Poul Anderson 46 min read

'You'll find almost anything man ever imagined somewhere in the Galaxy,' says the spacer, dragons, goblins, witches, and his soft-voiced companion answers: 'I once let a genie out of a bottle.'

Poul Anderson's 1951 story is an atmospheric space opera of ancient powers and cosmic wonder. Vivid, evocative golden-age SF. Read it for a haunting tale that finds fairy tales made real across the vastness of the stars.

In its time

Published in 1951, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

46 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Herman B. Vestal