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linwearcamenel's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
rschmidt7's review against another edition
4.0
A pretty good collection of short stories showcasing Pre-Tolkien fantasy literature. Very refreshing to read fantasy that is not a ripoff of Tolkien, as so much of modern fantasy seems to be. In some ways, Tolkien's immeasurable influence has its disadvantages. Most modern fantasy literature is derivative. Fantasy literature before Tolkien shows so much variety.
Some of the stories in this anthology were out of place, however, most especially "Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll." Unfortunately, this was also one of the longest stories in the book.
Overall, the collection is hit and miss. Worth reading, but I certainly won't read some of these stories again.
Some of the stories in this anthology were out of place, however, most especially "Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll." Unfortunately, this was also one of the longest stories in the book.
Overall, the collection is hit and miss. Worth reading, but I certainly won't read some of these stories again.
hellhoundharry's review against another edition
2.0
FINALLY I am done with this one!
The major problem I have with this is that what the editor has done is essentially taken a short story that Tolkien has talked about in a letter or someone else remembers Tolkien talking about it, and then pointed at some similarities between this book and The Lord of the Rings or The hobbit.
"This short story which is about a miner, is reminiscent of Moria! Tolkien talks about this story in his letters! So this story probably inspired Moria!"
And I feel that sort of misses the mark. Because old man Tolkien wasn't just inspired by earlier fantasy stories he had read, he was also inspired by his work as an english professor, by his friendships with C.S Lewis and other people, by events happening in the world around him, by his catholic faith... The list can be made long!
Lets say we were to do the same thing by a living author like Brandon Sanderson. Let us say we decide to create a book of short stories that we believed inspired Brandon Sanderson.
In his podcasts he mentions he has been influenced by Robert Jordan and Barbara Hambly. He also mentions he loves movies as well as video games. Well then we must include a short story by Tolkien because he has probably seen the Lord of the Rings-movies. And he has mentioned in a video he liked Halo, so naturally must we put in a short piece of Halo-fanfic and say "This is what inspired Brandon!"
You see my problem here?
The major problem I have with this is that what the editor has done is essentially taken a short story that Tolkien has talked about in a letter or someone else remembers Tolkien talking about it, and then pointed at some similarities between this book and The Lord of the Rings or The hobbit.
"This short story which is about a miner, is reminiscent of Moria! Tolkien talks about this story in his letters! So this story probably inspired Moria!"
And I feel that sort of misses the mark. Because old man Tolkien wasn't just inspired by earlier fantasy stories he had read, he was also inspired by his work as an english professor, by his friendships with C.S Lewis and other people, by events happening in the world around him, by his catholic faith... The list can be made long!
Lets say we were to do the same thing by a living author like Brandon Sanderson. Let us say we decide to create a book of short stories that we believed inspired Brandon Sanderson.
In his podcasts he mentions he has been influenced by Robert Jordan and Barbara Hambly. He also mentions he loves movies as well as video games. Well then we must include a short story by Tolkien because he has probably seen the Lord of the Rings-movies. And he has mentioned in a video he liked Halo, so naturally must we put in a short piece of Halo-fanfic and say "This is what inspired Brandon!"
You see my problem here?
adularia25's review against another edition
3.0
This book was rather disappointing in many ways. For one, it didn't contain what it claims on the cover... "classic stories that inspired" Tolkien. In fact, the editor of the collection clearly states in the introduction to many of the pieces that there is no record of Tolkien ever reading such a story... but he might have, if he had known about it. Which is pure speculation at best.
However, that is not to say this collection is terrible. Far from it! There are at least three stories in the book that are must reads. But what this book does well is listing all the authors from before Tolkien's time which had influential and interesting stories - unfortunately, most of those stories are not in this volume, but are listed, if you want a supplemental reading list you will have to track down on your own.
Some of the tales within are excerpts from longer tales - so why weren't there excerpts from A Voyage to Arcturus or The Princess and the Goblin which were known books Tolkien praised? Yes, those authors are included in this collection, but with other works which are perhaps not quite up to the standard you would expect. And a few of the Finnish myths that so influenced Tolkien's work would have nicely gone along with the one mythic tale that was included.
All in all, I recommend reading this not for the tales, but for the list of authors at the front and back of the book.
However, that is not to say this collection is terrible. Far from it! There are at least three stories in the book that are must reads. But what this book does well is listing all the authors from before Tolkien's time which had influential and interesting stories - unfortunately, most of those stories are not in this volume, but are listed, if you want a supplemental reading list you will have to track down on your own.
