Picture of author.

Karen Anderson (9) (1932–2018)

Autor(a) de The King of Ys: Roma Mater

Para outros autores com o nome Karen Anderson, veja a página de desambiguação.

24+ Works 1,206 Membros 14 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: From ZineWiki, Wikipedia for SF Fanzines. (http://zinewiki.com/Karen_Anderson)

Séries

Obras de Karen Anderson

The King of Ys: Roma Mater (1986) — Autor — 276 cópias
The Unicorn Trade (1984) 189 cópias
The King of Ys: Gallicenae (1987) — Autor — 183 cópias
The King of Ys: Dahut (1998) 150 cópias
The King of Ys: Dog and Wolf (1988) 137 cópias
The King of Ys (1986) 74 cópias
The Night Fantastic (1991) — Editor — 38 cópias
The Piebald Hippogriff (1962) 5 cópias
All About Me (2002) 5 cópias
Murphy's Hall 3 cópias
Single Jeopardy 2 cópias
The Coasts of Faerie 1 exemplar(es)
The Unicorn Trade {Poem} 1 exemplar(es)
Six Haiku [poem] 1 exemplar(es)
The Kitten 1 exemplar(es)
Treaty In Tartessos 1 exemplar(es)

Associated Works

After the King (1991) — Contribuinte — 759 cópias
Fifty Short Science Fiction Tales (1963) — Contribuinte — 455 cópias
100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories (1978) — Contribuinte — 407 cópias
The Game of Empire (1985) — Cartographer, algumas edições336 cópias
Nebula Award Stories 4 (1969) — Contribuinte — 143 cópias
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 8th Series (1959) — Contribuinte — 134 cópias
Bestiary! (1985) — Contribuinte — 122 cópias
8th Annual Edition: The Year's Best S-F (1963) — Contribuinte — 117 cópias
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 12th Series (1963) — Contribuinte — 115 cópias
The Best from Fantasy and Science Fiction: 13th Series (1964) — Contribuinte — 99 cópias
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 9: Atlantis (1988) — Contribuinte — 73 cópias
Multiverse: Exploring Poul Anderson's Worlds (2015) — Contribuinte — 71 cópias
100 Astounding Little Alien Stories (1996) — Contribuinte — 59 cópias
Space, Time & Crime (1964) — Contribuinte — 52 cópias
Frights (1976) — Contribuinte — 46 cópias
Shared tomorrows: Science fiction in collaboration (1979) — Contribuinte — 19 cópias
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine #33 Autumn 1996 (1996) — Contribuinte — 1 exemplar(es)

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome de batismo
Anderson, June Millichamp Kruse
Outros nomes
Anderson, Kerin
Data de nascimento
1932-09-16
Data de falecimento
2018-03-18
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
Erlanger, Kentucky, USA
Local de falecimento
Sunland-Tujunga, California, USA
Locais de residência
Los Angeles, California, USA
Ocupação
writer
editor
illustrator
Relacionamentos
Anderson, Poul (spouse)
Bear, Greg (son-in-law)
Organizações
Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society [LASFS]

Membros

Resenhas

Roman king of Ys continues to consolidate position
 
Marcado
ritaer | outras 3 resenhas | Jun 5, 2021 |
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

The King of Ys is a historical fantasy -- it is set in our world just before the fall of the Roman Empire and it mixes in the legend of the mythical city of Ys which was built below sea level on the coast of Brittany. Many of the characters in The King of Ys (Roman emperors, Christian saints, etc) are based on legendary and real historical figures and Poul and Karen Anderson include plenty of footnotes which explain the legend of Ys and the culture and religion of the 5th century.

In Roma Mater, we meet Gaius Valerius Gratillonius, a Roman centurion stationed at Hadrian's Wall. Because of his loyalty to would-be-emperor Magnus Clemens Maximus, the commander of the Roman troops in Britannia, Maximus assigns him to be Rome's prefect in Ys so that Gratillonius can keep it loyal while Maximus goes for the purple. Ys, though part of the Roman empire, has been left to itself for years because it's spooky. According to rumors, Ys is ruled by nine witches who, among other things, control the weather to keep Ys safe from enemies intending to invade by sea. These nine "witches" are the God-chosen wives of the King of Ys who is a nasty tyrant. His nine wives use their powers to ask the Gods to bring them a deliverer -- someone to challenge the king.

