A review by mizar
The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.0
My second Poul Anderson book and have to say that I am impressed. My first contact with his writings was Tau Zero, a hard sci-fi novel exploring the dynamics of a group of space colonists stranded aboard a ship ever accelerating towards the speed of light. The Broken Sword is a different beast altogether, falling squarely into the fantasy genre and making heavy use of the myths of faerie and the Norse pantheon.
There are those who compare this with Tolkien's world, but I think the comparison is unfair. Both of those works were published on the same year and both are heavily influenced by Norse myths but the similarities end there. Tolkien's creation is much more complex and with a clear division of good vs. evil. The Broken Sword offers us a tale reading like an old saga, where the lines between hero and villain are often blurred.
There are those who compare this with Tolkien's world, but I think the comparison is unfair. Both of those works were published on the same year and both are heavily influenced by Norse myths but the similarities end there. Tolkien's creation is much more complex and with a clear division of good vs. evil. The Broken Sword offers us a tale reading like an old saga, where the lines between hero and villain are often blurred.