Two stories this week:
“Stations of the Nightmare, part 1” by Phillip José Farmer
“My Own, My Native Land” by Poul Anderson
Both of these, the first two stories in the book, came from Continuum 1 edited by Roger Elwood, Berkley Medallion Books 1974 mass market paperback science fiction anthology, first of four. The concept here is that there would be four anthologies, numbered 1-4, with the same authors each writing four standalone but connected stories over the four volumes.
“Stations of the Nightmare, part 1” by Phillip José Farmer is about a man who, out hunting in wooded farming country, sees and shoots at something that explodes in yellow powderish globules, which he inhales. He is dramatically changed.
“My Own, My Native Land” by Poul Anderson is about a boy of fifteen and an experienced adult explorer who attempt to salvage items from a crashed airship on the planet Eridani. This story, I’m told, is the first of six to be gathered in Anderson’s New America, an Anderson novel with which I am unfamiliar but I have ordered a copy.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the other three volumes, and while I could find them, I have too much else to read to bother. These were good, though, and I’ll finish reading the rest of the anthology (see next week).
Tip the Wink 
These sound like interesting stories. And an interesting concept, to have connected stories in each volume.
I don’t know the stories, or the anthology. As I’ve said before elsewhere, I have never read Poul Anderson, other than one or two short stories. This week I read C.J. Box’s collection, SHOTS FIRED (borrowed the Kindle edition from the library), which I enjoyed. I’ve never read one of his novels. Several of the stories are about his first series character, Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett. Also read Antonya Nelson’s THE EXPENDABLES, a collection I bought online in trade pb for $3.98. I’m reading another of her collections now. These are straight fiction, often set in Chicago or Wichita, Kansas.
I think I have a few CONTINUUM anthologies around here somewhere. Roger Elwood pumped out a book a month (like James Patterson does).
Thanks, Rick. The names are familiar but I have not read these.
Poul Anderson’s “New America” is a sequel to “Orbit Unlimited”. Both these books are not novels strictly speaking but are collections of connected short stories. They share a “future history” and there are many continuing characters.
Thanks, JM, I’ll see about getting “Orbit Unlimited”.
I have one or tow of the CONTINUUM volumes, I believe, but not them all…one of the more interesting projects Elwood attempted.
Those sound like interesting shorts, and I really like the cover on that one. I’ll have to keep my eye out when shopping in the used bookstores.