Poul Anderson

‘On Thud and Blunder’ — Thirty Years Later

by Bill Ward on September 26, 2011

in Black Gate,On Books,Writing

Recently I wrote an essay about the dangers of too much ‘realistic thinking’ in fantasy fiction — When Realism Isn’t Real — Conan the Jazzerciser. In that article I used an example from Poul Anderson’s Conan pastiche Conan the Rebel to illustrate my point. The following post, which originally appeared at Black Gate, is a [...]

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Examining Poul Anderson’s ‘On Thud and Blunder’

by Bill Ward on December 5, 2008

in Black Gate

Over at Black Gate this week I posted a short reflection on Poul Anderson’s 1978 essay ‘On Thud and Blunder,’ his call for more realism in adventure fantasy fiction. A lot has certainly changed in thirty years, but Anderson’s essay is well worth reading for a lot of reasons — not least of which is [...]

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The High Crusade (review)

by Bill Ward on September 28, 2008

in Book Reviews

At the moment, all was triumph. Red-splashed, panting, in scorched and dinted armor, Sir Roger de Tourneville rode a weary horse back to the main fortress. After him came the lancers, archers, yeomen — ragged, battered, shoulders slumped with exhaustion. But the Te Deum was on their lips, rising beneath the strange constellations that twinkled [...]

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Thieves’ World (review)

by Bill Ward on June 15, 2008

in Book Reviews

There are philosophers who argue that there is no such thing as evil qua evil; that, discounting spells (which of course relieve an individual of responsibility), when a man commits an evil deed he is a victim himself, the slave of his progeniture and nurturing. Such philosophers might profit by studying Sanctuary. – from Joe [...]

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