Three Hearts and Three Lions (Holger Danske Book 1)

Read this as an Appendix N recommendation, and wasn't too thrilled by the premise. But the unfolding of the narrative, the unrivaled action, the gorgeous rendering of both the natural and fantastical world around them showed why this book is still a standard bearer 60 years later. The blending of myth and pulp fantasy brings these old stories to life in ways that make me want to return to the legends of Arthur and Charlamagne's courts.

Like many others, I found out about this book long after being introduced to fantasy role-playing games, specifically Dungeons and Dragons. It is mentioned in the FAQ on a D&D newsgroup as a source for some of the ideas in the game. To be specific, this is where the regenerating trolls come from. There are a few more ideas in here that I recall from my early days of Basic D&D. The early D&D alignment system seems to draw from this book as well (Law vs Chaos with a sizeable Neutral populace), and possibly others. Other D&D concepts are mentioned as well, but those were the most noticeable. In that context, the book is fascinating, and a must-read for any gamer.The story itself is a twist on the "Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" idea. Though in this story, the modern man is taken into a fantastical world where magic works and the forces of Chaos are rallying to strike against the world of Law (humans). The modern man is Holger Carlsen, a Danish engineer who goes home to join the resistance in World War II. During a crucial fight against Nazis he loses consciousness and wakes up in a world where he is a great knight fighting on the side of Law (which equates to good in this book). Opposing him is an assortment of magical foes, and at his side is Hugi, the hill dwarf, and Alianora, the swan-may.Carlsen, or Sir Holger as he is called in this fantasy world, approaches the magic around him with an engineer's eye. He reasons out the mechanics and laws governing certain aspects of the magical world, and identifies a couple of scientific reasons for the superstitions prevalent there. Though he wavers sometimes in the purity of his thoughts, he is the archetypical paladin, a good guy through and through. Soon after arriving in this fantasy world, he figures out what he must do and pursues that quest with unwavering sureness. The supporting characters are fairly well drawn out for such a short novel. It's a little hard to follow Hugi's brogue in the beginning, but you get used to it, so it doesn't really detract from the story.Holger draws parallels between the magical world, with Law at war against Chaos, and our own, in his time at war against the Nazis. The causes for war are simplified in the fantasy world to the fact that Chaos more or less equates to evil, and Law is nearly synonymous with good. But Holger's quest remains the same: to defeat evil. A simplistic motivation, but it makes for a highly enjoyable story. In the tradition of Arthurian legend, Holger's quest takes him across the countryside, from adventure to adventure, meeting friends and enemies on the way. Because of its common themes, it can be enjoyed by readers of all ages.If you give this book to any fantasy reader, it's sure to become one of their favorites.

It's a quick read but not exactly an easy read. There is some language structure in parts that can be hard to follow but it's got great story and imagery that leaves you wanting more. Hard to put down.

At times, the story runs the risk of being formulaic, but it is never predictable in a bad or boring way. For example, the love interest for the protagonist is at first spurned (for the apparent sake of mutual benefit), then accepted with some qualifiers, and challenged by another suitor before finally being realized (such as it were). Other elements regarding the plot, it's progression and escalation of conflict share similar (i.e., typical, traditional, familiar) development. This is not always a bad thing. In fact, sometimes (as in this occasion), it's precisely what a person may want.Anderson writes with a very straightforward, easy to process style. This is especially appreciated during combat scenes, where many authors tend to confuse the audience; what action should be attributed to which character. Or important details can be left out, which creates an entirely separate (and equally inconvenient) set of problems. While Anderson doesn't always use the most flowery or poetic prose for these descriptions, the scene is much easier to follower. Consequently, it makes for less 'reading' and more 'consuming' the content.For all of that, it is Anderson's observations that keep the pages turning. At times tongue-in-cheek, at times plain, but always insightful, some of his passages seem to speak directly to universal thoughts or experiences. Unsurprising, given that Anderson is an SFWA grand master. For example:" 'Herein have I laid some bread and meat and other refreshment, for well I know how impractick ye young paladins are, gallivanting about the world to rescue fair maidens with never a thought of taking along a bite of lunch.' ""Who had written that line about nothing being so futile as the memory of a temptation resisted?""Though to be sure, science had its perversions, while magic had its laws. A definite ritual was needed in either case, whether you built an airplane or a flying carpet.""She glanced at Alianora. Her sigh held an unfeigned sadness. ‘I perceive an older witchcraft than mine has ensorcelled you, Holger. Welladay, ’twas joyous once. Nothing can take that from me.’"TL, DR: few surprises, but very entertaining. Generally light-hearted fantasy that serves as a great introduction to the genre, it still manages to provide escapism for those already familiar with fantasy.

