The Merman's Children
#6773.40 adjusted 3.83 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1979 Reading commitment Low Poul Anderson Last reviewed 2026-10-02
Overview
Poul Anderson's 1979 novel, expanded from two earlier shorter works, follows the merfolk of Liri, a city beneath the Danish seas, after a bishop's exorcism destroys their home and drives them out across the oceans in search of another. Its heart is King Vanimen's half-human children, caught between the soulless magic of the sea and the Faith of the land, in a saga that carries Scandinavian folklore and the Church's war on the old powers from Denmark to the Adriatic and the North Atlantic. A separate world from Anderson's other universes in this canon.
Historical fantasy, Mythic fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
The Merman's Children (1979) core · 3.40 (318 ratings); Berkley/Putnam, September 1979; expands the 1973 novella The Merman's Children and the 1977 novelette The Tupilak. A separate world from Anderson's other universes in this canon.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Merman's Children? The Merman's Children's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is The Merman's Children finished? Complete (1979).
- How much reading does The Merman's Children take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book · ~258 pages).
- How is The Merman's Children ranked? #677 in this site's official ranking, based on 318 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #677?
Ranked #677 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.40 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (318 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- 0.34 behind #676, Kingfisher.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
- A single standalone novel: ranked on that one book alone.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 1 book · Complete · 318 ratings · Ranks #677 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment historical fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- No award could be confirmed for this novel.
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Suggestions computed from what The Merman's Children and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.40 across 318 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon extension: The Merman's Children (Poul Anderson) accepted 2026-10-02
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-02
Rule: Core Canon = The Merman's Children (1979) only, standalone.