Some of the tales within are excerpts from longer tales - so why weren't there excerpts from A Voyage to Arcturus or The Princess and the Goblin which were known books Tolkien praised? Yes, those authors are included in this collection, but with other works which are perhaps not quite up to the standard you would expect. And a few of the Finnish myths that so influenced Tolkien's work would have nicely gone along with the one mythic tale that was included.
All in all, I recommend reading this not for the tales, but for the list of authors at the front and back of the book.
hollyeula's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
This is a collection of 22 short stories that the author has selected to exemplify modern fantasy prior to the publication of The Hobbit. These stories represent a transitional phase—a time after the fairy tales and romances of the Middle Ages through early modern era, but before the changed landscape of fantasy after the middle of the twentieth century.
As a whole, I greatly appreciate this collection—the stories are delightful and, in some cases, terrifying, and provide a fascinating launching point to understanding the origin of modern fantasy. However, while I understand the author's desire to not provide too much of his own commentary and influence the reader with that, I wish that he had provide more reflection and thoughts as to the details of each of the stories that makes them influential, the common threads among them, and how we can still see those influences in modern fantasy. This would've been nicely accomplished in an afterword that tied all the works together.
The stories themselves are varied and fascinating—though, as with many historical stories, must be viewed through the lens of the time they were written (and the prejudices that the authors had—some of which can make the reading quite uncomfortable for modern readers.) Still, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the origin of modern fantasy, and the influence of pre-Tolkien writers.
As a whole, I greatly appreciate this collection—the stories are delightful and, in some cases, terrifying, and provide a fascinating launching point to understanding the origin of modern fantasy. However, while I understand the author's desire to not provide too much of his own commentary and influence the reader with that, I wish that he had provide more reflection and thoughts as to the details of each of the stories that makes them influential, the common threads among them, and how we can still see those influences in modern fantasy. This would've been nicely accomplished in an afterword that tied all the works together.
The stories themselves are varied and fascinating—though, as with many historical stories, must be viewed through the lens of the time they were written (and the prejudices that the authors had—some of which can make the reading quite uncomfortable for modern readers.) Still, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the origin of modern fantasy, and the influence of pre-Tolkien writers.
rgreatreader's review
5.0
I think my two favorites were "The Coming of the Terror" and the "Christmas Play" at the end, which reminded me a lot of Midsummer Night's Dream, as it was probably meant to.
And I don't like horror stories or anything but "The Coming of the Terror" was fascinating.
And I don't like horror stories or anything but "The Coming of the Terror" was fascinating.
gayancalime's review
was a great teaching tool when i taught the history of w fantasy--the stand outs were the story of sigurd (lang), the folk of the mountain door (w morris), and the regent of the north (k morris).
disreputabledog's review
3.0
Tolkien is often considered to be the father of modern fantasy, but it's not like he woke up one morning and thought, "I'm going to write this crazy story that takes place in a world that may or may not be our own and features Elves and Dwarves and wizards!" This anthology, compiled by Tolkien scholar Douglas Anderson, is a collection of stories from the 19th and early 20th centuries that either are known to have inspired Tolkien or are representative of the kind of (what we would consider) fantasy fiction from that period.
The problem with this anthology is that, while most of these stories are decent, none are very memorable. I've only disliked one or two of the stories, but I can't say that 6 months from now I'm going to remember the plot of any of these tales. Another reviewer noted that these are worth reading only from an academic standpoint - that is, they don't have a lot of merit outside of reading them through the lens of Tolkien's influences - and I have to agree with this statement.
(Starred stories are the cream of the crop in this collection.)
"The Elves" by Ludwig Tieck - 4/5. A fairly traditional story in which a young girl spends what she perceives to be a few hours with some elves and then returns to her family, only to discover that many years have passed.
"The Golden Key" by George MacDonald - 4/5. A boy is given a key and spends a lifetime searching for the door it opens. A bit overly allegorical, but I enjoyed it.
"Puss-cat Mew" by EH Knatchbull-Hugessen - 3/5. A man wanders into a forest with fairies, trolls, and goblins. This story would have worked better if it wasn't so long.
* "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" by Frank R. Stockton - 4/5. A griffin comes to town and befriends one of the townsmen without realizing that he is feared by everyone else.
"The Demon Pope" by Richard Garnett - 1/5. Awful. I don't know why this was included. The devil makes a deal with the pope to be pope for a day.
"The Story of Sigurd" by Andrew Lang - 4/5. A Danish folk tale about a man who slays a dragon, rescues an enchanted maiden, etc etc.
"The Folk of the Mountain Door" by William Morris - 2/5. I really liked this one until the ending, which is abrupt and inconclusive. It left me wondering what the point of this story is. Basically two figures wander into the hall of a king and chat with him for a while. Then they go away.
"Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll" by H. Rider Haggard - 2/5. Set in what is today South Africa, an English trader is hiding out from the government among the Zulu. This is an interesting story from the perspective of 19th century colonization and has an interesting message - the white man in the story has the black heart and the Zulu native has a white heart - but otherwise I found it a bit dull.
"The Dragon Tamers" by E. Nesbit - 3/5. A dragon is captured by a blacksmith and confined to a castle. I liked this story at first, but now I just feel sorry for the dragon.
* "The Far Islands" by John Buchan - 5/5. Easily the best story in this collection. A young boy living on the Scottish coast strives to see an island in the distance. As he gets older, the island becomes clearer until his death, when he is able to travel to the island and beyond. Allusions to Middle Earth are obvious here, and I was absolutely spellbound by this tale.
"The Drawn Arrow" by Clemence Housman - 1/5. Like "The Demon Pope," I hated this story.
"The Enchanted Buffalo" by L. Frank Baum - 2/5. This is basically Hamlet/The Lion King, but with buffalos.
"Chu-Bu and Sheemish" by Lord Dunsany - 2/5. An idol name Chu-Bu becomes jealous when a new idol, Sheemish, is placed in the same temple. I didn't like this story but I enjoyed a few others from "The Book of Wonders," the collection that includes "Chu-Bu and Sheemish." I figure this particular story was included because it's known that Tolkien read it, although some of the other stories by Lord Dunsany might have been better choices for this anthology.
"The Baumoff Explosive" by William Hope Hodgson - 4/5. A bizarre and downright eerie story about a man who performs an experiment to simulate the exact physical and environmental conditions that Jesus experienced when he died on the cross. In other words, Baumoff crucifies himself. As a work of horror fiction, this story works extremely well (I found it quite visually disturbing), but it feels out of place in this collection.
"The Regent of the North" by Kenneth Morris - 4/5. A Swedish man becomes upset when Christianity comes to the land and replaces the old gods.
"The Coming of the Terror" by Arthur Machen - 3/5. A condensed version of Machen's novel "The Terror," this story describes a series of unexplained events that happen across Britain during the summer of 1915. "The Coming of the Terror" has an Interesting premise with a weak pay-off; the explanation of the terror was a bit too illogical and boring for my tastes.
"The Elf-Trap" by Francis Stevens - 4/5. This is similar to "The Elves," the first story in this collection, though set in Appalachia.
* "The Thin Queen of Elfhame" by James Branch Cabell - 4/5. A renowned man leaves his home behind in search of an elf queen. This would have been an unremarkable story if not for the dash of irony at the end - the elf queen has no heart and love cannot exist in her wood, which means that no one can get hurt.
* "The Woman of the Wood" by A. Merritt - 5/5. Although the introduction to this story notes that Tolkien probably had never read this story, the similarities between Tolkien's Ents and the trees in this story are eerily similar. This is one of the better stories in the collection - I was riveted the entire time.
"Golithos the Ogre" by EA Wyke-Smith - 3/5. This is a chapter from Wyke-Smith's novel "Marvellous Land of Snergs," which directly influenced Tolkien's Hobbits. This particular except is weak, though; it doesn't focus on the Snergs (Hobbits) or their habits, but instead shows an ogre who has turned vegetarian. Fascinating.
"The Story of Alwina" by Austin Tappan Wright - 3/5. Set in the fictional country of Islandia, this is the story of the land's first female ruler. Not a bad story, but it was written as too much of a history for my liking. No background was provided for any of the fictional names and places in the story and I found myself thinking, "What's the point?"
"A Christmas Play" by David Lindsay - 2/5. I might have liked this one better if it wasn't written as a play; I've never been fond of reading plays. A fairy wants to grant three sisters each a prince, but her queen will only allow her to give two of the sisters princes. A bit too philosophical and preachy for my tastes.
The problem with this anthology is that, while most of these stories are decent, none are very memorable. I've only disliked one or two of the stories, but I can't say that 6 months from now I'm going to remember the plot of any of these tales. Another reviewer noted that these are worth reading only from an academic standpoint - that is, they don't have a lot of merit outside of reading them through the lens of Tolkien's influences - and I have to agree with this statement.
(Starred stories are the cream of the crop in this collection.)
"The Elves" by Ludwig Tieck - 4/5. A fairly traditional story in which a young girl spends what she perceives to be a few hours with some elves and then returns to her family, only to discover that many years have passed.
"The Golden Key" by George MacDonald - 4/5. A boy is given a key and spends a lifetime searching for the door it opens. A bit overly allegorical, but I enjoyed it.