And so Gratillonius and his small troop arrive in Ys and soon he finds himself king. Along with inheriting the crown, Gratillonius gets the nine witch queens, too. As he sets out to reform Ys, which has suffered under the former rule, he has a lot of unfamiliar stuff to deal with: the responsibilities of a king, the different culture, a strange land and people, clashes in religious beliefs (he covertly worships Mithras who has been denounced by the newly Christian Roman Empire, and the Ysans worship three pagan gods), and satisfying nine wives who vary greatly in age, beauty, intelligence, and appreciation for men.

At first, Gratillonius balances all of this mostly successfully, and he begins to restore the prosperity of Ys. He is well-intentioned, but he can't help but occasionally go wrong as his own beliefs conflict with his people's and their gods'. One problem is that the Ysan's believe that their gods will destroy Ys by flood if they are not obeyed. So, there is a conflict between the Ysans' expectations of Gratillonius's duties at their religious rites, his desire to keep alive the worship of Mithras, and his admiration for the Christian leaders he knows. The other big problem is that when one of his wives dies, the gods choose the replacement from the priestesses who are all descendants of the previous kings and queens and the gods don't seem to care too much about age, mental ability, or consanguinity. So, not only are there nine wives, but their family tree looks more like an M.C. Escher drawing than a tree, and this kind of behavior isn't congruent with the worship of either Mithras or Christ. (But it does make for some interesting reading.)

The first two books, Roma Mater and Gallicenae, progress rather slowly and there's not much action -- and this is really my only complaint about The King of Ys. But, by the end of Gallicenae, we've seen the ways Gratillonius has had to struggle to obey the Ysan gods, and we can be rather certain about what they're going to throw at him next ... and we know he's going to defy them this time. And, we've seen some plot threads being developed (warriors preparing overseas) that are presumably being carefully set up for use in the next novel.

In the third novel, Dahut, things really come to a head, and the fallout is spectacular. The reader then realizes and appeciates how carefully the Andersons have planned and crafted this work from page one. Well done! The fourth book, Dog and Wolf, deals with the after-effects of the events in book three, develops the characters further as their lives have drastically changed, and comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Besides being a fascinating and original tale with real historical feel, The King of Ys is beautifully written:
The armies met south of the River Ruirthech. That was a day when clouds blew like smoke, low above the valley, underneath a sky the hue of lead. Rainshowers rushed out of them, drenched men, washed their wounds and their dead, passed away on the keening wind. All colors were dulled except those of blood and gold. Shouts, horn calls, hoofbeats, footfalls, clamorous wheels, clash and rattle of weapons, were somehow muffled. But blows fell as heavy and sharp as always.


My favorite parts were Gratillonious's internal thoughts about his wives:
He gazed back. Over the years she had added flesh to flesh, though her frame was quite large enough that as yet she did not appear quite gross. Her features remained good in their heavy fashion and her hair was still a burnished red-brown. It was untidily piled on her head, like the raiment on her body. He had grown used to that....Well, she had her rights, and she was by no means a bad person, and a man ought to shoulder his burdens without whining about them.


And there is poetry -- even whole chapters of poetry!
Would you know the dog from the wolf? You may look at his paw,
Comparing the claw and the pad; you may measure his stride;
You may handle his coat and his ears; you may study his jaw;
And yet what you seek is not found in his bones or his hide,
For between the Dog and the Wolf there is only the Law.


Near the end of the story, Gratillonious meets a young soldier who is in nearly the same situation he was in when he left Britain 25 years before. Shocked, he looks back and realizes that he's not the same man he was then -- he would make different choices now. Through love and loss, we learn what's important -- that's a good story.

Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Poul Anderson page
… (mais)
1 vote
Marcado
Kat_Hooper | 1 outra resenha | Apr 6, 2014 |
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

This review is for all four books in this series:

The King of Ys is a historical fantasy -- it is set in our world just before the fall of the Roman Empire and it mixes in the legend of the mythical city of Ys which was built below sea level on the coast of Brittany. Many of the characters in The King of Ys (Roman emperors, Christian saints, etc) are based on legendary and real historical figures and Poul and Karen Anderson include plenty of footnotes which explain the legend of Ys and the culture and religion of the 5th century.

In Roma Mater, we meet Gaius Valerius Gratillonius, a Roman centurion stationed at Hadrian's Wall. Because of his loyalty to would-be-emperor Magnus Clemens Maximus, the commander of the Roman troops in Britannia, Maximus assigns him to be Rome's prefect in Ys so that Gratillonius can keep it loyal while Maximus goes for the purple. Ys, though part of the Roman empire, has been left to itself for years because it's spooky. According to rumors, Ys is ruled by nine witches who, among other things, control the weather to keep Ys safe from enemies intending to invade by sea. These nine "witches" are the God-chosen wives of the King of Ys who is a nasty tyrant. His nine wives use their powers to ask the Gods to bring them a deliverer -- someone to challenge the king.

