Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany Books

Ramon Alonzo is a young man who has been sent to live with, and learn from, a famous wizard. He is only interested in how to turn base metals into gold. His sister is engaged to be married, and the family hopes that a small chest full of gold will suffice as a dowry.

While studying with the wizard, Ramon meets an elderly charwoman who has no shadow. The wizard took it many years ago, and refuses to give it back, keeping it in a locked box. She is basically trapped at the castle; she was chased out of the nearby village years before as some sort of demon, because of her lack of shadow. In a moment of chivalry, Ramon vows to retrieve her shadow. The charwoman urges Ramon to never, ever give up his shadow.

As part of his teaching fee, the wizard demands Ramon's shadow, but replaces it with a fake shadow that looks, and acts, like the real thing. Ramon figures that he has gotten a great deal; the ability to create gold for nothing. That is, until the day that Ramon is also chased out of the local village as some sort of monster. The problem with his fake shadow is that it does not shrink or grow depending on the time of day; it is the same size, all the time.

Ramon receives a letter from home, and is told to forget the gold; make a love potion, instead. He creates one on his own, and during a visit home, it is given to a visiting Duke. The potion nearly kills the Duke, and causes great embarrassment to the family. He is bedridden for several days, during which time Ramon's sister is the only one who can get near him. In the meantime, back at the castle, with much patience and diligence, Ramon finds the combination to the box of shadows. He releases several shadows, including his own, and that of a young woman. He brings it to the charwoman, not knowing if it is the right one; it is. Ramon figures that the shadow of the young woman will turn into an elderly crone. To his delight, the transformation goes the other way, and the charwoman turns into a young woman. After they escape from the wizard, the next problem concerns Ramon's family. Since she is not of noble blood, will they accept her as Ramon's bride?

From the first few paragraphs, the reader will know that they are in the hands of a master. Dunsany is generally considered the most influential author in the entire fantasy field. Stories like this will justify such a claim. It is very well done from beginning to end, and will get the reader looking at their shadow in a whole new way.

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, better and more succinctly known by his title, Lord Dunsany (pronounced "done-SANEY"), is perhaps the most important British fantasy author to appear before Tolkien. Lord Dunsany's work has little connection to Tolkien's except that both create feelings of wonder in readers that whisk them away to fantastic worlds. Dunsany's work has a less realistic, more ethereal quality than Tolkien's, and draws strongly on the traditional fairy-tale, while at that same time energizing the simplicity of the fairy-tale with his sense of drama (Dunsany was also a playwright) and with his magnificent, fluid, beautiful writing. His 1927 novel, "The Charwoman's Shadow," is one of his greatest works, second only to "The King of Elfland's Daughter."

Edward Plunkett was born in 1878, became the 18th Lord Dunsany upon the death of his father in 1899, and made an unsuccessful attempt to run for parliament in 1904. With his failure in politics, he began writing his stories of the fantastic, beginning with the collection (currently in-print) "The Gods of Pegana." He enjoyed great literary success and acclaim until his death in 1957, but sadly, at the end of the century, his literature seemed in danger of vanishing from the minds of all but ardent fantasy historians and those who could afford the out-of-print volumes containing his work. But Dunsany has suddenly roared back into print; if you're a lover of fantasy, you cannot miss "The Charwoman's Shadow." It ranks as one of finest novels of the fantastic.

The story takes place in a fantasy vision of medieval Spain: "Picture an evening sombre and sweet over Spain, the glittering sheen of leaves fading to somberer colours...Picture the Golden Age past its wonderful zenith, and westering now towards its setting." Young Ramon Alonzo goes to learn the One True Art -- the art of magic -- from a master magician who lives in an old house in the woods. The Master requires a fee, however: Don Alonzo's shadow. The boy surrenders it, believing it is of no use to him. But even as he advances himself in the magic arts, he soon learns there are serious consequences to losing your shadow. An old charwoman who works for the Master seeks Don Alonzo's aid, for she too lost her shadow many years ago to the Master, and she desires it back. The two enter an alliance, one that Don Alonzo starts to regret when he discovers the youthful beauty of the old charwoman's shadow.

There are no action set-pieces in "The Charwoman's Shadow," no epic battles, no swarms of monsters and demons, but every sequence in the book is full of unforgettable images and beauty. The scene of re-attaching the shadow makes the book a masterpiece on its own; it reduced me to tears the first time I read it. Lord Dunsany will remind you of no other writer, and you'll thrill to discover his unique take on fantasy, feeling if you were sharing a secret private encounter.

