A review by lindentea
The High Crusade by Poul Anderson

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

The fuck lol. The crazy wild ride that the premise implies, but with all the emphasis put in the wrong places. Like why is there so much about sieges?? Bring back my king Brother Parvus trying to figure out if these aliens have souls or not!!!! And btw as you can tell I thought Brother Parvus as the narrator kinda ate but soooo many of the people around him were boring af, and more a satire of 20th century medievalism than actual medieval figures right down to Feudalism being the solution to any and every problem, which is weird because like Parvus WAS a lot more, like, normal for what he would be as a Franciscan monk. If i had to choose an alternate medieval cast to initiate first contact w aliens it would probably be the monastery from The Name of the Rose but also i think they could get eviscerated. Idk. Anyway I really think this is trying to say Something about Colonialism or the Space Race or Both but I genuinely cannot figure out what. It was entertaining I'll give you that!! But i was also like "tess... why are we reading this"