I don’t usually write book reviews. Honestly, my brain has been completely blank since finishing this book—I’ve been struggling to put my thoughts into words for days—so I’ll just list them out instead. What I loved about Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson: Holger, the swanmay, Hugi, the fascinating introduction of Law vs. Chaos, the werewolf hunt, the troll riddles, and the magic. Where Three Hearts and Three Lions let me down: the ending, the feeling that a short story was stretched...

In what feels like a spirited homage to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Poul Anderson masterfully loops WWII anti-Nazi espionage into an alternate universe that feels like it was ripped straight from a high-fantasy D&D campaign. Three Hearts and Three Lions is a true classic of the genre. A full year before The Fellowship of the Ring was even published, Anderson was already delivering page after page of elves, trolls, and fire-breathing beasts. His reluctant protagonist...

“Wave mechanics already admits the possibility of one entire cosmos coexisting with ours. It was not hard to write the equations for an infinity of such parallel worlds. By logical necessity the laws of nature would vary from one to another. Therefore, somewhere in the boundlessness of reality, anything you can imagine must actually exist!”As in The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson likes to back up his fantasy with a bit of science. I’m not entirely sure why, but it adds to the enjoyment of the book ...

Holger Carlsen is transported to another Earth, where he is destined to play a part in the war between Law and Chaos. Assisting him are Hugi, a dwarf, and Alianora, a swan maiden. Can they overcome the forces of Chaos and get Holger home?I got this from Netgalley.Since I've been wanting to read Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson for what feels like an eternity—ever since I first got into Dungeons and Dragons and, later, the wild madness of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion series—it...

I was charmed from the very start, knowing this was a classic piece of science fantasy—a quintessential Andersonian blend. It’s essentially a fresh take on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and that is exactly what I got with Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. There is plenty of old-school adventure here, feeling a bit more grounded than T.H. White’s Arthurian tales, leaning further into pure adventure. You’ll find everything from sphinx and troll encounters to clever sci...

I imagine many of my friends here will be surprised by my rating for this book. Given my username, you can probably guess that I’m a huge fan of the paladin archetype. While reading Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson, I couldn't help but wonder if Gary Gygax was influenced by this story when he created the Dungeons & Dragons paladin. Holger Carlsen is, without a doubt, a true paladin.There is a real shortage of quality books about paladins (I actually have several drafts of my own in ...

After reading Poul Anderson’s novel The High Crusade, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was influenced by Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Twain clearly left his mark on Three Hearts and Three Lions, as the foundations of the two stories are remarkably similar—there is even a direct reference to Twain’s work within the pages. Poul Anderson was born in America, but with deep Scandinavian roots, his mother moved the family to Denmark for a time before World War II, eventual...

"Don't play coy with me, Mr. 'one middle name isn't good enough for me.' What the hell does R.R. stand for anyway?" "Rich and Ridiculously famous." "Why you arrogant S.O...." "Just kidding, Poul. Now what do you want?" If you are looking for a classic fantasy book review that captures the spirit of the genre's giants, you have to talk about Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. It’s a foundational piece of literature that helped shape the modern fantasy landscape. Anderson’s wor...

Aug 2011: I’ve read Three Hearts and Three Lions maybe half a dozen times over the past 40 years, and I still love it. In the tradition of an Arthurian legend, a modern man is dropped into a fantasy world with abilities and limitations he doesn't fully understand. He ends up on a quest alongside some truly interesting characters, faces both internal and external challenges, and wraps it all up in a rather abrupt fashion. I can never quite decide if I like the ending or not, as its realism feels ...

*Yawns*This was an extremely basic fantasy novel. It felt like the author was reading the following handbook: The Idiots Guide to Writing a Fantasy Novel 1. Choose your Hero. Preferably a male. Someone with strong, chiseled features.2. Put your Hero in an awkward, fantastical, situation. (In Poul's case, he transported his lead character to another world riddled with a war between magical beings and non magical beings.)3. Send your Hero on a quest. And another one. And another one. In fact, send...