The Van Rijn Method

Technic Civilization Series 1

By: Poul Anderson

Narrated by: BJ Harrison

The buck starts here!

Think there's an unbridgeable gulf between human and alien thought? Not so! There's a common tongue, all right - and Nicholas Van Rijn speaks it fluently: trade. For behind the buffoonish blarney and bawdy bonhomie of the Falstaffian Van Rijn is a man who gets things done. A born wheeler-dealer who usually leaves both sides better off in the bargain. (While pocketing a hefty cut of the profits himself, of course!)

With "The Man Who Counts" and a passel of other tales included, this is the first of three volumes set to contain the complete cycle of Polesotechnic League books and stories by transcendently gifted science fiction master (how does seven Hugos and three Nebula Awards strike you?) Poul Anderson - and starring Nicholas Van Rijn, his most famous character of all!

Contains mature themes.

©2008 Poul Anderson (P)2020 Tantor

Dated but occasionally interesting

As with all anthologies, the stories here are of varying interest. I’ve included short reviews of each below.

The Saturn Game
This short novella is set in the early exploration of the solar system. The conceit here is that during the long spaceflights from Earth to the outer planets, roleplaying games (“psychodramas”) are used to occupy the minds of the astronauts. This progresses to the point that many things in normal life are coopted into the game and referred to in game terms.
 
During an EVA on the surface of Iapetus, there is a collapse that traps the explorers; this story is largely about their attempts to return to their ship after the collapse. And the “adventure” is largely described in the terms of a fantasy RPG, to the point that communication between the explorers and the ship are compromised. This comes across as
 
The scientific parts of the story are done well. Anderson does interesting cryogenic physics in this story. But the RPG lens is mostly a distraction. Note that this story was published in 1981, during the height of the first D&D boom, when most people really didn’t understand roleplaying at all, and this story reflects that lack of understanding.
 
It’s an interesting attempt, but ultimately, I think it fails. The Hugo Award voters disagreed, since it won that award in 1982.
 
2 stars
 

Wings of Victory 
This short story, published in 1972, covers first contact between humans and the Ythri, the flying sophonts of Ythria.
 
As a first-contact story, it works fairly well, but it does have the problem of humans starting conflict with little provocation, which is rather cliched. There’s not much here other than character sketches and the first-contact narrative. It does what it seeks to, but it’s not especially memorable.
 
3 stars
 
 
The Problem of Pain
Short Stories are generally too short to delve deeply into character, plot, setting, and theme, so they tend to primarily focus on one of these. This story has nicely sketched in, sympathetic characters and a setting with a couple of unique features. But its main focus is on theme, to wit: Why would a loving god allow pain (other than as an incentive to avoid damage). This theme is examined through the lens of the Ythrian religion, where the god is a god of the hunt and wants his subjects to struggle well, even against the inevitable.
 
It’s a big question, and this short piece addresses it well without pretending to provide a definitive answer.
 
4 stars
 
 
Margin of Profit
 Nicholas van Rijn is one of the great characters of Golden Age SF.
 
“In my day, we said ‘Sir’ to the Captain, even when we mutinied.”
 
“Here is not another rehearsal, where I can gently correct your thumb-brained mistakes!”
 
“What is sauce for the stews is sauce for the panda.”
 
Originally published in 1956, this short novelette is both an excellent character study and a lesson in the economics of piracy. It’s tightly crafted and entertaining throughout. A brilliant example of the craft of writing short fiction.
 
5 stars
 

Original Version of Margin of Profit
In the book’s appendix, we get the original version of this story. The differences are minor. I suppose it might be useful for someone who wants to see a final polishing pass by a professional author. 
 
How to Be Ethnic in One Easy Lesson
Or protagonist in this short story from 1974 has been tasked by his academic advisor with presenting the Chinese culture from 500 years before … because his name is Ching and he looks East Asian. Ching is desperate to go to the space academy and needs the advisor’s recommendation, but he neither knows nor much cares about distant history
 
There is a bit of cultural commentary in what is mostly a comedic piece. It’s rather slight, but it is entertaining.
 
4 stars
 
 
The Three-Cornered Wheel
In this novelette, published in 1963, our protagonists are confronted with the need to move a very heavy object in order to raise ship and leave the planet they are on. Unfortunately, in this society, the circle is considered to be so sacred that it cannot be used except by clergy, and the clergy hates the human traders. The resolution of this conundrum involves the Kaballah, Keplerian orbits, and Reuleaux triangles.
 
