Aniara: An Epic Science Fiction Poem

This is the paperback edition translated from the Swedish by Stephen Klass and Leif Sjöberg. Aniara (Swedish: Aniara : en revy om människan i tid och rum]) is a poem of science fiction written by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson in 1956. It was selected a s the second most important book published in Sweden in the 20th century. The poem consists of 103 cantos and relates the tragedy of a space ship (4,750 m (15,580 ft) long and 891 m (2,923 ft) wide) which, originally bound for Mars with a cargo of colonists from the ravaged Earth, after an accident is ejected from the solar system and into an existential struggle. The poem was referenced in Vernor Vinge's hard science fiction novel A Fire Upon the Deep. It was also an influence for Poul Anderson's hard science fiction novel Tau Zero.