Dunsany's word magic pulses stronger than any of the actual magic that appears in the book. In fact, the book is really about the power of language itself; we spend time with Don Alonzo pouring over words and learning their secrets. As Peter S. Beagle (author of "The Last Unicorn") says in his brief but powerful introduction, Dunsany had "an understanding that the right name for a character can imply an entire culture, a history, a music, a world; that a single word chosen properly can persuade a reader that he shares a folklore he can't possibly know...To open this book is, like Don Ramon Alonzo, to begin learning the true nature of enchantment from a master."

I can't give a better recommendation than that, so I will only second him: open this book and fall deep into the fantasy of language.

Before Tolkien told his children bedtime stories about hobbits and dwarves, there was Lord Dunsany. One of the early fantasy writers, Dunsany only wrote a few full-length novels -- one of which was the haunting, beautifully-written "Charwoman's Shadow." (And if anyone thinks that J.K. Rowling made up the immortality elixir and "philosopher/sorcerer's stone," they better read this!)

Ramon Alonzo is a young Spanish nobleman sent to find a dowry for his sister Mirandola. He goes to a powerful magician to learn alchemy -- how to turn dross into gold. The magician agrees, at a price: Ramon Alonzo's shadow. At first he's inclined to give up his shadow, but an elderly charwoman warns him not to. She gave up her shadow, and now is shunned by everyone except the magician because if her contact with dark magic.

Eventually Ramon Alonzo agrees to give up his shadow in exchange for a replacement, which turns out to be a dud. His attempts at magic for his sister's sake begin to go horribly wrong, and he finds his very soul in peril as he struggles to fulfil his promise to the charwoman, and get back both of their shadows.

Most of Dunsany's fantasy stories are set in fictional lands full of magic and wizards and gods. This one is slightly different, as it is set in a sort of semi-fictional part of Spain, and magic is something which seeps naturally to great evil. But the entire world it's set in has the same sort of fantastical edge that his books usually do. Kids with a good attention span can read this, though some may be bored by the gradual pace and flowery language. And the language is very flowery. Dunsany writes in his standard dreamy prose, with a lot of very strange imagery (like the charwoman scrubbing a bloodstained floor stone, or Ramon Alonzo's fake shadow getting up and racing away).

Ramon Alonzo is a nice leading character -- he's a good guy who gets enmeshed in bad things for good reasons. His spiritual struggle and chivalrous rescue of the charwoman Anemone and her shadow are central to the plot. Anemone herself remains a mystery for most of the book, although one development is rather obvious early on. The magician is a cold, unsympathetic character who "scorns salvation" and shows no pity to someone he's wronged. Father Joseph serves as the counterbalance for the magician, a kindly priest who helps Ramon Alonzo out.

A beautiful story about love, magic, and kindness, this is a must-read for fans of classic fantasy. See why Dunsany is still one of the best.

Before Tolkien told his children bedtime stories about hobbits and dwarves, there was Lord Dunsany. One of the early fantasy writers, Dunsany only wrote a few full-length novels -- one of which was the haunting, beautifully-written "Charwoman's Shadow," a story that slips into the grey place between good and evil.

Ramon Alonzo is a young Spanish nobleman sent to find a dowry for his sister Mirandola. He goes to a powerful magician to learn alchemy -- how to turn dross into gold. The magician agrees, at a price: Ramon Alonzo's shadow. At first he's inclined to give up his shadow, but an elderly charwoman warns him not to. She gave up her shadow, and now is shunned by everyone except the magician because if her contact with dark magic.

Eventually Ramon Alonzo agrees to give up his shadow in exchange for a replacement, which turns out to be a dud. His attempts at magic for his sister's sake begin to go horribly wrong, and he finds his very soul in peril as he struggles to fulfil his promise to the charwoman, and get back both of their shadows.

Most of Dunsany's fantasy stories are set in fictional lands full of magic and wizards and gods. This one is slightly different, as it is set in a sort of semi-fictional part of Spain, and magic is something which leads to evil. But the plot in this book has the same sort of otherworldly edge that his more fantastical works do. (Although if any Harry Potter fans think that Rowling created the "philosopher's stone," they'll be sadly disappointed)

It has a straightforward plot, which is made more elaborate by his flowery prose. Dunsany was one of those writers who dwelled on the more beautiful details of his stories, and as a result, "Charwoman's Shadow" has the feeling of a dream. Especially in scenes where really strange things happen, like the charwoman scrubbing a bloodstained floor stone, or Ramon Alonzo's fake shadow getting up and racing away.

