The world is riven by the eternal struggle between Law, represented by man and the Church (specifically, the Catholic Church), and Chaos, represented by sorcerers, faerie folk, pagans, and the power of magic. It is, briefly, an alternate Medieval Europe, one brighter and more vibrant than our own world, where witches and ogres are as common as churches and knights. The world into which Holger is hurled is skillfully conceived and described. (In case my readers feel compelled to complain about cliches, I will return again to my opening point: recall that this novel was written some years before Fushigi Yugi or the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon.) Three Hearts and Three Lions is the story of Holger Carlsen, a Danish engineer during World War Two who is catapulted into an alternate universe of magic and myth where he holds the key to saving the world. Not only is Three Hearts and Three Lions a fascinating study in early fantasy, it is also an excellent adventure tale that is even today fresh, interesting, and fun.

The publication date alone makes it worth reading: 1953 is before The Lord of the Rings and many other stories that have come to define contemporary fantasy. Three Hearts and Three Lions is a fantasy novel by Poul Anderson, published in 1953. These reviews are made possible by a grant from the I Just Graduated and Have Nothing to Do but Read Fantasy Novels Foundation and by readers like you. The reviews will eventually include works by Lord Dunsany, China Mieville, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, Stephen R. This is the first in a series of reviews of fantasy novels.

Three lions and three hearts