Customer Reviews

The Broken Sword (Adult Fantasy)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not the best of the saga-like fantasies, this one's nevertheless quite unique in its odd melding of fantasy and the scientific justification presented to make the tale seem real. The elves, a cold and clever race, not truly malevolent but quite indifferent to men, are a race apart (along with their enemies the trolls and the goblins & other faerie folk). They are unable to withstand sunlight or the touch of iron and are yet rich in alternative, albeit medieval technologies. They use unheard of alloys of silver for their tools & weaponry and "frictionless" ships to ply the seas. Here is the story of a mortal taken into this world as a babe, replaced in his cradle by a changeling infant, half troll, half elf, but conjured into the image of the child he has replaced, and of how these two grow to manhood in their respective worlds -- the human to serve the needs of the elves by handling the iron they cannot touch themselves and the changeling to come to revile and betray the mortal family he was raised to believe were his kin. Both are betrayed by the worlds in which they are raised and lost for that -- the human for the inhuman heritage he has been raised with; the changeling for his longing for humanness and his hatred for those who have what he cannot attain. The plot is set in motion by the curse of a witch, herself the victim of the harshly brutal behavior of the stolen babe's father, and pivots on the interplay of the magical beings of faerie and the gods who toy with them. All are players and yet pieces, too, on a great chessboard which none knows the extent of -- and the stakes are the very existence of the magical beings and the gods themselves. Into this world the human hero, Scafloc, is thrust, a preening and overconfident hero among the elves who finds his fate and his end through a forbidden love and, in so doing, brings into the world the greatest evil, even as he strives to save those who have raised him. Not a happy tale by any stretch yet headlong and well-told as far as it goes. It is rich in the lore and feel of Norse saga literature and well worth reading, though the end's a bit predictable and does not move us quite as it should. Better than average among fantasies, unique but not quite among the greats.

By the way, there are a whole slew of good books out there for those into vikings and historical adventure these days, including a brand new one by Jeff Janoda called SAGA: A NOVEL OF MEDIEVAL ICELAND which details the events surrounding one of the most intriguing episodes in Eyrbyggja Saga (among the most renowned of the original Norse sagas). It tells the story of a great feud between two chieftains over a little piece of forested land in an Iceland in which wood was as precious as gold and elves and spirits haunted the minds of men.

Other good ones include Cecelia Holland's very modern and psychological TWO RAVENS, a glimpse into the hot-house environment of an Icelandic farm, and Jane Smiley's THE GREENLANDERS which tells of the final days of the the Norse settlement in Greenland as the cold and Eskimos closed in around the settlers. And if you still have any patience and want more, perhaps you'd want to try my own small effort, THE KING OF VINLAND'S SAGA, which I wrote to be the saga I'd always wished had been written and preserved (but, apparently, never was) about the Norse excursions to the New World which was to become our own North America.

SWM

Eric Brighteyes: The Works of H. Rider Haggard

Styrbiorn the Strong

The King of Vinland's Saga

Saga: A Novel Of Medieval Iceland

Poul Anderson really was one of the greatest authors of speculative fiction. Many great authors can write swashbuckling heroic fantasy, or hard science fiction, but not many can write both with equal facility. Anderson was one of the few who could, possessing a degree in physics and a great depth of knowledge of Nordic mythology and ancient languages. "The Broken Sword" is one of his pure fantasy stories (and also one of his earlier novels), and draws heavily from northern and western European myth and legend. Anderson takes an interesting approach, postulating that the mythical creatures and deities of all cultures really existed, and sometimes interacted with each other. Thus, in this story, you see elves, trolls, dwarves, and other creatures from Nordic mythology, including some of the Norse gods, the Sidhe from Irish mythology, and even a lonely satyr from Graeco/Roman mythology -- a survivor of the supernatural creatures that followed Roman colonists into Britain centuries earlier. Even Christianity is present, acknowledged as a new and growing faith that is slowly, but inexorably driving out the others (the book is set in the era when Danish Viking armies were settling large parts of northern England during Anglo-Saxon times).

What's fantastic about the book is how well Anderson evokes the myths of that era. All the essential elements of Nordic epic myths are present: the human hero, of special origin, almost superhumanly mighty a warrior, and like virtually all such heroes, fated to meet a tragic and early end; elves, dwarves, giants, trolls and gods, often at war with each other, or at best, an uneasy and fragile peace; powerful curses which work slowly and subtly, but inexorably to bring about their ends; characters motivated by hatred and revenge, whose grievances are not wholly unjustified; even Odin, travelling secretly (and sometimes appearing openly) in the world of men, and manipulating people and events, just as he did in the Norse myths. It's all here, especially the grim and tragic mood that pervades Norse mythology, for the epic tales of Nordic mythology were nearly always tragic. It's amazing how well Anderson captures the spirit of the epic material from which he drew his inspiration. This is one of his most unique and interesting stories.

Poul Anderson here tells a wonderful tale, full of magic, adventure and peril. It blazes forth at a blistering pace, yet still manages to include sufficient characterization. For me, however, the most beautiful aspect of this book is the language. Yes, the tone is dark, and there are many battles with graphic descriptions, yet I am surprised that more people haven't mentioned the majestic, epic quality to the prose: at once high and lofty, it is yet restrained and noble, often with the feeling of poetry one finds in the Old English sagas. This description, for example:

"He went over hills, the reborn year around him. It had rained in the morning and the ground was muddy, pools and rivulets glittering in the sunbeams. The grass grew strongly, a cool light green to the edge of sight; and the trees were budding forth, a frail tint of new life across their boughs, the vanguard of summer."

