The High Crusade

The High Crusade by Poul Anderson, tells the unlikely but still somehow plausible tale of an alien invasion of earth in the 1300s. The aliens made a cosmic blunder by messing with an English baron and his fiefdom. What ensues is a story that must be read to be believed and it is hard to put down. While reading this I could not help but recall scenes from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, especially the scenes with Michael Palin as the lord of the castle in the swamps, saying, “Please! This is s [...]

Your regular garden-variety Englishman in 1345 had a few things to worry about: the Hundred Year War, the general conditions of life in the not-so-pleasant Middle Ages, and - if they had a working crystal ball - the merciless arrival of the Black Death in three short years.None of these worries normally included traipsing through the galaxy on a captured spaceship ("Lo! It was as a miracle!"), fighting the aliens' advanced technologies with lances and trebuchets, and reshaping the galaxy in acco [...]

The aliens landed in Medieval times and were ready for an easy conquest of a backward worldtill the knights rushed the ship and got inside and the aliens were defeated.d the ship lifted off in auto-pilot.The plot sounds a bit hokey but it made such a good story. I think it could have made an ever better one, but my imagination took the original and ran with it. Fun, enjoyable, imaginative, original (nothing like it then and only variations since). As I said I like it. If it were written today it [...]

The idea that earth can resist an alien invasion is fairly ludicrous given that the aliens would have to travel light years across the universe to get here, so their level of technology and weaponry must be vastly superior to ours. Poul Anderson, a scifi legend, was well aware of this, and he carefully created an amusing scenario where such a thing is at least plausible. Anderson was a versatile author, books like Tau Zero and Brain Wave and The High Crusade are all very different (not to mentio [...]

I love Poul Anderson. It amazes me that he can write such masterful and complex works as The Broken Sword and something as silly and fun as The High Crusade, and make both equally enjoyable to me. The basic premise of this book is medieval Englishmen from around the time of the crusades, in space, brazening it out and taking over the universe. It is all dealt with very lightly, but there's still moments that are touching and emotionally compelling too -- Lady Catherine's words at the end of the [...]

A thought-provoking “celebration” of the Englishman laced with tongue-in-cheek glamour and sprinkled with a deftly handled satire on contemporary superpowers and societies.The book is short and there's a great deal of action and witty humor, it gets a bit more philosophical towards the end but I finished it in one sitting with ease.An intergalactic mega empire scouts for new planets to dominate and one of his spaceships lands in 1345 Lincolnshire, England, where even “the lowliest serf loo [...]

Re-read with my sisters January 18, 2017. SO GOOD, PEOPLE <3 <3 <3(For more on why you really ought to read this joyous book, see my full review!)--Read August 27, 2016IS BOOKOH MYKNIGHTS VS ALIENSALL THE LOVEALL THE LAUGHSALL THE HEARTSTRINGSFULL REVIEW MOST CERTAINLY TO COME

During the long summers without playmates at grandmother's cottage in southwest Michigan, I drew and read a lot when it was too lousy outside to spend a day with my dog, Jimmy. The beach, though nearby, had lost its charm after the first days of summer. There was none of the aesthetic concern for having a good tan which became a motivation in adolescence. If I joined the folks down there at all, I'd mostly read, only stepping in the water to cool off on the hotest days. Sometimes, however, I'd r [...]

The late Poul Anderson was one of the giants of the SF genre (actually, he wrote in all of the speculative genres) in the later 20th century, and this work is certainly a classic. (It's also the only Anderson novel that I've read, though I've enjoyed several of his short stories as well.)With one of the most original premises (accurately set forth in the description above) that I've ever encountered, Anderson uses a mildly humorous tone in much of this book, but it has its serious side, too. If [...]

I read this book as a kid and liked it a lot, because there were lots of battle scenes and the medieval knights really conquer the aliens. At the time I didn't understand why this story wasn't a huge success like STAR WARS or LORD OF THE RINGS. Now I think I see what's missing.1.) No Underdog to root for. The English as a group are underdogs, but the main character, Sir Roger deTourneville, is too much of a super duper football hero. (Someone else called him a stereotypical jock.) He's not a cha [...]

The premise of this book made it an instabuy for me; a bunch of rough Hundred Years War era English dudes preparing to cross the channel and fuck up the French when this alien lands and starts being a total dick. The soldiers do the predictably human thing and slaughter the hell out of him and his buddies. Then they take over the ship and are forced into flying to the aliens' homeworld by a sneaky use of autopilot by the alien captive. I don't even remember what the hell these aliens were called [...]

This novel is a wonderful romp. In 1345, Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville repels blue-skinned aliens who land their ship in his pasture. He boards his forces and the entire village of Ansby on the ship and demands a captured alien take them to France to join the English king. Instead the alien takes them to his planet where he's sure the Earthmen will be easily disposed of. Except Well, you'll have to read. The novel is great fun--a short, fast-paced read told as the first person account of Brothe [...]

