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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I feel like this one, for me, deserves 3 stars. While the prose is beautiful and nearly poetic, there are full chapters of nothing happening whatsoever. It isn't something I would read again.
The plot centers around Lirazel, the King of Elfland's daughter, who runs away with a dashing prince to the world of men and elopes. They later have a son named Orion who is half of her world and half of Alveric's, her husband. When it is clear that her husband cannot accept her as she is, she allows her father's magic to spirit her back to Elfland. Immediately, her husband regrets it and travels to try and find her in the other world. In doing so, he leaves behind his son who grows into a hunter in his absence. When she finally realizes that she misses her family, she persuades the king, her father, that she does indeed miss her family. The end solution to this is simply moving the border to encompass her old kingdom in the human world.
Honestly, it's not really something I will ever read again, but it was nice to read it once. It's very Victorian and poetic. Its almost the written equivalent to classical music. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I wish you the joy of it.
The plot centers around Lirazel, the King of Elfland's daughter, who runs away with a dashing prince to the world of men and elopes. They later have a son named Orion who is half of her world and half of Alveric's, her husband. When it is clear that her husband cannot accept her as she is, she allows her father's magic to spirit her back to Elfland. Immediately, her husband regrets it and travels to try and find her in the other world. In doing so, he leaves behind his son who grows into a hunter in his absence. When she finally realizes that she misses her family, she persuades the king, her father, that she does indeed miss her family. The end solution to this is simply moving the border to encompass her old kingdom in the human world.
Honestly, it's not really something I will ever read again, but it was nice to read it once. It's very Victorian and poetic. Its almost the written equivalent to classical music. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I wish you the joy of it.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The King of Elfland's Daughter is the story of a hamlet's Lord (Alveric) and his love for the Princess of Elfland—a mystical realm, frozen in time and "told of only in song" just on the edge of "the lands we know." It's the story of his quest to return to her, and the story of their son's coming to terms with his lineage.
I use those quoted terms specifically, because if you're reading this, you better get used to them. I didn't count, but I'd wager variations are used over a hundred times. It's annoying.
As a proto-fantasy, it... suffices. I'd love to give it higher praise, but it doesn't really go anywhere, and doesn't do much with where it goes. I'm sure, like Beowulf, it's better not having read a hundred fantasy novels first.
I use those quoted terms specifically, because if you're reading this, you better get used to them. I didn't count, but I'd wager variations are used over a hundred times. It's annoying.
As a proto-fantasy, it... suffices. I'd love to give it higher praise, but it doesn't really go anywhere, and doesn't do much with where it goes. I'm sure, like Beowulf, it's better not having read a hundred fantasy novels first.
Normally I'd consider myself pretty cynical but something about this book was just really sincere and beautiful the whole time. Seriously, every page was written beautifully regardless of what it was about. (One of the most incredibly written sections was merely about a goblin sitting in a barn watching time pass.) I think I would've been guilty for expecting fantasy this old (1924!) to be simplistic and pulpy, but instead it was intelligent, florid (extremely—I don't know what half the flowers he mentions are but they just sound pretty), nuanced. Even though Dunsany spends more time with the fields than he does the characters sometimes, the minimal almost-archetypal characters fit the mythical and ancient feel of the story, but he doesn't shortshrift on their emotions—the chapter about Lirazel's homesickness and alienation in Earth is genuinely sorrowful and tragic to read, and likewise the King of Elfland's final decision in the book (which is artfully and poignantly left uncommented on, ). There's a true sense of the exotic between the two worlds, and you can feel the temptation both the worlds have on each other, and importantly, what the exotic can do in the minds of people in their homelands. It's the same kind of temptation and beauty you can see in nature, sunsets, art, religion, drugs, dreams...
It's really good.
Gah. I'll never write this well.
Spoiler
after being unable to remove her desire for Earth through spectacle or reason, he quietly removes Elfland's last defenses without saying another word to his crying daughter. Bah, it's so good.It's really good.
Gah. I'll never write this well.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Being a huge fan of Tolkien’s lore, I’ve always wanted to experience pre Tolkien fantasy works that may have influence his world and by extension the whole fantasy genre. So, what better way to start, than The King of Elfland’s Daughter. A book that has been acknowledged by many, including Neil Gaiman and Lovecraft, as highly influential to modern fantasy (especially high, epic and sword and sorcery).
It is basically a medieval faerie tale, which features goblins, elves, trolls, unicorns and of course a quest to enchanted Elfland including a magical sword!
What I really enjoyed, except the beauty of the language, which is immense, is the care with which Lord Dunsany treats magic, as something unique, fair and truly… mystic if that makes any sense! In a way, it feels like reading poetry.
However, overall I didn't like this book. I found it extremely repetitive and despite its beautiful prose, boring in many cases. Of course, I’ve read it bearing in mind that it was first published in 1924 (!), but apparently that wasn’t enough. Anyway, I don’t plan to give up on classic, pre Tolkien fantasy just yet!! There’s more to come in the future!
It is basically a medieval faerie tale, which features goblins, elves, trolls, unicorns and of course a quest to enchanted Elfland including a magical sword!
What I really enjoyed, except the beauty of the language, which is immense, is the care with which Lord Dunsany treats magic, as something unique, fair and truly… mystic if that makes any sense! In a way, it feels like reading poetry.
However, overall I didn't like this book. I found it extremely repetitive and despite its beautiful prose, boring in many cases. Of course, I’ve read it bearing in mind that it was first published in 1924 (!), but apparently that wasn’t enough. Anyway, I don’t plan to give up on classic, pre Tolkien fantasy just yet!! There’s more to come in the future!
reflective
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
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:
No
If "The Lord of the Rings" lives and breathes in a world of magic and fantasy, then this story is the correspondence between two lovers; reality and fantasy/magic/mystery. It speaks of the beauty of reality, and how things we take for granted (a flower blooming, dawn, the shadows' movement) have a wonder of their own, if we just pay attention. And, at the same time, how magic and mystery enrich life and make it worth living. In the words of the wise witch Ziroonderel: "Overmuch magic! As though magic were not the spice and essence of life, its ornament and its splendour".
If you love beautiful prose, love to ponder in every paragraph, and don't mind a slow, dreamlike pace, if you are searching for something old, like a half-forgotten myth, yet new, then try this!
If you love beautiful prose, love to ponder in every paragraph, and don't mind a slow, dreamlike pace, if you are searching for something old, like a half-forgotten myth, yet new, then try this!