A review by popestig
The King of the Golden River by John Ruskin

3.0

Written in 1841 seemingly as part of the author's efforts of grooming an underage girl (!!) whom the author was to marry once she came of age.

This little tale is often mentioned as an early fantasy precursor. I found this to be solidly planted in the religious parable/fairy tale world and it's hard to see how this can have helped sparked another genre and not just more parables.