And so Gratillonius and his small troop arrive in Ys and soon he finds himself king. Along with inheriting the crown, Gratillonius gets the nine witch queens, too. As he sets out to reform Ys, which has suffered under the former rule, he has a lot of unfamiliar stuff to deal with: the responsibilities of a king, the different culture, a strange land and people, clashes in religious beliefs (he covertly worships Mithras who has been denounced by the newly Christian Roman Empire, and the Ysans worship three pagan gods), and satisfying nine wives who vary greatly in age, beauty, intelligence, and appreciation for men.

At first, Gratillonius balances all of this mostly successfully, and he begins to restore the prosperity of Ys. He is well-intentioned, but he can't help but occasionally go wrong as his own beliefs conflict with his people's and their gods'. One problem is that the Ysan's believe that their gods will destroy Ys by flood if they are not obeyed. So, there is a conflict between the Ysans' expectations of Gratillonius's duties at their religious rites, his desire to keep alive the worship of Mithras, and his admiration for the Christian leaders he knows. The other big problem is that when one of his wives dies, the gods choose the replacement from the priestesses who are all descendants of the previous kings and queens and the gods don't seem to care too much about age, mental ability, or consanguinity. So, not only are there nine wives, but their family tree looks more like an M.C. Escher drawing than a tree, and this kind of behavior isn't congruent with the worship of either Mithras or Christ. (But it does make for some interesting reading.)

The first two books, Roma Mater and Gallicenae, progress rather slowly and there's not much action -- and this is really my only complaint about The King of Ys. But, by the end of Gallicenae, we've seen the ways Gratillonius has had to struggle to obey the Ysan gods, and we can be rather certain about what they're going to throw at him next ... and we know he's going to defy them this time. And, we've seen some plot threads being developed (warriors preparing overseas) that are presumably being carefully set up for use in the next novel.

In the third novel, Dahut, things really come to a head, and the fallout is spectacular. The reader then realizes and appeciates how carefully the Andersons have planned and crafted this work from page one. Well done! The fourth book, Dog and Wolf, deals with the after-effects of the events in book three, develops the characters further as their lives have drastically changed, and comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Besides being a fascinating and original tale with real historical feel, The King of Ys is beautifully written:
The armies met south of the River Ruirthech. That was a day when clouds blew like smoke, low above the valley, underneath a sky the hue of lead. Rainshowers rushed out of them, drenched men, washed their wounds and their dead, passed away on the keening wind. All colors were dulled except those of blood and gold. Shouts, horn calls, hoofbeats, footfalls, clamorous wheels, clash and rattle of weapons, were somehow muffled. But blows fell as heavy and sharp as always.


My favorite parts were Gratillonious's internal thoughts about his wives:
He gazed back. Over the years she had added flesh to flesh, though her frame was quite large enough that as yet she did not appear quite gross. Her features remained good in their heavy fashion and her hair was still a burnished red-brown. It was untidily piled on her head, like the raiment on her body. He had grown used to that....Well, she had her rights, and she was by no means a bad person, and a man ought to shoulder his burdens without whining about them.


And there is poetry -- even whole chapters of poetry!
Would you know the dog from the wolf? You may look at his paw,
Comparing the claw and the pad; you may measure his stride;
You may handle his coat and his ears; you may study his jaw;
And yet what you seek is not found in his bones or his hide,
For between the Dog and the Wolf there is only the Law.


Near the end of the story, Gratillonious meets a young soldier who is in nearly the same situation he was in when he left Britain 25 years before. Shocked, he looks back and realizes that he's not the same man he was then -- he would make different choices now. Through love and loss, we learn what's important -- that's a good story.

Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Poul Anderson page
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Kat_Hooper | 1 outra resenha | Apr 6, 2014 |
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

This review is for all four books in this series:

The King of Ys is a historical fantasy -- it is set in our world just before the fall of the Roman Empire and it mixes in the legend of the mythical city of Ys which was built below sea level on the coast of Brittany. Many of the characters in The King of Ys (Roman emperors, Christian saints, etc) are based on legendary and real historical figures and Poul and Karen Anderson include plenty of footnotes which explain the legend of Ys and the culture and religion of the 5th century.

