Poul Anderson – författare

Fifty men and women set out in the twenty-third century from Earth aboard an interstellar craft to travel to a planet some thirty light-years away. The ship will approach the speed of light and so (as Einstein predicted) subjective time on board will slow and so the journey of several decades will be of much shorter duration for the crew.But the ship's deceleration system is irreparably damaged when it hits a cloud of interstellar dust and acceleration continues toward light speed, tau zero. Soon the ship is speeding through galaxies and eons are passing on board the ship in the blink of an eye ...

The sword Tyrfing has been broken to prevent it striking at the roots of Yggdrasil, the great tree that binds earth, heaven and hell together ... But now the mighty sword is needed again to save the elves, who are heavily involved in their war against the trolls, and only Skafloc, a human child kidnapped and raised by the elves, can hope to persuade the mighty ice-giant, Bolverk, to make the sword Thor broke whole again. But things are never easy, and along the way Skafloc must also confront his shadow self, Valgard the changeling, who took his place in the world of men.A superb dark fantasy of the highest, and most Norse, order. THE BROKEN SWORD is a fantasy masterpiece.

No longer a brash, young ensign, Captain Dominic Flandry has risen in rank,but now appreciates fully that the Terran empire is old and tired, wanting to beleft in peace. But the enemies it has made and the competing empire of Merseiawill give it no peace. Too evenly matched for open warfare not to destroy themboth, the opponents engage in subtle thrust and counter-thrust, feint andcounter-feint, with Flandry in the thick of it.Though through this and his succeeding adventures he will strugglegloriously and snatch victory from the alien jaws of defeat, Flandry is yet atragic figure: a man who knows too much history, who knows that battle, scheme,and even betray as he will, in the end it will mean nothing. For with therelentlessness of physical law the Empire is falling and the Long Night isapproaching. If that darkness is not to fall in his own lifetime, if the thingshe cares about are to be saved, he must do what he can. And anyone, human oralien, who gets in his way will most definitely regret it!