How was this so much fun? Usually I don't even care for science fiction!In the year 1345, a band of aliens land a scout ship outside an English village, in a preliminary to conquering the planet. They aren't used to dealing with metal-wrapped madmen who are bold enough to shoot anything full of arrows and who consider themselves free men. They aren't used to dealing with people who don't know how to give up. It's lovely.Funny, exciting, human, a little touching, endlessly interesting and constan [...]

Wonderful blend of sci-fi and mediaeval history. Completely plausible response of real Knights to alien invasion. A really fun read.

The trickster-hero character is a type whose roots go all the way back to the Ancient Greek comedies. The conceit is that a man of inferior status with a glib tongue and a ready boast could talk the gods themselves into giving up their own kingdom. This may be Poul Anderson's favorite character type, and here he appears as a Medieval lord called Sir Roger who, one day, finds himself having to defend his 14th century village from an alien invasion. The book follows Roger's exploits and successes [...]

Okay he wrote this one for fun. It has a Monty Pythonish meets Black Adderishly flavored absurd plot; A scout-ship/UFO from Wersgorix, crash-lands in the fields of the bumbling Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville who is trying to raise an Army to head off to the Crusades to "kill Saracens and bring back a fortune in gold and silver." Mostly to bring back the fortune Tourneville is almost a stereotypical jock, more concerned with the sport of killing Saracens than in wooing his beloved. But there is o [...]

The High Crusade is a riotous adventure story.A spaceship arrives in a medieval kingdom. Instead of being paralyzed with surpris, the English Knights charge into the fray and take the battle to the aliens. From here, the story escalates to one of increasingly lucky conquest. Far more Pulp SF than Hard SF, I imagine a serialized audience becoming more incredulous with each weeks installment.The characters are mostly static, encountering a small difficulty then resolving it fairly soon. The narrat [...]

Aliens take an entire medevil village into space so they can study humankind.The local knight isn't thrilled with this arrangement and decides that he's going to find a way to take his people home no matter what. and Poul Anderson does it all in about 150 pages. Great story.

So what happens when you take a bunch of medieval knights and men-at-arms into space? They begin to conquer like any good nobleman would. Great SiFi book by one of the masters, very recommended

Yay book group! One of the reasons I joined "my" sci-fi/fantasy book group is that I really wanted to connect with other readers of the fantastic. How fortunate to have found the group of people I did. I came across The High Crusade via a book group friend; what a surprise to find it in my hands. It's a slim little thing, a pretty quick read, and very much fun. Overall? I enjoyed this a lot. The idea is pretty fun: aggressive aliens come to medieval England and find a lot more than they expected [...]

This book sounds ridiculous, and a little awful, but I must convey to you how much fun I found this book to be. The High Crusade is the chronicle of a Roger de Tourneville, as recorded by Brother Parvus and the events that took place after a spaceship landed near the town of Ansby, where Sir Roger was preparing to depart on a crusade. The aliens disembark their spaceship wielding a phase guns, but are quickly overtaken by an English heavy cavalry charge. Sir Roger intends to take the spaceship w [...]

What a blast! Aliens try to invade 14th c England and get more than they bargained for. The knights and serfs who steal their spaceship may also have bitten off a bit more than they can chew. But then again, maybe all that the oppressed intergalactic space-dwellers need is a bit of chivalry. My husband and I had so much fun reading this over a couple of evenings. Hilarious, exciting, and inspiring.

The velocity of the plot is remarkable. Within ten pages the invading aliens had been pummeled and the English were on their way to the stars, and from there on their way to conquest. Its later half reaches too far and too fast as Anderson hurries toward the endgame of a space empire modeled on European empire.

This was one of the most entertaining of Poul Anderson's novels I have read thus far. The idea of a bunch of Medieval English soldiers capturing an extraterrestrial spaceship, which they originally took to be some weapon of war by the French with whom they were currently at war with. From there the plot is allowed to get as wild as Anderson can imagine it.A wonderful book.

A wonderful space opera with a nice twist (especially for being written in 1960). What if aliens tried to conquer medieval England and the baron was too ignorant to not attack. And then he takes his crusade to another planet and finally to seize control of a galactic empire. The old English style gives the book lots of flavor. Lots of action but the ending was a little hard to get through.

Somewhat less fine than The Broken Sword or Three Hearts and Three Lions, but it was fun. A bit more humorous than the others, which may be why I didn't rate it as high.

A very ingenious and cheerful story. What would happen if, say, the medieval crusaders would get a chance to travel to outer space and face much more advanced civilizations? The answer that Poul Anderson gives us is totally not what I’ve expected. Maybe with a bit of luck, reckless bravery and bluff the medieval knights could conquer the Universe? And if you look past the silly and witty way the story is told it may raise some rather unnerving questions – when a civilization is advancing tec [...]

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The year is 1345, and Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville has gathered his troops ready to join King Edward III in his battle against France. The knight's day is interrupted by a two-thousand foot long flying machine, containing an advance force of Wersgorix. These are aliens from a distant world who are on a voyage of conquest; their view of Earth is as a backward and primitive place. Unfortunately for them, Sir Roger and company are combat hardened, and not only do not like being shot at but they r [...]

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