Look, The Ship of Ishtar is an unusual book. There’s no question of that. It dispenses with traditional tropes. A. Merritt does not tread familiar fantasy paths. He picks his own unexpected tangent and proceeds pellmell along it. The pocket universe he creates and its rules appear initially quite strange and arbitrary. But in context… Continue reading The Ship of Ishtar
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Writer of two-fisted fabulism.
Re-reading Dwellers in the Mirage. Blended Whisky.
A. Merritt‘s Dwellers in the Mirage is a farrago of elements, blending almost perfectly in a heroic fantasy adventure. I wonder, though, if some of the elements are intended to be taken seriously, or if some were included simply because Merritt was having fun, seeing what he could get away with. I mean we’ve got… Continue reading Re-reading Dwellers in the Mirage. Blended Whisky.
Flame and Crimson. Rock On.
Flame and Crimson is Brian Murphy’s affectionate yet fair examination and analysis of the Sword-and-Sorcery sub-genre of Fantasy. (Disclaimer: Brian is an acquaintance. So factor in whatever bias you like to what follows.) Published in 2019, F&C adds a significant component to the renaissance of S&S. Dissection requires a corpse, and vivisection is hardly an… Continue reading Flame and Crimson. Rock On.
Part III of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.” (REH Has Entered the Chat.)
Following is my review of the last half of A Treasury of Fantasy. Part I is here. Part II here. The Wood Beyond the World. William Morris. This is not my first Morris novel, though it is, perhaps, my favorite thus far. Morris continues to employ deliberately archaic language, as one might expect. I still… Continue reading Part III of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.” (REH Has Entered the Chat.)
Part II of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.” “Phantastes.”
Part II of my review of A Treasury of Fantasy covers only one entry, but it accounts for a good quarter of the length of the anthology. Part I can be found here. The selection in question is George MacDonald’s Phantastes. A Faerie Romance for Men and Women. The first chapter of Phantastes reminds me… Continue reading Part II of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.” “Phantastes.”
Part I of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.”
Today I’m going to cover the first quarter of the contents of A Treasury of Fantasy. This early 1980’s volume contains a chronologically arranged selection of fantasy, and bears the subtitle “Heroic Adventures in Imaginary Lands.” Interestingly, the stories chosen come from no farther back than the Volsunga Saga, circa 1270. I suppose that decision… Continue reading Part I of a Review of “A Treasury of Fantasy.”
Idylls of the King. Return Again to the Matter of Britain.
I doubt I could recall the sheer number — let alone the titles — of all the books, comics, short stories, films, and television shows I have consumed based upon the tales of King Arthur. Clearly the stuff resonates with creators, or there wouldn’t be so much of it. And equally clearly it resonates with… Continue reading Idylls of the King. Return Again to the Matter of Britain.
James P. Blaylock’s “The Stone Giant”
James P. Blaylock’s twee trilogy comes to close, oddly enough with a beginning of sorts. The Stone Giant does not pick up with the further adventures of Jonathan Bing. Instead it leaps back in time to the commencement of the career of the roguish Theophile Escargot. At first this might strike the reader as an… Continue reading James P. Blaylock’s “The Stone Giant”
Even More Quick Hits: The Disappearing Dwarf and The War Games of Zelos.
James Blaylock delivered a fine sequel to The Elfin Ship with The Disappearing Dwarf. What I wrote about Elfin Ship remains applicable to Dwarf. Blaylock did not stray far from the formula. Why should he? If it ain’t broke…It was a nice break from some of the more dour and serious minded works I’ve been… Continue reading Even More Quick Hits: The Disappearing Dwarf and The War Games of Zelos.