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sydmat03's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jgshinton's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
whattamess's review against another edition
2.0
For such a short book it seemed to take forever to read.
Full of colorful, fantasy characters going on a typical fantasy adventure. Would have been a really good read if someone else wrote it. I did not like Poul Anderson's writing. It felt like he tried too hard to be intellectual and he had a forced sense of character that came off as fake.
I'm glad it's over. Scratch another book off my old TBR list and punch another square on my bingo card.
cellardoor10's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly surprisingly good. It hasn't really aged super well - there are some really weird comments about women interspersed throughout and honestly, our protagonist is kind of a dumbass (really, you get pulled into the water by a hot lady and actually *believe* her promises of seduction? Seriously?). But the story is cool and I found myself really excited at the end to learn who he is. I ended up googling to find out more.
lilyantan's review against another edition
2.0
*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 him on as many quests as you can. Oh ya, make sure he's in a forest and that there are howling wolves.
4. Give your Hero some Side-Kicks to aid him on his Quest(s). Make sure to include a good looking female of consenting age.
5. Sprinkle your story with dangerous situations. You may want to alternate between endangering your hero and endangering the fuckable female lead. This way, they can "Save" each other, and we can gag on the building sexual tension.
6. Introduce a flock of slick and cool bad guys.
7. Consumate the love between our heroes right before the big bang finale
8. Allow your hero to complete his final quest, most easily done by finding an object he seeks. (Over here we had a sword... how original).
9. Shut down your lap top and never attempt to write a novel again.
The End.
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 him on as many quests as you can. Oh ya, make sure he's in a forest and that there are howling wolves.
4. Give your Hero some Side-Kicks to aid him on his Quest(s). Make sure to include a good looking female of consenting age.
5. Sprinkle your story with dangerous situations. You may want to alternate between endangering your hero and endangering the
6. Introduce a flock of slick and cool bad guys.
7. Consumate the love between our heroes right before the big bang finale
8. Allow your hero to complete his final quest, most easily done by finding an object he seeks. (Over here we had a sword... how original).
9. Shut down your lap top and never attempt to write a novel again.
The End.
gavgav's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
sjyoklic's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Epic pulp fantasy. Not going to change your life but it will provide a few hours of enjoyment. It is excellent for what it is. Would recommend!
hilmi's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
tomasthanes's review against another edition
5.0
This story is one of the best classic fantasy stories that I've read in a long time. It also managed to mix some contemporary science with fantasy, no small feat, as well as the struggle of medieval faith and modern atheism without being heavy handed.
I also like the fact that it was based on a real historical character, Ogier le Danois (Holger Danske), especially significant since Poul Anderson is, himself, Danish.
One distracting thing about this eBook was the typos that started about 65% into the book. They increased in frequency until there were several typos on a page at times; it's as if the further the editor got into the book, the less they cared. I'm told that the fixing of typos in books is the responsibility of publishers, not authors, and it would be nice for future readers if Open Road Integrated Media fixed them (since I'll report them to Amazon).
I also like the fact that it was based on a real historical character, Ogier le Danois (Holger Danske), especially significant since Poul Anderson is, himself, Danish.
One distracting thing about this eBook was the typos that started about 65% into the book. They increased in frequency until there were several typos on a page at times; it's as if the further the editor got into the book, the less they cared. I'm told that the fixing of typos in books is the responsibility of publishers, not authors, and it would be nice for future readers if Open Road Integrated Media fixed them (since I'll report them to Amazon).
benditlikebecka's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I read this book as research into the history of Dungeons & Dragons and that is the only reason anyone should read this. The book is from its time: the women are sex objects (and also the main object of desire is explicitly not an adult), men are two-dimensional, traditional Christian values are upheld, and the racism is definitely uncomfortable. This book is an early contributor to modern fantasy, but should be left in the past.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Racism