Rating: 
Summary: Depressing and overtold.
Review: This book is a depressing tale of a Scandanavian hero. It is no wonder the Scandanavians have the highest suicide rates in the industrialized world. This story goes from one battle to another without breath and there is no epic feeling to it. It seems the Danish King cannot help but offend gods, giants, elves and other mythic creatures at every turn. There are many more enjoyable Viking/Norse tales to be told. Poul Anderson is a mighty writer, and this may be gleaned from many years of painstaking research, but it is a story that did not need to be told.
Rating: 
Summary: A dark novel
Review: This novel is a fictional account of the legendary Danish King Hadding and others, based on information from ancient sagas, themselves a combination of fact and fiction. It is difficult to set an exact time period for the story. Names like Frode were common in the Fourth century.In trying to make the tale sound like sagas, the author has used a writing style that is somewhat archaic and filled with words and terms not familiar to the average reader, particularly in the first part of the book. Also, Chapter 1 should have been a prologue. Periodically in the tale, people pause to give long poetic speeches. The latter part of the story steps back in time to set the scene with Hadding's daughter, and the timeline becomes somewhat tangled. Giants and gods drift in and out of the story at various points. The novel could have been aided by both a map (for readers unfamiliar with the area) and a glossary defining various words and terms.
Rating:
Summary: A dark novel
Review: This novel is a fictional account of the legendary Danish King Hadding and others, based on information from ancient sagas, themselves a combination of fact and fiction. It is difficult to set an exact time period for the story. Names like Frode were common in the Fourth century. In trying to make the tale sound like sagas, the author has used a writing style that is somewhat archaic and filled with words and terms not familiar to the average reader, particularly in the first part of the book. Also, Chapter 1 should have been a prologue. Periodically in the tale, people pause to give long poetic speeches. The latter part of the story steps back in time to set the scene with Hadding's daughter, and the timeline becomes somewhat tangled. Giants and gods drift in and out of the story at various points. The novel could have been aided by both a map (for readers unfamiliar with the area) and a glossary defining various words and terms.
Rating: 
Summary: Action Packed Sleeper
Review: While I admit there is a certain detachment in the characterization (similar to the Norse writings style it is based upon) the narrative is epic in scope. Elements of murderous intrique, sweeping action and historic realism, even with the magic, gods and trolls taking part in the story. This is not a cute fairy tale, even Tolkien could be considered white-washed next to WotG.
I have not read all of Poul's SF, I think his books, like any other writer's books, are not all masterpieces. The Broken Sword is my favorite-I have read it 3 times, The War of the Gods is second, I intend to re-read it. I liked the narrative, the legendary quality, the battle scenes. I totally recommend this book to those who prefer grand saga reflecting a less than perfect world.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: While not on the level with Anderson's Hrolf Kraki's Saga, I still found this novel enjoyable. It successfully evokes the same mood as many of the Icelandic sagas...dark, melancholy, its meaning murky. There is not too much available these days in Viking fiction. If you are a fan of the genre, read it.
Rating:
Summary: Good but not great
Review: While not on the level with Anderson's Hrolf Kraki's Saga, I still found this novel enjoyable. It successfully evokes the same mood as many of the Icelandic sagas...dark, melancholy, its meaning murky. There is not too much available these days in Viking fiction. If you are a fan of the genre, read it.
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