Rating: 
Summary: Great Fun
Review: High Crusade is as a novel is great fun. More serious than Douglas Adams but still satirical and funny, this novel captures the feel of the concept: "What if the medieval English went to outer space?"From the opening chapter you know how this book will go, but it is the little things that make it a fun gem: "You need not fear the demons if you are God fearing men!" yelled Sir Roger. "But we are miserable sinners!" quailed a man in the back (note the above was a paraphrase as I do not have the book handy. The actual quote is likely much more vibrant. But this is memory, such a subjective thing) In any case, if you want to read a novel that follows your classic fantasy (fight the bad guy, conquer the kingdom), has a bit of a love story and many funny sequences, this is a highly recommended book. Just not a thinking novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Very funny... but what if?
Review: High Crusade is one of my favorite SF ever, since it is pure mind game. Despite its wicked humor, it asks a serious underlying question: Can high-tech warfare be defeated by clever tricks and basic weaponery? Poul Anderson used funny - but interesting - tactics to make his point: - sophisticated radars and satellites detecting vehicles and missiles launches can be fooled by wooden trebuchets lobbing tactical nukes; - highly trained firearms soldiers can be cut into ribbons by swordsmen at close quarters. It does not require a vast imagination to transpose the funny context of "High Crusade" in our serious world. When I looked at TV at the wounded US soldiers evacuated from Somalia, defeated by rag-tag local militiamen, I had a thought for this book. In Bosnia, the high-tech occidental armies were almost defenseless against snipers using relatively crude weapons. In Kosovo, the Serbian Army managed to fool the Allied coalition using wooden tanks and artillery, preserving most of their land forces intact despite weeks of bombing. Civilizations expect foes to behave - and fight - like themselves. This could prove dangerous. Thanks for the demonstration, Poul.
Rating:
Summary: Crusaders to the Stars
Review: I hope this book returns to print. I lost my copy in a house fire and have been looking for a replacement since. Told from the point of view of a medieval friar, crusaders mustering for the holy land are visited by an alien spaceship intent on resupply. What do you do when confronted by "demons"? Charge forth and bring the word of god to the heathen infidels. I love the "first contact" scenario when the astronauts from earth meet the aliens. Aliens who venerate the pope, want to know if Jerusalem has been freed, and still wear full armor for ceremonial occasions.
Rating:
Summary: COOL
Review: I just bought this book at a garage sale[ a hard cover in like new condition]. took it home and read it in one sitting. this book is easy to read and understand and also fun, it has aliens and crusaders from the 14'th century. was looking through "Amazon" to see if there was a sequel. if not maybe MR. Anderson can write us another one.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Fun
Review: The High Crusade is pure fun from start to finish. Being written by Poul Anderson (I'm a big fan)means he has studied his history so the background details are correct. I hope that doesn't sound dull; it's just the opposite. Nothing is duller or more jarring to a reader than to start thinking, "This doesn't sound right". The High Crusade is perfect! The story just sweeps you along with its adventure and underlying humor. The humor comes out of the basic situation. A highly advanced but unpleasant group of aliens land in Medieval England. Big mistake. The medieval knights simply clobber the aliens and steal their spaceship. From then on it's medieval knights conquer the universe! Of course there's a personal plot, a marriage that's in trouble and conquering the universe solves that! There's also a wonderful framing device as modern humans go into space and run into their medieval ancestors! Too bad Anderson never wrote a sequel! It's my only criticism. I'd love to see more of this.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Light Reading
Review: This book is good fun. It is not hard science fiction by any stretch of the imagination, but if you can suspend your disbelief for just a bit you will have a heck of a time reading this. Mr. Anderson's style really hits its stride with this work. In a way it feels like a reversed 'Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' with the protagonist(s) travelling forward in time rather than backwards. The mixture of drama and satire gives these two works some common ground as well. I am not arguing that this work is as strong as Mark Twain's piece but it at least aspires to be so, and with all the trash out there it is nice to see an occasional gem of imagination.
Rating:
Summary: King Arthur retold
Review: This is a classic tale in the 'Terrans Uber Alles' genre. Evil aliens try to take over the earth but the humans triumph and take over the galaxy. The twist to the story which makes it such an engaging read is that the aliens landed in medieval England and a rag-tag band of goatherds and farmers can still win. There are strong elements of the King Arthur plot mixed throughout this story. A very good read.
Rating:
Summary: King Arthur retold
Review: This is a classic tale in the 'Terrans Uber Alles' genre. Evil aliens try to take over the earth but the humans triumph and take over the galaxy. The twist to the story which makes it such an engaging read is that the aliens landed in medieval England and a rag-tag band of goatherds and farmers can still win. There are strong elements of the King Arthur plot mixed throughout this story. A very good read.
Rating: 
Summary: A hilarious tour-de-farce! Anderson rocks!
Review: This old "classic" is a great tour-de-farce that Anderson masterfully keeps just on the edge of plausibility. The premise is simple. A highly advanced alien spaceship, from the "Wersgor Empire" lands on Earth with the intent of subjigating it. The time is the 14th Century, the place, England.
Well, the local horse cavalry surprises and overwhelms the aliens and takes control of the spaceship. The Englishmen then proceed to take on the whole Wersgor Empire by guts, guile, and good old human deviousness. This all makes for great fun. This is a terrific "beer and chips" novel, which is all Anderson, a Grand Master of SF, intended for it to be. I only gave it three stars because this is not great literature, nor is it the best that Anderson has written. But make no mistake, this one gets 5 stars in the category of readability and fun, and I recommend it to anyone who likes Science Fiction and has a good sense of humor. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Ivanhoe in space!
Review: What happens when a band of aliens land in Medieval England just as a local baron is assembling his army for war? The High Crusade! Poul Anderson takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to science fiction in this very funny, yet plausible short-novel. Told from the point of view of the local cleric, the story begins when a scout ship of alien beings, bent on conquest, land near the holdings of Sir Roger of Tourneville, who is gearing up to join the king for a war in France. Instead of running in fear, the war-rabid Englishmen suspect a "French trick" and go out to meet the ship. The fun begins when one of the aliens blasts a local, hoping to frighten the natives. Instead, the assembled troops react, only as trained soldiers will, and turn the aliens into pincushions with their longbows. Thus begins Anderson's humorous adventure. Funny as it is, the book has serious undertones in that it reminds us how little society changes despite advances in technology. This book is perfect for younger readers; it is fairly short, fast-paced, and has no offensive language or adult themes, but adults (especially students of Midieval history) will appreciate its wit and satire. It would make a funny movie. Maybe someone should send a copy to Terry Gilliam (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Time Bandits).
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