Largely an idea story, the setting and characterization are only detailed enough to support the idea-centered plot. If you’ve never seen a Reuleaux triangle (or the corresponding 3-D shape) used as a roller, it’s a surprising enough idea to carry a short piece.
 
3 stars
 
 
A Sun Invisible
This novelette, originally published in 1966, shows an early David Falkayne attempting to become a certified Merchant. It has some entertaining dialog, but it’s largely a mystery using physics facts to solve a military problem.
 
“He practiced a reckless grin. It looked better than last year.” – David Falkayn
 
“When I speak, it’s not an interruption; it’s an enlightenment.” – Beljagger

Decent, but not especially memorable.

3 stars
 
 
The Season of Forgiveness
This short story, originally published in 1973, is a throwaway Christmas miracle story. Plot, setting, and character are all afterthoughts.

2 stars 
 
 
The Man Who Counts
This short novel, originally published in 1958, is setting driven. (Anderson says essentially this in his afterword.) The characters are very flat (though we do get some of Van Rijn’s famous eloquence) and the plot is infested with coincidence to expose the details of the setting.

As an idea novel, it’s not bad at all, but don’t expect much more than an exploration of the species, planet, and their interaction.
 
 3 stars

 
Esau
In this short novelette, originally published in 1970, we get another view of Nicholas Van Rijn:
 
“But you came to Earth breathing fire and brimrocks and went through six echelons of the toughest no-saying secretaries and officers what the Solar Spice and Liquor Company has got, like a bulldozer chasing a cowdozer….”
 
It’s largely a plot-driven story with limited characterization and setting. The plot is relatively routine, but there are some clever bits.

3 stars

 
Hiding Place
This novelette, originally published in 1961, is another puzzle story. Here, the idea is to deduce which of many species aboard a starship is intelligent. The puzzle is done well and Van Rijn is his usual entertaining self. The rest of the characters are flat and the plot and setting are very limited. That said, the solution was good.

3 stars
 
 
Appendices
 
Chronology of the Technic Civilization

An internal chronology of the stories and books in this universe. Possibly useful if you’re trying to read the entire series.

The Man Who Counts and the Technic Civilization series

This essay about Anderson’s philosophy in writing this series is thought provoking and worth the time to read.


Overall
The stories here definitely show their age. They are mostly idea or puzzle stories with limited characterization and only enough setting to support their theses. The book is occasionally very good, but mostly compelling only for their concepts, not for their stories. I would really only recommend this series as a historical object or for Anderson completionists. That said, Nicholas Van Rijn (when he is onscreen) is one of the better characters of Golden Age SF, and the book is almost worth reading just to see him chew the scenery.

Humph and hassenpfeffer!

I read most of the stories in this collection in other books published in the 60s & 70s and listened to two of my favorite stories first: "The Three-Cornered Wheel" and "A Sun Invisible". These were the first Poul Anderson stories I ever read and I enjoyed your production of them, especially the "The Three-Cornered Wheel". The narrator BJ Harrison did a great job and brought to life the natives of Ivanhoe - a planet orbiting a small star located near the Pleiades star cluster. I had never read the Saturn Game(1981) and found it difficult to get through - not one Poul Anderson's best, in my opinion. "Margin of Profit"(1956) was a story I didn't know but is now one of my favorite Nicholas van Rijn stories. The novel the "Man Who Counts"(1958) was also new and is another great van Rijn story. The narrator plays van Rijn VERY well bringing him to life with his outrageous accent! The next book in the series "David Falkayn: Star Trader" has the best stories of the Polesotechnic League including the novel "Satan's World" (1969). The third book, Rise of the Terran Empire, collects Anderson's early stories of the Terran Empire including one my favorites "The People of the Wind"(1973). And the fourth book will introduce Poul Anderson's most famous protagonist, Sir Dominic Flandry.

wonderful reading - Technic in hi-fi audio

Delighted that the Technic Civilization series is finally having its own complete audiobooks.
I loved this reading by BJ Harrison - and I'm looking forward to the other volumes. The sound quality is perfect, and Harrison brings the characters and stories to life.

The editing of all of Anderson's stories finally into a chronological 7-book series is a great moment (just wish the book covers were different). One can get a bit lost in all the different publications of the Technic Civilization without this fine editing job. I do hope they finish an entire series of audiobooks to accompany these publications.

meh

Did not do it for me.lots not working here. voice did not match the writing.