Ramon Alonzo is a good hero -- he's a nice guy who gets enmeshed in bad things for good reasons. The charwoman Anemone herself remains a mystery for most of the book, although one development is rather obvious early on. And the other two characters show the good vs. evil struggle: Father Joseph, a kindly priest, and the cold, cruel magician who "scorns salvation" and shows no pity to someone he's wronged.

"The Charwoman's Shadow" is not only an early fantasy novel, but also an exquisite little story of love, magic and kindness. Definitely worth checking out.

Those approaching Dunsany because of his reputation as a proto-fantasy writer (in the sense we now use "fantasy" to decribe a genre) are bound to be disappointed. Happily, he hails from an age before such labels solidified into something restrictive, and his intoxicating prose can be regarded as "fantastic" in its looser sense. He was also a good deal more versatile than the description "fantasy-writer" would suggest, at one point with five plays being staged concurrently on Broadway.

The reviewer who cites Dunsany's dreamy style hits closer to the mark. Dunsany is not about plot. He is all about atmosphere, and the joy of language. Here, as elsewhere, there is a heavy perfume in the air, and an admitted stream-of-consciousness at work. If details seem to appear out of nowhere, it is probably because they do. It is part of what makes Dunsany so fascinating. The reader is aware of a fecund imagination spontaneously drawing connections with every sentence. This is unfettered inspiration at work, and it is refreshing in a day when conformity (and bland prose) rules to encounter a writer so obviously delighting in his own personal muse. Yes, certain cells recur, mantra-like, simulating the rhythm of the ancient epics. It is the structure of instinct. Remember, Dunsany was an unrepentent anachronist, setting down all of his flowery, wonderful inspirations with a quill. He was also an Irishman, and as such, of an apparent genetic predisposition to unspool beautifully-crafted tales.

Comparisons to Tolkien are useless, and do a grave disservice to Dunsany's art. In Tolkien you find myth; in Dunsany, fable. His writings are not writings for children, as some have suggested (although I suspect children unspoiled by too much Gameboy would enjoy them), but rather fairy stories penned for adults. One needs have lived long enough to have experienced regret, and nostalgia, of the retreat of the fantastic from the more prosaic world of "maturity," to fully appreciate the special bittersweet qualities that inform most of Dunsany's fiction.

I haven't checked if it is still in print, but those who enjoy this work should definitely try and locate a copy of "Don Rodriguez: Chronicles of Shadow Valley," as it has much in common. In fact, I find it slightly perverse for Del Rey not to have published it first, as a knowledge of "Rodriguez" enriches one's understanding of the novel under consideration. You will learn more about the bowmen, and experience further enchantment (and romance) in Dunsany's imaginative Spain.

What's more, it may be the finer book.

Lord Dunsany has a rare imagination and unqiue gift for writing. If you enjoy imaginative and visionary tales or if you are a fan of fictional mythologies, you will like Dunsany. While the stories are often compact, the vision is almost always expansive. He adopts language and prose approrpriate to his subject matter; often dreamy and languid it is a step away from the norm. Dunsany's tales dwell in places seldom visited by modern authors. Highly recommended.

_A Dreamer's Tales_ consists of 16 short stories (I've sorted them by title rather than order of appearance); it's in print as I write this, as part of the Fantasy Masterworks edition of _Time and the Gods_.

"The Beggars" - The cloaked strangers, begging gracefully, as gods beg for souls, had a gift for seeing past the dreary surface of life in the city.

"Bethmoora" - a story of the desolation of Bethmoora, a city at the desert's edge.

"Blagdaross" - As twilight falls upon a rubbish heap, all the castoff things therein find voices to remember where they have been. Among them is the rocking-horse Blagdaross.

"Carcassonne" - It was prophesied to Camorak at Arn that he should never come to Carcassonne, but he decided to defy Fate.

"The Day of the Poll" - Since everyone in the town had gone raving mad on election day, the lonely poet set out to trap and save an intelligence for company.

"The Field" - Why is it the field of king-cups, and not the hideous ugliness of the town, that is covered with an ominous feeling of foreboding?

"The Hashish Man" - Another visitor to Bethmoora picks up the tale.

"The Idle City" - The city's custom was that anyone who wished to enter must pay a toll of one story at the gate.

"Idle Days on the Yann" - the story of a journey on the ship _Bird of the River_ down the Yann, and of the cities along the Yann.

"The Madness of Andelsprutz" - The city of Andelsprutz had been conquered, and stolen from the land of Akla. What happens to the souls of conquered cities?

"Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean" - The Inner Lands are those three kingdoms which have no view of the sea, being bounded on the west by the mountain Poltarnees. But none who had ever climbed Poltarnees from the very earliest times had ever come back again...

"Poor Old Bill" - the Captain never talked to the ship's crew, except sometimes in the evening he would talk a bit to the me!n he had hanged at the yard-arm. But just when the crew thought life couldn't get any worse, the Captain learned how to use curses.

"The Sword and the Idol" - Which would have more weight - the family of the man who made the first iron sword, or of he who made the first idol?

"The Unhappy Body" - The body, afflicted with a poet's soul that would not let it rest, was advised to drink and smoke more, so that the soul would cease to trouble it.

"Where the Tides Ebb and Flow" - What happens to the souls of those who are cursed so that they cannot rest on either the earth or the ocean?

"In Zaccarath" - The prophets and singers have spoken of the iniquity of the King, and the onrush of the Zeedians, but the King and his queens and warriors are paying heed only to their feasting and celebration, or so it would seem...

How neat to be able to easily purchase this great book. Dunsany skillfully weaves his tales so the reader is brought into his world of imagination. His was a unique vision. Each tale still speaks to our world today a message of morality. His worlds are very real.

This book, which contains 16 magical tales, is just great. I read it twice from cover to cover and loved every sentence in it. Dunsany has a very particular style, making it easy to envision the story and experiencing it as if it were really happening.

"These are the Inner Lands..." Technically that describes the fictional cities in the first story of "A Dreamer's Tales," but it could easily have described Lord Dunsany's fantastical mind. Full of invented legends and exotic characters, Dunsany's short stories are a wonderful early fantasy read.

He writes about desert cities, where the sea is only a legend; of a rocking horse that revels in a little boy's fantasies; of cities that are "quite dead; of dreams and redemption, long-dead cities that were supposedly going to last forever, prophets and swords, desert curses and terrible, beautiful gods.

There are boats on the banks of the Yann river, the "everlasting" city of Zaccarath, a stone age tale of religion and sacrifice, and the hashish man. Most striking is "The Field," in which Dunsany experiences strange feelings while sitting in a field of flowers -- a field with a terrible secret.

Dunsany had a masterful flair for exotic-edged fantasy. Before anyone had ever heard of J.R.R. Tolkien or "The Hobbit," Dunsany was spinning his stories. And while Tolkien has been the most powerful influence on modern fantasy, Dunsany did his share too -- he can be seen in descriptions of beautiful temples and desert cities.

His writing style is typical of the late 19th/early 20th century, rather formal and ornate. But the imagination of the stories frees them up. "I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me," Dunsany says ominously at the start of one story. And half the horror of that is wondering what the horrible thing is.

Dunsany is shown in his glory in "The Dreamer's Tales," a rich collection of beautiful fantasy stories. Funny, poignant, majestic, this is a keeper.

Lord Dunsany was a master of fantasy, who wrote even before Tolkien. And nobody has really written like him since. His works are often like mingled prose and poetry; sometimes they have a storyline, sometimes not. Sometimes they are fantasy, sometimes not ("Roses").

Many of the stories in this book are more like vignettes than true stories. Some, such as "Charon" and "The Death of Pan" are inspired by mythology. They star ghosts, heroes, dreaming kings, nameless poets, Time and Death. And all are written in Dunsany's dreamy prose, which momentarily causes the world to melt away and lets the reader see what he saw.

This is an amazing short story collection. Buy it and read one of the fifty-one every day.

If you like Shakespeare - if you like Jack Vance - if you like Fritz Leiber - if you like Lovecraft - then buy *everything* you can find by Lord Dunsany. Frankly, I firmly believe that all of the above Literary Geniuses with the exception of Shakespeare were heavily influenced by Dunsany's works. I have almost everything he has published (some at great expence), and cannot think of one collection/novel/play that has not enhanced my life. Surely, he is one of the greatest authors of all time. I bought this book to replace a copy that was - er, - *Permanently 'Borrowed'* by an (_ex_)friend of mine... Such is the power of the wordcraft Dunsany weaves: my former friend simply could not leave the book here, unfinished, after a visit. |:o[

Regrettably, claims--mainly but by no means exclusively made by valley-girl type teenyboppers--that this or that current fave doorstop-fantasy "writer" is "the all time greatest!!" make less jejune readers wary of "greatest" claims. Nonetheless, accepting that caveat, an excellent case can be made (and often is made by serious reviewers) that Lord Dunsany is the reigning master of fantasy literature.

