Beyond the Fields We Know is part of the peerless Adult Fantasy series, edited by Lin Carter. Carter curates and edits selections from Lord Dunsany and once again proves his editorial chops. This is an excellent collection and the editorial material isn’t merely filler.
The collection starts with early Dunsany, printing his complete The Gods of Pegana, followed by Tales from Pegana. These are remarkably innovative short tales or vignettes. Dunsany not only creates a new pantheon and mythology, he also tantalizing suggests morals and aphorisms clouded in a haze of almost tangible profundity. The stories are on occasion droll, at other times they border on elegiac. Sometimes they manage both.
We then get a play, King Argimenes and the Unknown Warrior. I enjoyed reading it and would like to see it performed. One of Carter’s intriguing editorial titbits that he drops here and there throughout the collection is that Fletcher Pratt set The Well of the Unicorn in the universe of King Argimenes. I like that sort of connection, not merely because I am a fan of the book, but because it reveals a link, a chain of influences.
Poetry follows. And I didn’t mind. These are fun to read, like the works of Kipling or the doggerel of John Myers Myers.
There follows a sequence of short stories from other collections, most of which I’ve read before but was happy to encounter again, including the classic Chu-bu and Sheemish. Most notably, however, was the last story, a sequel to the amusing The Loot of Bombasharna, entitled A Story of Land and Sea. It doesn’t disappoint and ends the collection on a humorous high note.
I mentioned the quality Carter’s editorial material. His Afterword, The Naming of Names is worthwhile reading. For example: he notes that the first fantasy novel (in his judgment) was published in 1895 (William Morris’ The Wood Beyond the World, presumably, though I believe it first saw print the year before.) In 1895 George MacDonald was 71, Dunsany 17, Eddison 13, Merritt 11, Lovecraft 5, Tolkien 3, and Clark Ashton Smith 2. While that may not be the most trenchant bit of trivia, I found that overlap of the lives of essential fantasists…fascinating.
Recommended.
Also recommended, for mercenary purposes, is Swords & Sorceries: Tales of Heroic Fantasy volume 9, containing a short story by yours truly. Pick up a copy if you are in the mood for some tales of adventure, swordsmen, foul wizards, and bloody action.