Essentially, I feel that Anderson has channeled all of the best qualities of the tone and feel of Tolkien's prose, yet his story is entirely his own. This reads as if an ancient bard is relating a classic tale from long ago, in a time when magic was still real. And it features lots of Vikings, gods, trolls and elves, while at times the din of Odin's hounds and chariot can be heard as he leads the hunt through the cold skies. If you like this kind of subject matter, and a somewhat archaic tone to the prose does not bother you, you can hardly fail to enjoy this.

Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword," which was originally published in the 1950's, is a gritty novel that reads like an actual nordic saga or medieval myth. It is one part Beowulf and one part Tristan & Iseult and packs a lot of action, adventure, love and tragedy into a very tight 200 pages. I was very impressed by how human and flawed Anderson's heros and villians are in this novel. Most of them definately jumped off the page for me. This is a great novel and it is a shame at how obscure it has become. If you are a big fan of Fantasy Fiction and/or nordic mythology, then I would definately give this novel a look if you can find it.

Fast paced, imaginative and well plotted. A fantasy that evokes Norse mthology. Reads like a 'short story' with characterisation perhaps sacrificed for thunderous pace. Yet the magical nature of the story is so breathtaking that the author gets away with it. A gritty, often brutal saga which contrasts greatly with the ponderous epic Lord of the Rings. The Broken Sword is a 'mini' classic which I really enjoyed. There are two versions of this story - the author apparently rewrote it to soften some of the edges. I have read the earlier version only and love it!

Not the best of the saga-like fantasies, this one's nevertheless quite unique in its odd melding of fantasy & the scientific justification presented to make the tale seem real. The elves, a cold and clever race, not truly malevolent but quite indifferent to men, are beings apart (along with their enemies the trolls and the goblins & other faerie folk). They are unable to withstand sunlight or the touch of iron but are yet rich in alternative, albeit medieval, technologies. They use unheard of alloys of silver for their tools and weaponry and "frictionless" ships to ply the seas.

Here is the story of a mortal taken into this world as a babe, replaced in his cradle by a changeling infant, half troll, half elf, but conjured into the image of the child he has replaced, and of how these two grow to manhood in their respective worlds -- the human to serve the needs of the elves, by handling the iron they cannot touch themselves, and the changeling to come to revile and betray the mortal family he was raised to believe were his kin. Both are betrayed by the worlds in which they are raised and lost for that -- the human for the inhuman heritage he has been raised with; the changeling for his longing for a human soul and his hatred of those who have what he cannot.

The plot is set in motion by the curse of a witch, herself the victim of the harshly brutal behavior of the stolen babe's father, and pivots on the interplay of the magical beings of faerie and the gods who toy with them. All are players and yet pieces, too, on a great chessboard which none knows the extent of -- and the stakes are the very existence of the magical beings and the gods themselves.

Into this world the human, Scafloc, is thrust, a preening and overconfident hero among the elves who finds his fate and his end through a forbidden love and, in so doing, brings into the world the greatest evil, even as he strives to save those who have raised him. Not a happy tale by any stretch, yet headlong and well-told. It is rich in the lore and feel of Norse saga literature and well worth reading, though the end's a bit predictable and does not move us quite as it should. Better than average among fantasies, unique but not quite among the greats.

SWM

author of The King of Vinland's Saga

I strongly recommend this audiobook for two reasons:

1. Bronson Pinchot's reading is outstanding. His voice is pleasant, his rhythm always on the mark, and his acting is simply lovely. He gives good interpretations of Scafloc, Valgard, Leea, and many other classic characters from Poul Anderson's classic. He captures Anderson's rhythm that evokes the old Nordic sagas, as well as the somber and violent mood. I could simply not stop listening to it.

2. Bronson reads the 1954 original version, rather than Anderson's 1971 revision. I think this is important, because Anderson, while not altering the story, changed the language quite a bit and eliminated the introduction. Much of the languages is simplified in the 1971 version, and I like the original version much more. It is also great to have the full experience of Anderson's 1954 classic, so as to compare it to another fantasy classic from 1954, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings."

A great introduction to Poul Anderson's fantasy writings, and it was indeed Anderson's first fantasy novel. A milestone that is being rediscovered by many.

This novel...

dear lovers of fantasy,

... of a human child exchanged at birth and taken and raised by the elves, is a solid bit of writing and a masterful story. We won't go into the details of the tale, since that can be read in the product description, but only wish to say that this is a yarn worth unraveling for those who love sword and sorcery type tales, as well as those of us who love nearly anything about elves and Faerie. This is not modern urban fantasy, ala Charles DeLint or Holly Black, but an adventure set in the days when the Norse gods still walked the earth and elves ruled a part of it. Enjoy!

kyela,

the silver elves

Anderson deserves his reputation as a master in the fantasy genre. His knowledge of Norse myth is impressive, as are his talents as a writer. A rollicking good tale, written in the epic style.

It's been a long time since I read fantasy but I found this at a library book sale and was intrigued. This book is not exactly like Lord of the Rings as the author suggests, it is darker and more foreboding. I am outraged that this fine book by Poul Anderson was allowed to go out of print. By the way, if anybody knows of a sequel to this book, please contact me at the address below.