SF作家ファンタジーは人物&妖精、ドラゴン等状況設定の面白さが全て。西欧中世と伝説に興味有ればニヤリとするが、後はアンチクライマックス。

An old-school fiction with elements from fantasy, urban fantasy, mythology, and speculative sci-fi. This is a book whose influence on modern fantastic fiction will immediately be apparent, but which is nevertheless beautiful, enjoyable, joyous and tragic in all the best ways.

Poul Anderson, an American Science Fiction / Fantasy legend of Danish heritage has produced an interesting combination of time travel, parallel universes and Arthurian legend here. While not as broad in scope as  The Lord of The Rings (Based on the 50th Anniversary Single volume edition 2004) , which it predates slightly, it will probably very well appeal to the same readership.In the book, a Danish physics / engineering student studying and working in the US - a friend of the narrator - decides to get himself drawn into WW2, returning to his native Denmark to enter the underground there. Relatively soon something quite out of the ordinary happens, transporting the protagonist to a world quite unlike 1940s world as we know it.As typical of fantasy works of the time, there is a central quest to be fulfilled and a quite clearly delineated fight between the forces of good and evil. As opposed to something like the almost contemporary  The Lord of The Rings (Based on the 50th Anniversary Single volume edition 2004) , the time / space travel component allows the author to constantly draw parallels between the fictional - Arthurian - world he is facing and WW2 in ours.Given that the book represents some of the early fantasy there will perhaps not be many surprising or - from an early 21st century perspective - innovative elements. Still it must have been quite advanced at the time of writing, and the very casual and promiscuous attitude of the protagonist when it comes to sexual encounters was sure to have ruffled some feathers in a world before Heinlein in Science Fiction, or the sexual liberation movement more generally.You will get the standard fantasy creatures of the times, although most non-human ones fight on the side of Chaos, or evil, here.The protagonist slowly but surely discovers his destiny in this parallel world and it is quite interesting to read his ruminations on what aspects of physics are at play, when one is looking at magic (one will for instance know why troll treasures are bad luck).So in many ways a trailblazing work at the time of its inception, and a probable must read for those seriously interested in the early fantasy / sci-fi landscape. For the rest it is certainly a solid contender but probably no longer worthy of the full five stars if one only takes the current perspective into account. The Lord of The Rings (Based on the 50th Anniversary Single volume edition 2004)The Lord of The Rings (Based on the 50th Anniversary Single volume edition 2004)

This book is a lot like The Compleat Enchanter, also in the masterworks range, its very fast paced, got some great characterisation and I thought it was a real page turner.The story opens with the archetypical hero character joining the resistance to the Nazis during the war only to be thrown into the world of fantasy when he suffers a head injury. The fantasy setting itself will be familiar to fans of The Compleat Enchanter, resembling the world of the Faerie Queen classic, there are saracens, knightly christendom, the middle world of trolls, elves, faye, faerie, witches and warlocks, the "wild hunt" of lions, leopards and dragons. The language is amazing, with witches, woodland folk, such as dwarfs, talking a variety of scots dialect for the most part.I found this a real page turner, having really enjoyed The Compleat Enchanter, and an absolutely uplifting read, pure escapism.

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