This is a great classic fantasy novel. Holger, transported to an alternate Earth where fairy creatures exist and magic works, must save the world(s) from a new threat of evil. Excellent adventure fantasy. ( )

Tremendously disappointing. At times there were some decent sentences, but I didn't care about any of the characters, the plot went nowhere (it read like a rather long-winded first 3rd of a book, basically all set-up and meandering), and for the life of me I fail to see how this gained any reputation as a classic at all. I'll assume the novella was tighter and more interesting, because how could it not be?

There's something awfully dated about portal fantasy (to me, at any rate), of this sort--where you can't just accept the other realm, you have to make up explanations for why you have characters in it. It sort of put me off Thomas Covenant or the Fionavar series, made me quickly abandon Beyond the Pale, and annoyed me throughout the half of Glory Road I read before tossing it. Whereas, for contrast, I'm reading the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series for the first time and absolutely loving it--despite (mostly) being written earlier, it feels much more fresh and modern, as if Joss Whedon had written it. And Poul Anderson, you're no Joss Whedon.

I also wasn't that enthralled with his The Broken Sword, so I guess I'm just not a fan, despite some effort. At least I made it all the way to the end. But it's a weird, weird book, with antagonists who rarely show up, a disappointing climax, heroes who are just wonderful, apprently, and by the time they reached the Magic Sword (yes, it's one of those books) I'd pretty much forgotten why they wanted it in the first place.

Your time can be better spent!

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )

I was charmed from the get-go for I knew that this was a classic, more SF/F Andersonian mix, a retelling of [b:A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court|162898|A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court|Mark Twain|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348239402s/162898.jpg|2621763], and that is exactly what I got.

There's plenty of old adventure that's a little less nuts than White's Arthurian adventures, with a bit more in the straight adventure arena, including a sphinx/troll Scene, clever science fixes for epic battles, swooning women, time travel, witches, Faery courts, dragons, hidden memories and unbreakable promises. It's an all-around good story.

Does it really live up to, say, Anderson's [b:The Broken Sword|715287|The Broken Sword|Poul Anderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1408925194s/715287.jpg|1205843]? No. But this one is a bit more light-hearted and it's straight-up Arthurian legend Plus stuff. I'm glad I read it but it's not nearly as good as his others.

It doesn't have quite that special kick since its ideas are all common-stuff. Still, it's Poul Anderson, so it's still head and shoulders above most of the rest, and I can see this being a nice precursor to so many of the modern fictions we have today, considering how straightforward the plots are.

It came out in 1961 and I'm honestly most charmed by all the modern-science considerations and speculations. :) This, more than anything, made it stand out for me. I'm now interested to see if anyone else has decided to do this with today's knowledge of science. You know. An upgrade, like this one was an attempt to upgrade Twain. :) ( )

The book that gave us the Paladin. ( )

This book, published in 1961, holds up very well for me
Despite it being 20-30 years or more since I last read it. It’s always been a huge sentimental favorite because of its optimism and emphasis on comrades working together. In times of war or discord, this book again reminds me of the many reasons for hope plus all the sleeping hero myths. Would that they were true. ( )