[Book/Fiction]: Three Hearts and Three Lions, reviewed by Kyle Marquis (4/4)

[RPGnet Reviews]

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9434.phtml

Kyle Marquis's Summary:

A fun fantasy adventure novel from the early days of the genre, with a compelling story and a rich, well-crafted world.

Go to the full review (http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9434.phtml) for more information.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by KC at 2003-06-18 11:10:56
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I haven't read this particular book but I like Poul Anderson and am always looking for advice on which older books are worth reading (every "modern" author has ravening fans who don't seem to mind 800 page/book series). Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

But also thank you for undertaking to bring more novel reviews to RPG.net. I think most RPGs are enhanced when GMs take good ideas from good novels and incorporate them into their games. And I don't necessarily mean steal them lock, stock and barrel. But borrow and fashion them for their own uses. Most of the stuff that gets reviewed here (and I am among the guiltiest) are RPG-related fiction. Most of those are so-so unless you are a fan of the game/setting. So it's nice to see reviews of other books and I am going to try to do more of that myself.

The review here was great and I am looking forward to future installments, especially the Leiber books. I will make sure to try to foster some discussion about them when you post them.

Btw, I used to have a grant from the same foundation. Great people! I was terribly sad when my grant ran out.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Afreed at 2003-06-18 11:34:50
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One small comment / correction. The review suggests that Three Hearts is one of the originators of the concept of 'real world' characters crossing over to a fantasy world. This isn't really the case; the Narnia books, The Worm Ouroboros, and many others had used this traditional device already. If anything, I have the impression that pre-Tolkien, crossover fantasies were far more common than fantasies taking place entirely in an alternate world.

Nonetheless, a good review of the book which gave us the D&D paladin!

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Stephen Henderson-Grady at 2003-06-18 12:36:08
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And D&D trolls!

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Wombat at 2003-06-18 12:54:16
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Wow, hadn't thought of this book in years! It was a great, fun read back in the day; I re-read Poul's "Armies of Elfland" recently and did enjoy it.

Poul Anderson was a charming, polite man who wrote some whopping great fiction.

Nice to see a review of his works -- hopefully this will encourage interest in other older writers. :)

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by The Old Geezer at 2003-06-18 14:24:16
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is that it is NOT a
"Modern Man Conquers the Ancient World" book.

And you're right about the Paladin and the Troll -- for, by God, I was there, and first read this book in a copy Gary loaned me!

The Old Geezer

(Argent, three Guinnesses rampant proper)

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Jeremy Harper at 2003-06-18 23:32:14
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I just acquired a hard back copy of Three Hearts, Three Lions, off of eBay a few days ago, and will hopefully start reading it soon.

There's been some recent talk about Poul Anderson on the Robert E. Howard mailing list. While most of the regulars aren't too fond of Anderson's attempt at a Conan novel, most of them said that he was pretty damn good at fantasy when he wrote it. He actually produced a run of ten to twenty fantasy/swords and sorcery stories for various sf/fantasy magazines back in the fifties that many of the Howard listees praised highly. Unfortunately, they are all uncollected. I believe Anderson felt somewhat embarrassed by those stories, and didn't want them reprinted, and I believe his widow feels the same way. A shame - I wouldn't mind getting a chance to see 'em for myself.

Take care,

Jeremy Harper

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by CBeilby at 2003-06-19 05:47:55
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Not to mention that Gary used the universe from the book as a pocket dimension in Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Dan Davenport at 2003-06-19 10:20:01
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Afreed wrote:
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<b>One small comment / correction. The review suggests that Three Hearts is one of the originators of the concept of 'real world' characters crossing over to a fantasy world. This isn't really the case; the Narnia books, The Worm Ouroboros, and many others had used this traditional device already. If anything, I have the impression that pre-Tolkien, crossover fantasies were far more common than fantasies taking place entirely in an alternate world.</b>
-------------------------------

I agree.

But if you don't believe me, go ask Alice. I think she'll know. ;)

(And great review!)

--
Dan Davenport

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Mike M. at 2003-06-19 11:27:40
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Speaking of reviving interest in old authors:

The Fafhrd & Grey Mouser / Lankhmar novels by Fritz Leiber (one of the authors that was mentioned at the top of this review) are being re-released by a company called ibooks. I found the first two, Swords and Deviltry, and Swords Against Death, at my local Borders Books recently. According to what's printed in the intro of Swords Against Death, the third book, Swords in the Mist, will be coming out in August.

I probably hadn't read these in close to 20 years (since taking them out of the library after seeing the Nehwon Mythos in the old AD&D Deities and Demigods book), and am delightfully rediscovering Mr. Leiber's world.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by KC at 2003-06-19 12:28:59
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Fritz Leiber is awesome and it took me until 2001 to discover that. I picked up the two paperbacks released by White Wolf called Lankhmar and Thieves' House, which contain a bunch of the early stories (as I understood it). I wondered why they hadn't released more even though they had originally planned on six volumes, so I wrote White Wolf a note. The reply I got was, to paraphrase, "As insane as this sounds, there wasn't enough interest in the Leiber series to justify us continuing it."

Insane indeed! Glad to hear they are in print again in affordable editions. I keep telling everyone that the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser stories read like D&D adventures (or any other sword and sorcery RPG).

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Owen E. Oulton at 2003-06-19 13:43:50
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A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, anyone?

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Kyle Marquis at 2003-06-19 18:36:17
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Not enough interest? How horrible. I picked up the first White Wolf Lankhmar book, and found it plenty fun--fun enough to review after Lyonesse, anyway. I'm glad to see that someone is re-printing them, since I'd like more.

Also, Fantasy Masterworks is apparently churning out dozens of classic fantasy novels--not Leiber, but equally good stuff. Unfortunately, every time I try to buy their books I'm directed to Amazon.uk where I have to give a Postal Kingdom or a Watercress Location or some other silly British nonsense. I want my Fantasy Masterworks, you monarchial dogs!

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by T at 2003-06-20 03:29:09
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Great review! This is a fantastic novel.

The Leiber novels are also in the fantasy Masterworks series. Here in the UK you can find them for a few quid in remainder bookstores - oh to be in England, now that summer's here! FYI, I reviewed Poul ANderson's The Broken Sword here: http://www.zone-sf.com/brokensword.html.

RA

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Radical Authority at 2003-06-20 03:29:26
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Great review! This is a fantastic novel.

The Leiber novels are also in the fantasy Masterworks series. Here in the UK you can find them for a few quid in remainder bookstores - oh to be in England, now that summer's here! FYI, I reviewed Poul ANderson's The Broken Sword here: http://www.zone-sf.com/brokensword.html.

RA

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Radical Stupid Authority at 2003-06-20 03:31:11
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Sorry for the double post.

RA

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by KC at 2003-06-20 04:50:31
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If you have an Amazon.com account, you should just be able to log in at amazon.co.uk and order the Masterworks to your address. Of course, they will charge a small fortune for shipping -- but that's just a good reason to order 2 or 3 at a time. :-) I have their awesome Conan collections which I highly recommend.

[RPGnet Reviews]

Post originally by Jay Verkuilen at 2003-06-25 12:04:49
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Owen E. Oulton wrote:
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>>A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, anyone?<<

And the Wizard of Oz was a major motion picture in 1939.... :)

Nevertheless, 3H3L *is* a very worthwhile book to read.

Jay