"Puss-cat Mew" by EH Knatchbull-Hugessen - 3/5. A man wanders into a forest with fairies, trolls, and goblins. This story would have worked better if it wasn't so long.
* "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" by Frank R. Stockton - 4/5. A griffin comes to town and befriends one of the townsmen without realizing that he is feared by everyone else.
"The Demon Pope" by Richard Garnett - 1/5. Awful. I don't know why this was included. The devil makes a deal with the pope to be pope for a day.
"The Story of Sigurd" by Andrew Lang - 4/5. A Danish folk tale about a man who slays a dragon, rescues an enchanted maiden, etc etc.
"The Folk of the Mountain Door" by William Morris - 2/5. I really liked this one until the ending, which is abrupt and inconclusive. It left me wondering what the point of this story is. Basically two figures wander into the hall of a king and chat with him for a while. Then they go away.
"Black Heart and White Heart: A Zulu Idyll" by H. Rider Haggard - 2/5. Set in what is today South Africa, an English trader is hiding out from the government among the Zulu. This is an interesting story from the perspective of 19th century colonization and has an interesting message - the white man in the story has the black heart and the Zulu native has a white heart - but otherwise I found it a bit dull.
"The Dragon Tamers" by E. Nesbit - 3/5. A dragon is captured by a blacksmith and confined to a castle. I liked this story at first, but now I just feel sorry for the dragon.
* "The Far Islands" by John Buchan - 5/5. Easily the best story in this collection. A young boy living on the Scottish coast strives to see an island in the distance. As he gets older, the island becomes clearer until his death, when he is able to travel to the island and beyond. Allusions to Middle Earth are obvious here, and I was absolutely spellbound by this tale.
"The Drawn Arrow" by Clemence Housman - 1/5. Like "The Demon Pope," I hated this story.
"The Enchanted Buffalo" by L. Frank Baum - 2/5. This is basically Hamlet/The Lion King, but with buffalos.
"Chu-Bu and Sheemish" by Lord Dunsany - 2/5. An idol name Chu-Bu becomes jealous when a new idol, Sheemish, is placed in the same temple. I didn't like this story but I enjoyed a few others from "The Book of Wonders," the collection that includes "Chu-Bu and Sheemish." I figure this particular story was included because it's known that Tolkien read it, although some of the other stories by Lord Dunsany might have been better choices for this anthology.
"The Baumoff Explosive" by William Hope Hodgson - 4/5. A bizarre and downright eerie story about a man who performs an experiment to simulate the exact physical and environmental conditions that Jesus experienced when he died on the cross. In other words, Baumoff crucifies himself. As a work of horror fiction, this story works extremely well (I found it quite visually disturbing), but it feels out of place in this collection.
"The Regent of the North" by Kenneth Morris - 4/5. A Swedish man becomes upset when Christianity comes to the land and replaces the old gods.
"The Coming of the Terror" by Arthur Machen - 3/5. A condensed version of Machen's novel "The Terror," this story describes a series of unexplained events that happen across Britain during the summer of 1915. "The Coming of the Terror" has an Interesting premise with a weak pay-off; the explanation of the terror was a bit too illogical and boring for my tastes.
"The Elf-Trap" by Francis Stevens - 4/5. This is similar to "The Elves," the first story in this collection, though set in Appalachia.
* "The Thin Queen of Elfhame" by James Branch Cabell - 4/5. A renowned man leaves his home behind in search of an elf queen. This would have been an unremarkable story if not for the dash of irony at the end - the elf queen has no heart and love cannot exist in her wood, which means that no one can get hurt.
* "The Woman of the Wood" by A. Merritt - 5/5. Although the introduction to this story notes that Tolkien probably had never read this story, the similarities between Tolkien's Ents and the trees in this story are eerily similar. This is one of the better stories in the collection - I was riveted the entire time.
"Golithos the Ogre" by EA Wyke-Smith - 3/5. This is a chapter from Wyke-Smith's novel "Marvellous Land of Snergs," which directly influenced Tolkien's Hobbits. This particular except is weak, though; it doesn't focus on the Snergs (Hobbits) or their habits, but instead shows an ogre who has turned vegetarian. Fascinating.
"The Story of Alwina" by Austin Tappan Wright - 3/5. Set in the fictional country of Islandia, this is the story of the land's first female ruler. Not a bad story, but it was written as too much of a history for my liking. No background was provided for any of the fictional names and places in the story and I found myself thinking, "What's the point?"
"A Christmas Play" by David Lindsay - 2/5. I might have liked this one better if it wasn't written as a play; I've never been fond of reading plays. A fairy wants to grant three sisters each a prince, but her queen will only allow her to give two of the sisters princes. A bit too philosophical and preachy for my tastes.
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