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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
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I was starving, and this book was a feast!
This work of classic fantasy is written in gorgeous poetic prose. It's credited with inspiring many famous authors of science fiction and fantasy, and is even rumored to have inspired Tolkien (check out my video on Hello, Bookworm for more on this).
The opening pages center on a young man named Alveric who ventures to a witch's cottage located on the high heaths. He needs her help in crafting a very special weapon for the potentially perilous journey that lies ahead. What follows is an incredible tale featuring a witch who gathers thunderbolts from the sky, a young man who hunts unicorns, and an elf princess who must make a difficult decision that will determine whether she lives or dies.
I'm inclined to recommend this book to fans of Tolkien or Lud-in-the-Mist, as well as readers who want to get lost in a strange woodland with luminous air and sentient plants.
I was starving, and this book was a feast!
This work of classic fantasy is written in gorgeous poetic prose. It's credited with inspiring many famous authors of science fiction and fantasy, and is even rumored to have inspired Tolkien (check out my video on Hello, Bookworm for more on this).
The opening pages center on a young man named Alveric who ventures to a witch's cottage located on the high heaths. He needs her help in crafting a very special weapon for the potentially perilous journey that lies ahead. What follows is an incredible tale featuring a witch who gathers thunderbolts from the sky, a young man who hunts unicorns, and an elf princess who must make a difficult decision that will determine whether she lives or dies.
I'm inclined to recommend this book to fans of Tolkien or Lud-in-the-Mist, as well as readers who want to get lost in a strange woodland with luminous air and sentient plants.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's funny how the public perception of how genres develop is almost entirely wrong. This becomes very clear with the fantasy genre when one reads this tale from 1924. It becomes quite clear upon finishing this novel that Tolkien did not invent/birth the modern fantasy genre, Lord Dunsany did. Many of the themes in Lord of the Rings seem to be lifted from this one novel, and seeing how Lord Dunsany was very prevalent during his time and wrote many short stories and plays of a fantastical nature, it is possible that he has the greatest unknown influence on speculative writers today than any but the bare folk tales.
All the big first generation fantasy writers were influenced by Dunsany. It simply can not be denied once you read this and them. Tolkien, Morcock, and even Mervyn Peake exhibit themes, ideas, or writing styles that are present in this quaint little novel... and apparently a host of other writers, including Arthur C Clarke and Jack Vance, were influenced by Dunsany's other-worldly tales.
And that is where a lot of the charm and poetry in this novel come from: Dunsany is able to portray other-worlds, strange worlds, with inhabitants with different viewpoints, thinking patterns, and even physics. All this is presented in a masterfully told fairie tale that seems to be about much more...
It is a shame that nowadays, Lord Dunsany is mostly associated with being a major influence on H. P. Lovecraft. Though true, it gives a much different connotation to his writings, one with horrific undertones. That is not really the case with this novel. There is a lot of passion and emotion in the reading, sure, but there is absolutely nothing in the way of other-worldly horrors in this novel. As a result, the intended audience is much larger than most of the work of Lovecraft and should be given prominence. Not as a precursor of cosmic horror, but as a pinnacle of fantasy literature so few other works have even been able to scale, let alone pass.
All the big first generation fantasy writers were influenced by Dunsany. It simply can not be denied once you read this and them. Tolkien, Morcock, and even Mervyn Peake exhibit themes, ideas, or writing styles that are present in this quaint little novel... and apparently a host of other writers, including Arthur C Clarke and Jack Vance, were influenced by Dunsany's other-worldly tales.
And that is where a lot of the charm and poetry in this novel come from: Dunsany is able to portray other-worlds, strange worlds, with inhabitants with different viewpoints, thinking patterns, and even physics. All this is presented in a masterfully told fairie tale that seems to be about much more...
It is a shame that nowadays, Lord Dunsany is mostly associated with being a major influence on H. P. Lovecraft. Though true, it gives a much different connotation to his writings, one with horrific undertones. That is not really the case with this novel. There is a lot of passion and emotion in the reading, sure, but there is absolutely nothing in the way of other-worldly horrors in this novel. As a result, the intended audience is much larger than most of the work of Lovecraft and should be given prominence. Not as a precursor of cosmic horror, but as a pinnacle of fantasy literature so few other works have even been able to scale, let alone pass.
hopeful
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lyrically unfolding a fairy tale of two lovers from different worlds, the King of Elfland's Daughter is a joy to luxuriate in.
This is a lovely crafting of myth and fantasy. There's a lot of repetition in phrases, although it does build to a particular point, but at a certain point it became distracting how often it repeated certain turns of phrase. That said, the style--while ornate and sometimes making me go 'semicolons do not work like that dammit'--suits the content. I loved the mischievous and clever and funny trolls. I also loved the witch, how she wound through the tale and served many different roles, few of which were the traditional Grimm-style evil old woman. There were some shockingly beautiful fragments--for example, when Dunsany is explaining the things which ink may do and which Orion has no interest in, I just stared at it and then smiled because it was such a gorgeous description. It also does a great job of rendering both the unearthly wonder of Elfland, and turning that same novel wonder to the eyes of the trolls when they come to Earth, making things that are very mundane and everyday seem new and magical in a very effective way. This is not a quick read despite its short length, but it was a lovely one.
It was okay, I remember buying this when I was a freshman in High school. I was looking for something similar to LOTR's and the cover has a reader review that states it is "in league" with Tolkien. Personally, I was not grasped by Tolkien either, but I just enjoyed the characters. Well, I suppose KoED is similar in nature, considering the character species: elf, troll, human.. etc. The rest of the story was slightly strange, I feel like there should have been more to the ending. He writes in a poetic manner, so there are long winded sentences that may run on for the entire paragraph (don't worry he uses comma's so you can breath).
This story felt like a whimsical fairy tale that reminded me of the movie Stardust (I have yet to read that book). Even better, I listened to the audiobook narrated by Tim Gerard Reynolds, and having him tell the tale was mesmerizing. At times I got lost in the storytelling and had to refocus on what was happening between his fantastic performance and the beautiful writing style. I liked this book. I couldn't recount everything that happened if asked, but the whole experience felt very dreamy. After listening to this, now I want to push [b:Stardust|3629286|Stardust|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386287464l/3629286._SX50_.jpg|3166179] up in my reading queue.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lyrical, pastoral, stunningly beautiful short novel, can read again and again