Poul Anderson
	The Corridors of Time The Dancer From Atlantis The Merman's Children The Boat Of A Million Years The Winter of the World

Charles Daney's Being and Nakedness site has lots of information about Poul Anderson and his books. I rate Poul Anderson highly, and strongly recommend his work.

The Merman's Children was first published in book form by Berkley-Putnam in 1979 (first published in Britain by Sphere, 1981), based, in part, on The Merman's Children, published in Flashing Swords! No 1 (1973) and Flashing Swords! No 4 (1977) - the 1973 publication is used for Yarns Without Threads dating purposes.

Unusually, the blurb on the back of my copy of The Merman's Children is accurate without spoiling the reader's enjoyment of the unfolding plot. Distilled further, one reaches: The story of the last days of Faerie. The halfling children of a royal merman father and human mother search for both a geographical and a social place in the world.

As shown on book cover illustrations above, the merfolk always swim naked, and even out of the water will avoid clothing whenever possible. Part of the reason is that their metabolism burns up calories far faster than a humans, keeping them warm even in frigid waters, but requiring substantial consumption to keep these fires stoked. Mediaeval humans find this nudity shocking and sexual, and you can see some of this occuring in the extracts.

The Winter of the World was first published by Signet in 1976 May. Some considerable time after a nuclear conflict, mankind is semi-industrialised, and loosely organised in various power blocks. These interact primarily through trade - each has control over sundry natural resources or skills. A North American political regime attempts to extend its influence into the far north of the continent, intending to take control of the lands held by the semi-nomadic Rogaviki. It suits the Pacific nations to support the Rogaviki, and an agent is sent to make contact.

The Rogaviki's customs include a free and easy attitude to clothing, often going naked when this is either more comfortable or more practical. This unsettles others, for whom nudity has clear sexual connotations - as can be seen in the extracts.

Ratings:

Nudity	Naturist nudity	A good read?

Last updated 2006 May 31.
 
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