Juho Pohjalainen’s Reviews > The Broken Sword > Status Update
Juho Pohjalainen
is on page 55 of 208
I never felt too sorry for Valgard. He was off to a bad start, sure, but he never even tried to be better, not even with his family whose deaths caused him grief and regret - which in itself rings hollow since he was otherwise an unrepentant reaver and pillager.
Everything he did was by his own free will. If he really wanted to be a hero, he could've been. Instead, he's locked us all on the death-course.
— Oct 22, 2026 01:31PM
Everything he did was by his own free will. If he really wanted to be a hero, he could've been. Instead, he's locked us all on the death-course.
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Juho’s Previous Updates
Juho Pohjalainen
is finished
And since this is a tragedy, I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that, yes, basically everybody dies in the end. The main character dies of love because he made the mistake of falling for his sister, as they always do. Even the old gods are facing the oblivion.
But the most annoying character did not die. A shame.
Bottom line - it's still good.
— Nov 01, 2026 03:26PM
But the most annoying character did not die. A shame.
Bottom line - it's still good.
Juho Pohjalainen
is on page 161 of 208
Poul Anderson certainly wasn't as hesitant to employ allegory as Professor Tolkien. I didn't even see the first time around how thick he lay the analogies to Cold War and even nukes. All that's missing is Valgard getting a really awesome weapon of his own to complete the mutual destruction.
— Oct 29, 2026 03:59PM
Juho Pohjalainen
is on page 140 of 208
The penny drops.
Elves don't care about morality or sin, but clearly, they also don't care about the danger of recessive genes. Among us shorter-lived creatures that breed like rabbits, some things just shouldn't be done.
All that being said, I'm enjoying the poetry a good deal more than I did the first time around. I wish I had any skill for these things myself.
— Oct 27, 2026 09:45AM
Elves don't care about morality or sin, but clearly, they also don't care about the danger of recessive genes. Among us shorter-lived creatures that breed like rabbits, some things just shouldn't be done.
All that being said, I'm enjoying the poetry a good deal more than I did the first time around. I wish I had any skill for these things myself.
Juho Pohjalainen
is on page 112 of 208
Valgard digs himself ever deeper. Skafloc and Freda continue to romance more or less out of nowhere. All very melodramatic, as was the style at the time. Could've used to crank it up another notch or two, make it a parody, but it's still good.
— Oct 25, 2026 04:05PM
Juho Pohjalainen
is on page 27 of 208
Read a ton of good books since my first time picking this one up, but it holds up pretty well. It'll have to fall off really badly - contain something terrible that I didn't mind the first time around for some reason - to not end up as one of my favourites once again.
— Oct 20, 2026 10:24AM