The People of the Wind by Poul Anderson

Two great empires, the Terran Empire of humans and the Ythrian Empire of bird-like people are at the precipice of war. Caught in between is the planet of Avalon where Humans and Ythrians have learned to live together. So much so that many of the humans there want to become more like the Ythrians, even going so far as to inject themselves with Ythrian DNA, evolving somewhat, into a hybrid species.

First published in 1973, this novel was nominated for the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Locus awards. However, it eventually lost to Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama and consequently is much less well known today.  There is quite a bit of scientifically based world building here, especially in regard to the Ythrian species. In many ways this is a novel about race relations but unlike similar science fiction novels of the time, the author does a good job of presenting the issues from both sides. Interestingly, while this is a stand-alone novel, there is a connection to Poul Anderson’s Polestechnic books in that Avalon was originally populated by descendants of David Falkayn, the master trader of those books.

I do confess to struggling with this one. Anderson’s sparse style is not always easy reading and I found myself having to re-read often in order to ensure I was understanding the plot. There are a lot of characters as well which add to the complexity; understanding how they relate to one another is challenging. Nevertheless, the effort was worth it and prods me to tackle more of Poul Anderson’s work.