Reviews

The High Crusade by Poul Anderson

schenkelberg's review

2.0

Silly and fun, a nice quick summer SF read.

nonamethankyou's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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? No

4.5

smiorganbaldhead's review against another edition

5.0

This book is awesome. It’s a super fun adventure, with a premise that seems implausible, but some clever explanation, light and humorous tone, and rule of cool made me more than happy to suspend disbelief that a bunch of medieval knights take on an interstellar empire. I’m not usually a big fan of comedy novels, but I found this one really funny, and I thought the humor enhanced rather than undermined the story. It’s not all humor, though, as there is a darker dramatic turn near the end that I thought worked very well.

I’m impressed with Poul Anderson’s versatility as an author, as he can write great books in many different subgenres with widely varying tone. For instance, this book is nothing at all like Tau Zero, but they’re now both on my favorites list.

rambleroam's review

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

madelenkas's review

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

eric_conrad's review against another edition

2.0

This is the second book by Poul Anderson that I have read and I have to say I still find his work lacking. There tends to be an interesting premise at the heart of his books, but the telling of the story gets weakened by dull characters.

Some people found the story to be amusing. I did not, but maybe my expectations are too high. For me, the Arthurian love triangle was probably the best part of the book.

infrigaforzare's review

adventurous dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.0

reebeee's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-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

2.75

this book has everything—anti-alien racism, anti-welsh racism, english nationalism (so much of it), and the hot hot take of “feudalism was great actually.” interesting (and funny) for critical analysis of its medieval reception, but for a narrative about fourteenth century knights vs. aliens it was pretty boring.

aaronmjnoy's review

3.0

In 1345, as a Lincolnshire village prepares to head to France to fight in the Hundred Years War, an alien scout ship lands on their own mission of conquest. Although superior in technology, they underestimate the fighting spirit of merry old England.

This is a very playful and silly novel, which surprised me as the previous Poul Anderson novel I read was a quite hard sci-fi physics type book. The guy obviously has a lot of range. This was a fun short little thing. It reminded me a bit of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom stories.

smkingsland's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0