three hearts and three lions by poul anderson

Anderson does a good job of piecing together a modern setting, myth, historical, and fantastic elements into a pleasing whole.įans of this book will also enjoy Anderson's short story 'The Man Who Came Early' which is re-printed in his 1969 collection of short stories The Horn of Time.įinally, a recurring theme of Anderson’s work is an objective ability to produce a balance of extremes, and Three Hearts and Three Lions expertly presents both sides of an entertaining conflict. This is, like the brilliant The Broken Sword, another visit to the realms of Faery, but Three Hearts and Three Lions is less mythic and more purely fantastic. This book, like several others of his authorship, is set in Denmark and reveals sentimentality toward the nation and culture.Īnderson explores ideas of law and chaos that may have influenced Michael Moorcock and, further, Gary Gygax (Dungeons and Dragons may be a literary descendant of this book). Poul Anderson was born in America but was of Scandinavian ancestry and his mother moved the family to Denmark to live for a time prior to World War II when they all moved back to the states.

Twain must have influenced Three Hearts and Three Lions as the basis of the two stories are so close (there is even a direct reference to Twain’s work). * Future history of the Polesotechnic LeagueĪfter reading Anderson’s novel The High Crusade, I remarked how I wondered if Anderson was influenced by Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Several of his novels were published posthumously. Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972.

They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.Īnderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century.

Three hearts and three lions by poul anderson