Before "Lord of the Rings", there was "Three Hearts and Three Lions". Poul Anderson book review.

Perhaps one of the most overlooked and forgotten influential fantasy novels, Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions" inspired a generation of fantasy writers, and was instrumental in the Dungeon's and Dragon's lore, and what makes it even better, it's a really fun book to read!
I give the book the SCI-FI Shed treatment, I provide a bit of a plot overview, talked to what I liked, what I didn't like and I make some recommendations.
It would be my pleasure if you would consider hitting that like button and subscribing.

[@rickcantrell5302]

Very perceptive review of a classic fantasy novel. I read and loved this book many years ago, and this inspires me to give it another read, since as you mention, it's only 150 pages. I also loved The Broken Sword, The High Crusade and Harold Kraki's Saga. Still looking forward to reading Operation Otherworld, A Midsummer Tempest, The Merman's Children and Conan the Rebel. And that's only looking at his fantasy output! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book!

[@thesci-fished]

you're most welcome, and it's so true Poul Anderson was so influential, I need to feature him a bit more on this channel.

[@carlzeichner8168]

The hero's real name is Holger Danske, a major figure in the Danish imagination. When the Danes formed a resistance group against the Nazis, they use his name.

[@thesci-fished]

Ah right, that's an interesting tie in I was not aware of. Thanks for sharing.

[@mikehallaron]

A good read! Just read this one recently.

[@thesci-fished]

@@mikehallaron nice! Was there anything I said that you agreed or disagreed with?

[@mikehallaron]

@@thesci-fishedAgree there was so much here that contributed to the foundations of D&D. That was what drew me to the book. This was my first Poul Anderson read. I knew that Science Fiction was his primary genre. I really enjoyed “Three Hearts” but I didn’t make a connection to Tolkien. Like you, I thought it felt more Arthurian, but with a strong tie to Moorcock’s chaos vs law Elric universe. Fun read!

[@thesci-fished]

@@mikehallaron Nice one. I have "The Broken Sword" on my TBR, i'm looking forward to reading it. I think it 's been close to 40 years since I read that one. Should definitely be a trip down memory lane.

[@user-pj8so8kf1c]

I definitely love this book!!

[@thesci-fished]

Nice one!

[@NevsBookChannel]

I just looked up Appendix N in the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide (a list of books for inspirational reading) and sure enough, it’s the first book listed!

[@thesci-fished]

haha, I just did the same and indeed, there it is, appendix N as you say.

[@gon8go]

I just picked that one up the other day. I read the broken sword by him a few months back so I'm definitely going to get to this one.

[@thesci-fished]

I've got the Broken Sword on my TBR, it has been 40 years since I last read it.

[@davidbrewer9030]

Poul is one of my favorite authors, both for fantasy and science fiction. Another author is Lord Dunsany, who wrote, among other things, Beyond the Fields We Know, and The King of Elfland's Daughter.

[@thesci-fished]

I'll have to keep an eye out for him, thanks for the tip.

[@paulbeardsley4095]

@@thesci-fishedHis stories are very mixed. Some are like, really obvious allegories at best, where (for example) time is the enemy that ages you. Other times it’s immersive fantasy of the best kind.

[@thomassmith6232]

I love this book! It would be great to see a movie of it!

[@thesci-fished]

Yes indeed, that would be fun.

[@unstopitable]

You might like the channel of KZbinr "TheWorstThingAboutNewBooks." He has video(s) that go into detail about the books that inspired Gary Gygax. Thanks for putting this book on my radar. Cheers.

[@thesci-fished]

I'll check it out!

[@gruingas]

Thanks so much for the tip!

[@thesci-fished]

You're most welcome

[@matthewgilmore4307]

very excellent beard

[@thesci-fished]

hahaa, thanks mate, sadly, it's had a bit of a hair cut lately, but there's still a couple of videos where you can see it in all its glory :D

[@no-pie5807]

Unfortunately, the "traveling to another world" (obviously in a fantasy, not science fiction way) is one of the tropes that interest me the least. And gaining certain "lessons" from that travel for our world... Also, incorporating existing myths (like from, say, Shakespeare) into the different world, as a sort of explantion for their origin in our world. Or like it is a great surprise and discovery (a rather dull discovery, honestly). I just don't like it particularly much. To me, it feels a little antiquated, like Victorian whimsy.

[@walterroche8192]

Amusingly enough it was quite big in 60's-80's Fantasy & Science Fiction literature. Sadly several authors latched into the trope and made careers of it.

[@thesci-fished]

I can definitely appreciate your point of view, it is a little dated but I still enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

[@RichardPhillips1066]

Its been replaced by litrpg , new mainstream fantasy is nearly always about an Indigenous Protagonist