From Publishers Weekly
Less a novel than a series of short stories and novelettes tied together by their subjects, this volume tells of 11 "immortals": individuals who will not die of old age but who can, however, be killed. Anderson ( The Avatar ) brings proven storytelling abilities and research skills to chronicles that range from 310 B.C. to a centuries-distant future. Many of the stories describe an immortal's first awareness of his or her difference, and flight from accusations of witchcraft; other tales relate chance encounters between immortals; a few simply tell a good yarn. The penultimate chapter tells of the eight survivors coming together in present times; the last portrays a future where science has extended everyone's life, creating a world vastly different from what the immortals had expected. BOMC and QPB selection. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Hanno the navigator, Tu Shan the mystic, and Aliyat the courtesan share a common bond--immortality. Their search for others like themselves covers thousands of years of human history, from the earliest explorations of the world to the ultimate journey into the stars. Against an everchanging backdrop that includes medieval Japan, the court of Richelieu, and 19th-century America, Anderson draws together a group of very special heroes. Ambitious in scope, meticulous in detail, polished in style, the author's first novel in ten years is highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/89.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Review
"Succeeds admirably!" -- The New York Times

"Here at last, the big Anderson book we've all been waiting for! An unforgettable novel, with a cast as big as mankind and an adventure that charts the course of time. Read it, enjoy it, savor it...this may well be the best book of the year, hell, decade."---Jerry Pournelle

"This is the book we've all been waiting for!"--Joe Haldeman



Book Description
Others have written SF on the theme of immortality, but in The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson made it his own. Early in human history, certain individuals were born who live on, unaging, undying, through the centuries and millenia. We follow them through over 2000 years, up to our time and beyond-to the promise of utopia, and to the challenge of the stars.

A milestone in modern science fiction, a New York Times Notable Book on its first publication in 1989, this is one of a great writer's finest works.



About the Author
The bestselling author of such classic novels as Brain Wave and The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson won just about every award the science fiction and fantasy field has to offer. He won multiple Hugos and Nebulas, the John W. Campbell Award, The Locus Poll Award, the Skylark Award, and the SFWA Grandmaster Award for Lifetime Achievement. His later books include Harvest of Stars, The Stars are Also Fire, Operation Luna, Genesis, Mother of Kings, and Going for Infinity, a collection and retrospective of his life's work. Poul Anderson lived in Orinda, California where he passed away in 2001.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Others have written SF on the theme of immortality, but in The Boat of a Million Years, Poul Anderson made it his own. Early in human history, certain individuals were born who live on, unaging, undying, through the centuries and millenia. We follow them through more than two thousand years, up to our time and beyond - to the promise of utopia, and to the challenge of the stars.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Less a novel than a series of short stories and novelettes tied together by their subjects, this volume tells of 11 ``immortals'': individuals who will not die of old age but who can, however, be killed. Anderson ( The Avatar ) brings proven storytelling abilities and research skills to chronicles that range from 310 B.C. to a centuries-distant future. Many of the stories describe an immortal's first awareness of his or her difference, and flight from accusations of witchcraft; other tales relate chance encounters between immortals; a few simply tell a good yarn. The penultimate chapter tells of the eight survivors coming together in present times; the last portrays a future where science has extended everyone's life, creating a world vastly different from what the immortals had expected. BOMC and QPB selection. (Nov.)

Library Journal

Hanno the navigator, Tu Shan the mystic, and Aliyat the courtesan share a common bond--immortality. Their search for others like themselves covers thousands of years of human history, from the earliest explorations of the world to the ultimate journey into the stars. Against an everchanging backdrop that includes medieval Japan, the court of Richelieu, and 19th-century America, Anderson draws together a group of very special heroes. Ambitious in scope, meticulous in detail, polished in style, the author's first novel in ten years is highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/89.

The New York Times

"Succeeds admirably!"

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

The great canvas of interstellar space comes alive under his hand as it does under no other. — Gordon R. Dickson

The Boat of a Million Years offers first class accomodations on a reading voyage down the ages, with stops at many a fascinating port. For a long while I felt that Paul was too long between books. It is good to see why, and to know, simultaneously, that it was worth the wait. — Roger Zelanzny

A searing ride through our human past and future...makes us feel the passions of these few immortals and wonder at where destiny eventually takes them. — David Brin

This is the bok we've all been waiting for! — Joe Haldeman

Poul Anderson has created a work majestic in scope, on a framework of unobtrusive but meticulously detailed scholarship. The sense of 'nowness' and 'hereness' is extraordinary...the characters live and breathe. I consider this book a major achievement. — Jack Vance

A searing ride through our human past and future...makes us feel the passions of these few immortals, and wonder at where destiny eventually takes them. — David Brin