This charming if miniscule collection--no tale over a few pages, some but one page, one but a single sentence (but oh, my what a telling sentence!)--is a non-stop delight, richly representative of Dunsany at the height of his powers. His language use is consummate, as is his ability to bounce from the comic to the moving and back again.

No literate home can do without much Dunsany on its bookshelves, and this book is a pleasant addition to that list. (One must presume that there were copyright-based reasons why this work was not included in the wonderful six-book Dunsany omnibus "Time and the Gods".)

If I could only keep one collection of the stories of Lord Dunsany it would be this volume. Indeed, it was the volume that I kept when I was faced with thinning my personal library. It is good that this little paperback was so well selected, since for decades it was the only affordably priced example in print.

The editor (Lin Carter) lovingly selected stories from seven of Dunsany's eight volumes of short fantasy written between 1905 and 1919. There are eight tales from TIME AND THE GODS, one from THE SWORD OF WELLERAN, two from FIFTY-ONE TALES, seven from A DREAMER'S TALES, seven from THE BOOK OF WONDER, two from THE LAST BOOK OF WONDER, and three from TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES. There is also an excellent, informative introduction about the author and his works, plus every section has an short intro telling something of Dunsany's life at the time he wrote the stories.

I won't try to describe Dunsany's writing style here. Some call it fluff, but to me these are somewhere between rare jewels and solidified dreams. No one wrote like this man, for he truly walked the border between the fields we know and the fields we do not.

For a generation of fantasy readers, this was our introduction to the exquisite short stories of Lord Dunsany, courtesy of editor Lin Carter's wondrous Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series. It includes such essentials as the compact epic "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth," which accomplishes in a few pages what other writers fail to do half as well with hundreds; the powerful & haunting "Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean," in which the heroic young suitor of the beautiful princess discovers something far more entrancing, a story ending with bitterly tragic lines; and "Idle Days on the Yann," which contains enough seed material for a dozen novels. But those are merely a few examples. Some of these stories have the ringing, lyric beauty of old myths & legend; others are edged with a satiric, wicked wit. But all champion Beauty, and are shining examples of it.

These stories can easily be found in contemporary reprints & anthologies of Dunsany's work, and any serious reader of fantasy is encouraged to seek them out. But if you should spot a battered paperback copy of this particular volume in a used bookstore or at a rummage sale, pick it up. Carter's notes are an additional treat, and the evocative cover art by Ray Cruz is a reminder of a better day in paperback publishing, before generic fantasy art became so rampant. And of course the stories themselves are treasure indeed!

Most highly recommended!

This is the eleventh book in Chaosium's Cthulhu Cycle series. This volume features tales of Lovecraft's most well-known creation, the octopus-headed entity, Cthulhu. Included are the foundational stories (i.e. "The Call Of Cthulhu" by H.P. Lovecraft and "The Black Island" by August W. Derleth), some rare reprints (i.e. "Some Notes Concerning A Green Box" by Alan Dean Foster) and some interesting new stories of Cthulhu in the modern world (i.e. "Rude Awakening" by Will Murray). In any collection the stories are of varied quality but I enoyed the majority of the works collected. If you are a reader of Lovecraft's Mythos fiction then this is a must for your library.

The Cthulhu Cycle

THE CTHULHU CYCLE and THE DISCIPLES OF CTHULHU are some of the best collections that Chaosium has put together. THE CTHULHU CYCLE is marked by strong writing and and classic tales pertaining to Cthulhu. Something included that I have missed from some of the other anthologies is the editor's notes that discuss academically the stories and their part in the development of the Mythos. Having certain influences pointed out is helpful to those who are familiar enough with Lovecraft's work to want more depth.

"A Shop in Go-By Street" by lord Dunsany: A few phrases on an idol in a reliquary seem to have sparked the first half of Lovecraft's famous story. Knowing that Dunsany strongly influenced HPL, I appreciated seeing one of his stories included.

"Count Magnus" by MR James: I'm not sure that this strongly ties in with the theme, but James is an excellent writer of terror and horror, and this is one of his better stories.

"The Call of Cthulhu" by that guy. You don't expect it to be missing, do you?

"The Black Islnad" by August Derleth: I have a beef about Derleth's "Shrewbury cycle." The guy is like some Scooby-Doo mystery gang, globe-trotting and solving mysteries. It has the feel of organized resistance to the Old Ones, and winning to boot. But, being the influence that he has been, Derleth's work deserves to be there.

"Patiently Waiting" is a story from Inspector Lagrasse's point of view, as he deals with cults and Things Man Was Not Meant To Know (tm). As with other stories in this collection, the characters are fleshed out along with their emotions and motivations.

