the nature of capitalism. Many of his books present a longing for an 'organic society' based on strong individualism but with society based on strong personal ties and respect for the natural world. In this book, he achieves his wish by altering human biology.

future medieval civilization meets Northern strangers

The Winter of the World portrays a far-future earth in which the Northerners have evolved just enough to have their differences show what is lacking in the future medieval-human civilization. Donya of Hervar meets a human bent on espionage, in an action-packed, wonderfully war tale and love story. The differences in the two ures bring ecstacy but ultimately sadness to the human half of the love affair. Women are depicted as strong, independent, and thoughtful, somewhat unusual in a medieval tale. Highly recommended for all but the most ardent warrior-types.