The High Crusade
by Poul Anderson · first published 1960
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Light, funny science fiction about medieval English knights who seize an alien spaceship and turn its technology against its owners; readers enjoy its wild, tongue-in-cheek plot and its disregard for scientific pretense.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In the year of grace 1345, as Sir Roger Baron de Tourneville is gathering an army to join King Edward III in the war against France, a most astonishing event occurs: a huge silver ship descends through the sky and lands in a pasture beside the little village of Ansby in northeastern Lincolnshire. The Wersgorix, whose scouting ship it is, are quite expert at taking over planets, and having determined from orbit that this one was suitable, they initiate standard world-conquering procedure. Ah, but this time it's no mere primitives the Wersgorix seek to enslave—they've launched their invasion aga
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…come to them separately had they fallen, or whether it would have been necessary to convert them to Catholicism; for more on this mindset, read C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and perhaps Poul Anderson's _The High Crusade_).
on “Pecking order: What chickens teach us” ↗There is a funny Sci-Fi book by Poul Anderson on this topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Crusade
on “UFOs shows government competence as either surprisingly high or low” ↗…support with 16th century tech? I guess perhaps your species might be able to live in vacuum, needs only a bit of heat and doesn't need to breathe gasses? - - - Anyway, I’d like to recommend another book. High Crusade by Poul Anderson[0]. In the first chapter pacifist aliens land in 13th century England and get immediately massacred by the locals. Now the king has a starship. [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Crusade
on “Is technical analysis just stock market astrology?” ↗…geometry of our world is not Euclidian, not even Riemannian. The story of "Operation Chaos" looks more chaotic than scientific. That fits with the books of Poul Anderson I've read, like the excellent High Crusade: he likes going wild and doesn't care much for the scientific pretense. For another take on non-Euclidian geometries, I have good memories of Inverted World by Christopher Priest.
on “Non-Euclidean Doom: what happens to a game when pi is not 3.14159 (2022) [video]” ↗"The High Crusade" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_High_Crusade . Sir Roger, Baron de Tourneville and his forces in 1345 take over an alien scouting ship and, based on their knowledge of medieval tactics and strategies,…
on “Is there sci-fi series that's pro war, militarism, collectivism, imperialism?” ↗