"Recrudescence": this is an interesting story about a different cult, a different god, and a different mechanism for release. I've seen something similar in "The Greatest Adventure" by Eric Temple Bell, but otherwise it is an original plot device involving the stored bio-energy of dead species.

"Black Fire": Usually I don't care for lovecraftian stories where the good-guys triumph - it seems like a contradiction in terms. HPL's vision is that the universe doesn't care if there is a happy ending. In "Black Fire", a carefully-laid plan for the return of the Old Ones is thwarted by a simple man doing the only thing he can think of to stop the destruction. His great sacrifice saves the day, even as the next trap leading to man's destruction begins to unfold elsewhere. It has the feel of inevitable doom that we all know and love, but our capacity to sacrifice for the good of others makes the horror more poignant (if we are mere brutes with no redeeming and enduring qualities, it is hard to feel regret for our passing).

"Zombies from R'Lyeh": The main strength of this piece for me was the author's development of the setting. His description and invocation of tropical seas and islands is a siren song, and the horror is more personal when I feel the longing to be in the same place. I am now seriously considering dropping my thesis work and becoming a pirate to sail the tropical seas. Yar, be forewarned!

It's been almost a century since the "Sword of Welleran" collection was first published, compiling the title novella with other stories by early fantasy writer Lord Dunsany. Now finally this collection is back in print, and new readers can get acquainted with Dunsany's elaborate prose and otherworldly plotlines.

The title novella is a robust story written in a delicate style -- it takes place in the city of Merimna, "a marvel of spires and figures of bronze, and marble fountains, and trophies of fabulous wars, and broad streets given over wholly to the Beautiful." It's a city that proudly remembers its mysterious heroes and past victories.

When the hero Welleran is killed, nobody can quite believe it. But he is dead, and when the dead hero finds that he is "but dreams," he decides to haunt a young sleeping leader named Rold, in the hopes that young Rold will take his (Welleran's) sword and attack their enemies.

In the other stories, Dunsany spins stories about the exotic city of Babbulkund, and how it was destroyed, about the exquisite dancing "Kith of the Elf Folk," about the death of Tom the highwayman and the three men who are having some fun with graves, the Book of Magicians, natural disasters having a chitchat, a hero pursuing a monster, and some of the most frightening ghosts imaginable.

Dunsany was one of the few fantasy authors who wrote before Tolkien, and his stories are still striking in their originality and beauty. Most fantasy writers just churn out bad quest novels of at least six hundred pages. Not so with Dunsany, whose stories are as exquisite as they are short, and whose stories about elves and brave heroes never seem cliched.

Except for the odd mention of pharoahs and archbishops, these stories could almost take place in another universe. Dunsany spins up elaborate pictures of cities that never existed and fairy creatures, without seeming trite. Instead, it feels like a book of lost legends, deities, history and myths that has just been dug up again.

His writing is almost as lovely as his world-building. At times it can be a bit formal, but not to the point where it seems rigid or bloodless ("Evening stole up out of mysterious lands and came down on the streets of Paris..."). He lavishes loving detail and quiet grace, even on the grotesque "sins" sitting in the laps of ghosts. Even the cutesy "Hurricane" is beautifully written, and has a poignant depth.

Lord Dunsany's "Sword of Welleran and Other Tales" is one of his most entrancing books, without a single dud story in the entire collection. An exquisite read.

This book is an original collection of short stories (first published in 1908) by an Irish writer and dramatist Lord Dunsany.

In the first tale, The Sword of Welleran, Dunsany has created a beautiful and, so I would describe it, allegorical story of what Jorge Luis Borges (another master of the short story form, and of imaginative fiction) terms as "the myth of nationality", and of how it leads men to warring and to grief. Most of the rest of the tales are somewhat shorter, and many more open to interpretation (like the terrifying The Ghosts), and all share Dunsany's imaginative narrative style and his masterful way with the English language, with which he conjures up the many atmospheres and places that are appropriate to the tales and the moments at hand.

Dunsany's work is unique (as Dunsany himself was unique, or at least an extremely rare piece of talent cultivated amid fruitful cultural and social environment), but if you enjoy it, you should also try that of James Branch Cabell (especially Jurgen, Figures of Earth, The Silver Stallion, The King Was in His Counting House, and The Nightmare Has Triplets; but the rest are almost equally good), and of Jack Vance (especially The Dying Earth, Lyonesse, Maske: Thaery, and The Demon Princes, but most of the rest from this master stylist are highly recommended, too).

