Imric

Unfortunately quite a let down as a successor to The Broken Sword. What The Broken Sword had in realism and grit, Three Hearts and Three Lions trades in for traditional fantasy and happy endings. While those things don't make a book automatically mediocre, when a vast amount of the novel revolves around various mini-adventures of all the ladies swooning at the main character and saving the day it does start to grind on you. Where the novel really shines is when Anderson channels his knowledge as a physics major and compares and contrasts how a modern man might make sense of a fantasy world. From explaining how one might breathe underwater to the parallels of Nazism and the forces of chaos, there's a lot to see and interpret from a modern lens. Not to mention the audiobook has Bronson Pinochot reading Holger's, Hugi's, and all other non-standard English speakers with an insane accent that can at times be difficult to understand. 

Ultimately, this book is a great read as young adult title and I would've mostly likely loved it as a teenager. Unfortunately, as of today the book doesn't do enough to stand out on its own in any meaningful way. The ending was touching however, and the original 1960s hardcover release looks great as well!

 Probably one of the greatest fantasy novels ever written, Poul Anderson's take on fantasy comes from a time when The Fellowship of the Ring was only just hitting the shelves. Coming from a completely different tree of fantasy than what we know today, Anderson's world comes from a land where all myths and legends are true and the secret world they reside is under threat from the White Christ. From that comes the elf king and his designs to further his own ends by taking a human child and raising them as his own. 

As the story weaves from there, a tragedy, an epic, and a romance all bloom in 300 pages of the book and hook you from the get go. The greatest tragedy of all is the fact that Anderson never followed up this story with the sequel it deserved.

Interesting enough and the scene it sets does grip you in what it tells. However books of such overwhelming self-hate and depression are just kind of meaningless to me at this point in my life. As an edgy teenager I might've identified with this book more, but I just can't bother to read about how awful someone's life is and how much they hate themselves throughout a book. Thankfully this was a novella so it was indeed short so it did not overstay its welcome. The family dynamic was interesting and I only hope for the best for Wolfgang.

Amend, amend, amend. At the end of this book, that's all that I could really think of. Amendment. Throughout the work, almost every other page elicited a "what the fuck..." due to some unforeseen consequence of a document written by white male slaveholders in the 1700s or an action taken by someone to (in their view) adhere to the Constitution. Amend, amend, amend. Jill Lepore mentions it repeatedly throughout the book, what the founding fathers intended as a release valve for the pressure that builds as democracy grows and ideals clash. Amendment. A check on the Constitution and the dead men who wrote it, who stated that no one should be held to a doctrine that they had no part of creating. Amend, amend, amend. The Constitution is a alive, and meant to be treated as such. Amendment. I hope every American can read this book and see what's wrong with our system of government today and what we as a people can do to mend it. Amend, amend, amend!

Tau Zero is an interesting case of a fascinating concept written at a strange time. Some science referenced in the book is no longer regarded as accurate and there are certain writing tropes utilized that were typical in pulpy scifi books of the day. The audiobook narrator was also, in my opinion, the worst I've ever heard and made listening an active, straining event. What's left however is a haunting tale that is sure to stick with you for years to come. Anderson really allows you to place yourself in the shoes of the crew of this ship as they hurtle through the universe approaching near light speed; as Anderson describes every new plight, every new realization just how far the crew has come, you start to wonder how you would handle each scenario as it unfolds. Could you handle living in a ship for years at a time heading towards destination unknown? Could you survive yours and other's despair as you realize that some can cope, and others degrade into shells of themselves? Could you bear approaching light speed, knowing as second tick by on ship, centuries pass by on Earth?

A truly endearing tale that, while mostly hampered by some archaic tropes (stoic badass gets all ladies, women are weak and need to be protected), weaves a story that leaves a lasting impression on what it takes to create a universe of man.