In Roma Mater, we meet Gaius Valerius Gratillonius, a Roman centurion stationed at Hadrian's Wall. Because of his loyalty to would-be-emperor Magnus Clemens Maximus, the commander of the Roman troops in Britannia, Maximus assigns him to be Rome's prefect in Ys so that Gratillonius can keep it loyal while Maximus goes for the purple. Ys, though part of the Roman empire, has been left to itself for years because it's spooky. According to rumors, Ys is ruled by nine witches who, among other things, control the weather to keep Ys safe from enemies intending to invade by sea. These nine "witches" are the God-chosen wives of the King of Ys who is a nasty tyrant. His nine wives use their powers to ask the Gods to bring them a deliverer -- someone to challenge the king.

And so Gratillonius and his small troop arrive in Ys and soon he finds himself king. Along with inheriting the crown, Gratillonius gets the nine witch queens, too. As he sets out to reform Ys, which has suffered under the former rule, he has a lot of unfamiliar stuff to deal with: the responsibilities of a king, the different culture, a strange land and people, clashes in religious beliefs (he covertly worships Mithras who has been denounced by the newly Christian Roman Empire, and the Ysans worship three pagan gods), and satisfying nine wives who vary greatly in age, beauty, intelligence, and appreciation for men.

At first, Gratillonius balances all of this mostly successfully, and he begins to restore the prosperity of Ys. He is well-intentioned, but he can't help but occasionally go wrong as his own beliefs conflict with his people's and their gods'. One problem is that the Ysan's believe that their gods will destroy Ys by flood if they are not obeyed. So, there is a conflict between the Ysans' expectations of Gratillonius's duties at their religious rites, his desire to keep alive the worship of Mithras, and his admiration for the Christian leaders he knows. The other big problem is that when one of his wives dies, the gods choose the replacement from the priestesses who are all descendants of the previous kings and queens and the gods don't seem to care too much about age, mental ability, or consanguinity. So, not only are there nine wives, but their family tree looks more like an M.C. Escher drawing than a tree, and this kind of behavior isn't congruent with the worship of either Mithras or Christ. (But it does make for some interesting reading.)

The first two books, Roma Mater and Gallicenae, progress rather slowly and there's not much action -- and this is really my only complaint about The King of Ys. But, by the end of Gallicenae, we've seen the ways Gratillonius has had to struggle to obey the Ysan gods, and we can be rather certain about what they're going to throw at him next ... and we know he's going to defy them this time. And, we've seen some plot threads being developed (warriors preparing overseas) that are presumably being carefully set up for use in the next novel.

In the third novel, Dahut, things really come to a head, and the fallout is spectacular. The reader then realizes and appeciates how carefully the Andersons have planned and crafted this work from page one. Well done! The fourth book, Dog and Wolf, deals with the after-effects of the events in book three, develops the characters further as their lives have drastically changed, and comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Besides being a fascinating and original tale with real historical feel, The King of Ys is beautifully written:
The armies met south of the River Ruirthech. That was a day when clouds blew like smoke, low above the valley, underneath a sky the hue of lead. Rainshowers rushed out of them, drenched men, washed their wounds and their dead, passed away on the keening wind. All colors were dulled except those of blood and gold. Shouts, horn calls, hoofbeats, footfalls, clamorous wheels, clash and rattle of weapons, were somehow muffled. But blows fell as heavy and sharp as always.


My favorite parts were Gratillonious's internal thoughts about his wives:
He gazed back. Over the years she had added flesh to flesh, though her frame was quite large enough that as yet she did not appear quite gross. Her features remained good in their heavy fashion and her hair was still a burnished red-brown. It was untidily piled on her head, like the raiment on her body. He had grown used to that....Well, she had her rights, and she was by no means a bad person, and a man ought to shoulder his burdens without whining about them.


And there is poetry -- even whole chapters of poetry!
Would you know the dog from the wolf? You may look at his paw,
Comparing the claw and the pad; you may measure his stride;
You may handle his coat and his ears; you may study his jaw;
And yet what you seek is not found in his bones or his hide,
For between the Dog and the Wolf there is only the Law.


Near the end of the story, Gratillonious meets a young soldier who is in nearly the same situation he was in when he left Britain 25 years before. Shocked, he looks back and realizes that he's not the same man he was then -- he would make different choices now. Through love and loss, we learn what's important -- that's a good story.

Read this review in context at Fantasy Literature's Poul Anderson page
… (mais)
 
Marcado
Kat_Hooper | outras 3 resenhas | Apr 6, 2014 |

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Associated Authors

Estatísticas

Obras
24
Also by
18
Membros
1,206
Popularidade
#21,294
Avaliação
½ 3.5
Resenhas
14
ISBNs
145
Idiomas
5
Favorito
1

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