Lord Dunsany is best known for having written some of the earliest fantasy, and the first fantastical works of genuine lyricism. But what is not widely-known about him is that he also fought in World War I, of which his experiences are recorded in "Tales of War."

"Prayer of the Men of Daleswood" is unusual for Dunsany, in that it is entirely composed of a monologue about a village called Daleswood. "Road" is a touching story about the "road" to peace that the men killed in the war had made. "Imperial Monument" reflects on the lasting effects of the war on France, Germany, and others. "Walk to the Trenches" is a meditative examination of the landscape around the trenches. "Walk in Picardy" offers a look into the trek of a soldier into the trenches. "What Happened on the Night of the Twenty-Seventh" is a story about Dick Cheeser, a pleasantly ordinary English boy who has his first night as a sentry. "Standing To" is about the dawn on the battlefield. "Splendid Traveller" hints at fantasy, the story of a British airman. "England" is a solid little dialogue-driven tale where a Private and a Sargeant have a talk about sausages, gardens, and other things in England. "Shells" is Dunsany's description of German guns and shells; there is something almost alarmingly clinical about this essay, until the final paragraph. "Two Degrees of Envy" is a unique story, about two unfortunate men -- one English, one German -- who are envied by their former comrades. "Master of No Man's Land" is a mildly humorous story about a rutabaga.

"Weeds and Wire" is a rather sad story about English soldiers wandering through the ruins of a French village. "Spring in England and Flanders" reflects on two different springs in two different countries -- one intact, one a wasteland. "Nightmare Countries" is a reflection on the hideous condition of WWI France. "Spring and the Kaiser" sadly reflects on how the German leaders weren't happy with simple, peaceful contentment. "Two Songs" is about mirrored events in both England and France. "Punishment" is a haunting, Dickensian story about a phantom who takes the Kaiser on a tour of the homes that he has destroyed. "English Spirit" is about Cane, a man who has been to war and doesn't want to go again. "An Investigation Into the Causes and Origin of the War" is about the "imperial barber... that eccentric man whose name so few remember." "Lost" is about the last chance of Hitler for redemption. "Last Mirage" is a poetic look at how France is a "desert" for the Nazis. "Famous Man" is about an unnamed, famous personage (Churchill?) who visits after World War I. "Oases of Death" is about tiny gravesites that are left green. "Anglo-Saxon Tyranny" is a reflection on American and English sea-power. "Memories" is a reflection on Ireland in the first World War. "Movement" is a story about a weird crank in England, who becomes very vocal upon the beginning of the war. "Nature's Cad" is a rather weird story about a gorilla. "Home of Herr Schnitzelhaaser" is a saddening story about an old man, an old woman, and their pig. "Deed of Mercy" is a demonstration about how even evil people can give acts of mercy. "Last Scene of All" is a saddening story about a dying man and what he sees. "Old England" is a fitting finale to the collection, in which old John Plowman thinks about the men injured in the war.

Though the events of this book are either real or set in real situations, there is a vague sense of unreality in almost all of them. Only a few don't display Dunsany's dreamy prose, such as "Prayer" and "England," which have a solidly English feel to the dialogue and descriptions. The overall feeling of "Tales" is not anger or fear, but simply a sadness that all those people were killed, and the devastating effects on the countrypeople of both allies and enemies alike in the future. At the same time, like J.R.R. Tolkien, he shows good insight into the ordinary guys who were called from peaceful country homes to fight.

For some G-rated insight into the minds of the soldiers in the World Wars, this is a unique and interesting collection of stories and essays.

The Wildside Press edition of Tales of War adds 2 fantasy stories, "One More Tale" and "La Dernire Mobilisation," plus a new introduction written by Dunsany scholar Darrell Schweitzer. A real treat for Dunsany fans!

This 5" x 8" Dover paperback reprints 35 short fantasies by Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany, together with 20 illustrations by his fantastic illustrator, Sidney Sime. The collection includes such wonderful ironic masterpieces as "The Exiles Club," "The Hoard of the Gibbelins," "The Sign," and "The Secret of the Gods."

Lord Dunsany was an original fantasist who created his own cycle of gods and legends between 1904 and 1916. The stories are mostly short Arabian-Nights style fantasies suffused with an elegant irony that strongly influenced U.S. horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. Also included are 6 of Dunsany's later (post-1920) stories of the incorrigible barfly, Jorkens.

