The Longest Voyage
| "The Longest Voyage" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Author | Poul Anderson |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Analog Science Fiction and Fact |
| Publication date | 1960 |
"The Longest Voyage" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1961.
Plot summary
On a distant world the age of exploration is beginning. A party of daring explorers attempts to circumnavigate their world. In unknown waters they encounter an island civilization which claims to have a prophet who fell from the stars.
Reception
Jean-Daniel Brèque has described 'The Longest Voyage' as "a rousing adventure yarn", "solidly plotted, like a well-oiled mechanism", and "also a work of poetry".[1]
Gardner Dozois, upon selecting 'The Longest Voyage' for inclusion in his 2000 anthology Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons, said that it is "nearly unmatched" in science fiction for its "lyricism, compassion, subtlety, thoughtfulness, and above all the relish it takes in the bristling strangeness and wonder of the world".[2]
Steven H. Silver commented that what distinguishes 'Longest' from similar stories is that "Anderson provides strong motivation for both the explorers and the natives".[3]
References
- ↑ News from France: A Man Who Counts, by Jean-Daniel Brèque; at DanSimmons.com; published 2008; retrieved May 30, 2015
- ↑ Introduction to 'The Longest Voyage', in Explorers: SF Adventures to Far Horizons, by Gardner Dozois, published 2000 by MacMillan
- ↑ THE HUGO WINNERS, VOLUME I - Edited by Isaac Asimov, reviewed by Steven H. Silver, on the SF Site; published no later than March 7, 2004 (earliest version on archive.org); retrieved May 30, 2015
External links
- The Longest Voyage title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database