This is a relatively short novel. It essentially revolves around a single, epic plot twist--a very clever one--which, I believe, could have been arrived at in much quicker order. Such being the case, I think it would have worked better as a short story. It was an entertaining read, in any event. ( )

Fun romp as medieval English knights and their retainers hijack a UFO to take them to France and end up invading the aliens' home planet. ( )

*spoilers*

Anderson knows the medieval world and space-opera and blends them delightfully and astonishingly plausibly!

Armored knights have a dreadful great momentum: sure I believe they could topple a small spacecraft! Longbow fire is deadly! An English warlord might well find a complacent interstellar tyranny easier to fool, combat and overthrow than the sophisticated devious and subtle dukedoms of Italy, by rousing the disgruntled and discontented subject planetary populations. A medieval population once over the shock of first contact might be no slower than moderns to pick up advanced tech. Why shouldn't a fierce blue-snouted alien engineer prisoner of war learn Latin?

Meanwhile, chivalry, romance and betrayal within the ranks, and a love redeemed. And tho’ touch and go for a moment, Mankind’s stellar empire is found a millennium later when the rest of Humanity catches up! ( )

Turning Alien Invasion on Its Head

What happens when an advanced race of alien space marauders lands a scout ship on Earth in the year 1345 preparatory to launching an invasion? Not what you would expect in this thoroughly engaging and fast-paced space opera by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Poul Anderson.

Unfortunately for the Wersgorixs, they land in the small town of Ansby in Lincolnshire at the exact moment Sir Roger, Baron de Tourneville, has assembled a force to assist King Edward II in the Hundreds Years’ Wars. Accustomed to doing battle by air and with advanced war machines, the Wersgorixs have lost the skill of close-in hand to hand combat, a deficiency that enables Sir Roger and his warriors to overrun the ship.

With the spaceship in hand and a captured crew member to navigate, it’s Sir Roger’s intent to fly his force and townspeople and livestock over to France for battle and then on to the Holy Lands on a great crusade. But the captive Wersgorix has other ideas. He tricks Sir Roger, sets the ship on irreversible automatic pilot, and heads for the planet colony of Tharixan. Once there, Sir Roger and his band of resourceful Englishmen proceed to conquer the colony, and from there forge alliances, eventually defeating the Wersgor Empire and establish a space version of the Holy Roman Empire and new branch of the Catholic Church. Time passes, Earth achieves interstellar space capabilities, and once again Earth people are reunited in the future.

The novel opens with the captain of a spacecraft reading the translation of an ancient text as he and his crew prepare to land on a planet in this empire long after the time of Sir Roger. It is the very text that we readers read, written by Brother Parvus, a lowly monk assigned to Sir Roger. The text, commissioned at the request of Archbishop William (a twist awaiting readers), is Brother Parvus’ memories of the events years after their conclusion. Brother Parvus relates them in a tone that captures the flavor of medieval times, which includes numerous religious references that add a certain humor to the novel.

The themes here are never underestimate a people, especially one you consider primitive, for that can easily be your undoing, and that people yearn for freedom and are willing to rise up and free themselves of oppression under the right circumstances. All in all, The High Crusade is delightful reading for both sci-fi fans and general readers even sixty years after its first publication. In addition to this paper edition, you’ll find it included in the Library of America boxed set American Science Fiction: Eight Classic Novels of the 1960s, edited by Gary K. Wolfe. ( )

Turning Alien Invasion on Its Head

What happens when an advanced race of alien space marauders lands a scout ship on Earth in the year 1345 preparatory to launching an invasion? Not what you would expect in this thoroughly engaging and fast-paced space opera by Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Poul Anderson.

Unfortunately for the Wersgorixs, they land in the small town of Ansby in Lincolnshire at the exact moment Sir Roger, Baron de Tourneville, has assembled a force to assist King Edward II in the Hundreds Years’ Wars. Accustomed to doing battle by air and with advanced war machines, the Wersgorixs have lost the skill of close-in hand to hand combat, a deficiency that enables Sir Roger and his warriors to overrun the ship.

With the spaceship in hand and a captured crew member to navigate, it’s Sir Roger’s intent to fly his force and townspeople and livestock over to France for battle and then on to the Holy Lands on a great crusade. But the captive Wersgorix has other ideas. He tricks Sir Roger, sets the ship on irreversible automatic pilot, and heads for the planet colony of Tharixan. Once there, Sir Roger and his band of resourceful Englishmen proceed to conquer the colony, and from there forge alliances, eventually defeating the Wersgor Empire and establish a space version of the Holy Roman Empire and new branch of the Catholic Church. Time passes, Earth achieves interstellar space capabilities, and once again Earth people are reunited in the future.

The novel opens with the captain of a spacecraft reading the translation of an ancient text as he and his crew prepare to land on a planet in this empire long after the time of Sir Roger. It is the very text that we readers read, written by Brother Parvus, a lowly monk assigned to Sir Roger. The text, commissioned at the request of Archbishop William (a twist awaiting readers), is Brother Parvus’ memories of the events years after their conclusion. Brother Parvus relates them in a tone that captures the flavor of medieval times, which includes numerous religious references that add a certain humor to the novel.

The themes here are never underestimate a people, especially one you consider primitive, for that can easily be your undoing, and that people yearn for freedom and are willing to rise up and free themselves of oppression under the right circumstances. All in all, The High Crusade is delightful reading for both sci-fi fans and general readers even sixty years after its first publication. In addition to this paper edition, you’ll find it included in the Library of America boxed set American Science Fiction: Eight Classic Novels of the 1960s, edited by Gary K. Wolfe. ( )