Three Hearts and Three Lions - Poul Anderson

Of a man and his magical foray for the truth...

This book is a member of the brilliant Gollanz Fantasy masterworks series, of which the cover opposite shows. I’ve linked it so feel free to peruse the site, I’ve read most, and this title is an entry which I felt lacked a certain sense of the epic, at only 156 pages, it never really held me enthralled, which isn’t to say it was a bad book, but it didn’t have the epic feel of the authors previous masterwork entry, the Broken Sword.

The premise will be a familiar one to most escapists, the notion of being shunted from this world into an alternative land of faery (or Pharisee) and magic. Holger Dansk is a Dane living and working in America, with the onset of the Second World War he eventually decided to return to Europe in order to partake in the fighting. Whilst in action he leaves the battlefield and is transported to a Europe much different to what he’s used to.

I’m a great admirer of the Broken Sword, which had a grand questing feel to the whole proceedings, yet I didn’t quite get this feeling when reading Three Hearts and Three Lions. From his entry into his new surround, Holger as is to be expected, a little confused. Yet seeing before him armour, weapons and a horse, he dons the former and trots away on the latter. And the book follows this course.

He encounters various standard beasts, which are defeated or beguiled. The riddle game with the Giant being a highlight, plus a nefarious troll all work well. Elves and creatues of faery abound, a shapeshifter becomes a travelling companion, plus the token dwarf. And yet for all these varying characters, it’s all so plodding and in step, it’s not especially exciting, his use of language though disjointed at times with the narration, still works well, however it is just a simple quest to find out why Holger has been taken, yet this basic notion didn't really strike a chord.

It is a good book, as you would epect from a 'Masterwork' edition. Yet it lacked development in places, though in its favour, it does have a host of well drawn out cliches in the quest of Holger to find why he is in the situation he is. Its certainly worth of a read, at a mere 156 pages (In my edition anyway) it hardly strips you of precious reading time.

It does stand as an example of when back in the sixties, this sort of book stood for a fine epic fantasy book. It certainly has all the recognisable ingredients, yet for me it failed to have any lasting appeal.

The Broken Sword stands as a book of much wider and lasting quality, though this book perhaps stands as an ideal starting point into the imagination of Poul Anderson, a quick and snappy adventure without any real flexing of your literary mind.

Three Hearts and Three Lions - 6 / 10