The Night Face by Poul Anderson (book review).
The copy of ‘The Night Face’ by Poul Anderson was its fourth reprinting, finally getting a better title than ‘Let the Spacemen Beware!’ in 1963. I tend to read novels of short length over a couple days but found this book a page-turner and finished it in a couple hours, so make sure you give yourself time if you get this book.
The setting remains Anderson’s Polestechnic League, but it shifts to a future where civilization is still in the process of regrouping. Michael Whelan’s illustration of the aliens on the cover depicts an ape tribe living in the mountains, not the main population.
The Quetzal is orbiting the planet Gwydion, and anthropologists have been sent down as the second team to meet and study the Lochlanna. They also note how they’ve learned a lot from men before them, but they appear to be hiding secrets and living a quiet life. The story unravels as Raven, Tolteca, and Elfavy further integrate themselves while scrutinizing the contradictions. The ending is obviously the spoiler.
Anderson is a master of world-building, and Gwydion is no exception in this. He also dimensionalizes the aliens. You can see parallels to mankind before radical differences that make them different.
If you’re a novice SF writer, reading the early works of the Golden Age masters can show you how to compress information into fewer words. We’ve grown accustomed to doorstop-sized books in today’s world. Given the dearth of new science fiction releases, it could be worthwhile to return to smaller-sized books, which could appeal to readers seeking a quick read on the bus, train, or vacation.
GF Willmetts
October 2024
(pub: Ace Books, 1979. 145 page paperback. Price: varies. ISBN: 0-441-57451-3)