Born in Ireland in 1878, Dunsany was actually a professional soldier who served in the Boer War and WWI. He is caricatured briefly in Olivia Manning's "The Balkans Trilogy," where he appears as the dyspepsic guest Byron professor at the University of Athens. Dunsany devoted much of his later life to hunting and died in 1957. His written work is a surprising counterpoint to his biographical life, and he is frequently associated with the turn-of-the-century Irish Revival movement along with Yeats and Synge.

Sidney H. Sime (1867-1942) was an ink-and-wash illustrator working in a turn-of-the-century style comparable to Edmund Dulac or Charles Robinson, but without their color palettes. The extensive range of grays used for his pictures are well reproduced in my edition.

I have to add that the back of the book jacket claims that it is "A Dover edition designed for years of use" : I purchased my copy in 1978, and the binding almost immediately detached!

This book is in print as I write this, as part of the Fantasy Masterworks edition of _Time and the Gods_; it is a collection of 18 short stories.

"A Tale of London" - in a reversal of the usual pattern, a sultan has asked his seer to relate to him a vision of the fabulous city of London.

"Thirteen at Table" - The ghosts of twelve women wronged by old Sir Richard Arlen have had dinner with him every night for the last thirty years.

"The City on Mallington Moor" - A rumor is spreading of a strange city of white marble appearing out of the mist.

"Why the Milkman Shudders When He Perceives the Dawn" - this is a tale told in the Hall of the Ancient Company of Milkmen when all the craft are assembled.

"The Bad Old Woman in Black" - What to do in the face of an omen of evil?

"The Bird of the Difficult Eye" - a tale of the only thief employed by West End jewellers since the distressing tale of Thangobrind (see _The Book of Wonder_).

"The Long Porter's Tale" - Gerald Jones, suffering from melancholy, went to a magician in London and was diagnosed with flux of time, and was recommended to take a day at the Edge of the World as treatment.

"The Loot of Loma" - The raiders didn't know that a priest's written curse had been slipped into their loot.

"The Secret of the Sea" - What do ships worship, and what temple do they go to?

"How Ali Came to the Black Country" - Many people may say that technology and pollution are modern devils, but how many people are serious enough to take the traditional steps to imprison devils?

"The Bureau D'Echanges De Maux" - Mysterious shop offering strange goods.

"A Story of Land and Sea" - continuation of "The Loot of Bombasharna" from _The Book of Wonder_.

"A Narrow Escape" - A magician in a dank cavern below Belgrave Square and his preparations to destroy London.

"The Watch-Tower" - When a tower is built to guard forever against the Saracens, forever may be longer than you think.

"How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None's Desire"

"The Three Sailors' Gambit" - Sometimes even the Devil can't win at the game of selling souls. A chess story.

"The Exiles' Club" - How are the mighty fallen; and even the fallen have to go somewhere.

"The Three Infernal Jokes" - Not so much selling a soul, as trading away an option.

This short story collection is also included in the Fantasy Masterworks edition of _Time and the Gods_.

I've discussed the 12 stories herein in alphabetical order rather than order of appearance.

"The Doom of La Traviata" - La Traviata's soul has been condemned, but the seven angels assigned the task of carrying out her punishment have looked long at all that remained beautiful in her soul...

Love, who for so long led the old man through the marshes, is departing now that he has reached safety "On the Dry Land".

"The Fall of Babbulkund" - Babbulkund, city of marvel, is so beautiful that even the prophet speaking against the iniquities of the King and his people must mourn its doom.

"The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth" - The legendary Sacnoth will be a sword - if anyone can remove the spine and eyes of the dragon Tharagavverung to create it.

"The Ghosts" - Two travellers have taken shelter in an old house for the night, but the ghosts are the ones to be pitied.

"The Highwayman" - Tom o'the Roads was hanged on the Gallows Tree, and his soul could not go free. But in life he had won the three staunchest friends that God had ever given unto a man.

"The Hurricane" - The Hurricane has met with his old friend, the mole-like, sleepy Earthquake.

"The Kith of the Elf-Folk" - A small Wild Thing from the marshes chanced to see the angels passing to and fro between the souls of the worshippers in the cathedral and Paradise, and coveted a soul of its own.

"The Lord of Cities" - Who really inherits the work of the world and the making of cities?

"The Sword of Welleran" - The city of Merimna cherishes the memory of the great hero Welleran, but has failed to learn its lesson.

"In the Twilight" - Does a drowning victim's life really pass before his eyes in the last moments before death?

"The Whirlpool" - A traveller has met with the Whirlpool who guards the Straits that pass into the further seas, as he takes his single day of rest for a hundred years.