George MacDonald Books

Like many people, I read MacDonald's 'Lilith' and 'Phantastes.'
They were superb. I tried a collection of short stories, they
were ok. It seemed the rest of his work, labeled as children's
stories or novels of Scotch pastoral life, would not interest
me.

2 or 3 years later I read Melville's 'Moby Dick' I was casting
about desperately for something even remotely comparable to
Melville's masterpiece. I read Chesterton's 'The Man who was
Thursday.' Very good book. But what next?

Even more desperate, I ordered an unabridged 1927 printing of
Sir Gibbie. About 400 pages of small print, btw. I am amazed.
I'm 3/4 thru it. This is even better than 'Lilith'
or 'Phantastes.' This is MacDonald at the height of his power.
His ideals and his knowledge of the human condition come thru
in prose so rich and powerful that many passages have to be
studied rather than read. Like Melville in 'Moby Dick.'

Yes, if any of this can be conveyed to a child, great. Yes,
Christians may embrace it and seek to make it their own.
MacDonald was a minister and he preaches from the soul here.

But Gibbie as a literary character is a Titan of the same stature
as Melville's Ahab. That comparison is of Light to Dark only
because I don't know of any other fictional Hero of the Light
comparable to Gibbie. Let me underline this: if you won't like
a hero who is entirely good, if you don't believe any character
can embody the universal ideals of humanity, then you won't like
'Sir Gibbie.' MacDonald is utterly uncompromising on this issue.
He wanted a Power of heaven to walk on earth. Gibbie is that
Power.

I believe 'Sir Gibbie' is the work which is at the root of
MacDonald's influence and friendship with other writers.

But let me make clear, the book is not just an exercise in
character development. MacDonald's prose in observing the
nature of the book's many other characters is devastatingly
potent.

One of the most powerful literary works I've ever read.

Sir Gibbie by George Macdonald
The first time I read this book, I found it long, boring, and dull. I didn't understand why everyone else who read it thought it was so excellent. So I really thought hard about it one night, and made up my mind that I would keep reading it until I understood the message. Finally, it came to me, and it was so overpowering that I broke down and cried.
Gibbie is a young, mute boy with an alcoholic father. He has a kind heart and is extremely gentle. His good friend, Sambo, is murdered, and he runs away. Gibbie is just a small boy in a large, cruel world, and he is treated badly by everyone on his journey but one woman, Janet. The variety of places he lived and the things he had to go through really taught me that not everyone has a full roof over their head, or enough clothes to cover more than a few body parts. This book gave me a lot to think about, such as the fact that some children are abused and don't show it at all to anyone. Or that most people just make assumptions about things that they know nothing about. I realize that I am guilty of these things, as everyone else is.
This book was very compelling and I learned a lot about grace and mercy from it. The forgiveness that Gibbie shows his father towards the end is unbelievable, and I thought it was amazing that a tiny, mute boy could show so much more faith, wisdom, and emotion than anyone I have ever met, or read in a book. The story definitely had an impact on my view of how the world treats people and how the smallest child (who isn't even real) could change your life. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone - it is extremely good!

Discovering Sir Gibbie by George MacDonald has changed my reading habits.
A wonderful story with many spiritual truths. I will be a fan of George MacDonald from now on.
Yvonne Barrett

The April 22, 2000 and April 26, 2005 reviews are, I think, referring to a different edition. This edition is by Johannesen, who just reprint the original edition. They are referring to edited versions which "dumb down" or make suitable for younger folk the difficulty in some of MacDonald's writings (i.e. Scotch dialect, brief escapades away from the main story). If you are looking for the unedited version, you have found it. Buy confidently. This is one of my favorites of MacDonald's books, but then, so many are.

I had just began rereading the original long-form version of the story when this Young Readers version arrived.

It didn't take long for me to be disappointed.

In the first, I had to work hard to understand the Broad Scotch passages, the non-P.C. language (BTW, what's wrong with using the word "negro" in an innocently non-judgmental way?) and the author's lengthy sidebars, which are all missing from this edited version. This later edition makes the central story much easier to read.

But, sadly, Ms. Lindskoog removes much of the richness and depth of the original. Gone are the insights into the characters' motivations - all we get are their actions. Gone are the many of MacDonald's opinions about human life and God's desires for us. Gone are many interpersonal exchanges between characters, such as the most of the quite delightful argument between Mistress Croale and Reverend Sclater about his goal of closing her saloon.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a very good story and does not shy away from MacDonald's original *very* evangelical Christian goal. But (this version at least) misses much of what the author originally seems to have intended.

If you can get the full, unabriged version, please, by all means do so. You will be enriched through the effort of reading it. But if you don't want to work that hard, this version is still worthwhile.

Good adventure novel. Interesting characters, especially the "human" ones. I thought the hero, Malcolm, was too good to be true, too "saintly" to be real. The ending leaves you hanging though. I hadn't known when I started reading this book, that it is really Book 1 of a two-part story. Make sure you can get hold of the second book "The Marquis' Secret" before you started reading "The Fisherman's Lady".

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"The Fisherman's Lady" and its sequel "The Marquis Secret" are available in a single volume, "Malcom".

This and "The Highlander's Last Song" are among his best.

An excellent gift for a University lecturer or a politicians wife.

MacDonald inspired men like Tolkien, Lewis and Chesterton. If you like tension between characters you can't beat MacDonald. The man was a genius.

Enjoy.

This book was my introduction to George MacDonald's adult fiction, and I think his best! Don't miss the sequel, The Marqui's Secret. As a child I grew up reading C.S. Lewis, John White and MacDonald's writings and developed a love for the keen insights and deep thoughts in MacDonald's novels as well as his inspirational books. Interestingly, he was the spiritual and literary mentor for both Lewis and Tolkein. They are not a lightweight romances like modern authors tend to write, but classic love story both men and women read and enjoy.

Excellent reading! This was my introduction to George MacDonald's books. Not a soppy romance as today's authors tend to write, but even one that men would enjoy reading for leisure! As I am a GREAT fan of C.S.Lewis' and Tolkien's writings, I was fascinated to find that both these author's drew a lot of their inspiration from MacDonald's writings. I have since read "The Princess & the Goblin", "The Princess & Curdie", "The Golden Key", and "The Light Princess". My husband is currently reading Phantastes and we have also bought Lilith, still to be read. I look forward to getting "The Marquis' Secret" if I can, as I really would like to follow the full story!!

I HATE abridgements. How dare Phillips assume that Christian readers, or any other readers, can't read a 400 page book. I just finished a contemporary novel of 933 pages. Because Phillips chose to cut about half of the book, what we have is a series of disjointed scenes with no clear transitions between them.

What is left after Phillip's butchery is charming, enjoyable, great fun, and clearly writing of a very high order. Macdonald provides interesting characters, deft plotting, a fascinating picture of 19th cent Scotland, and useful moral reflection. If he was not of the very first rank of writers, he was not very far below it. There some respects in which I find Macdonald to be superior to other Victorian writers, for expample, his understanding of the responsibilities of rank, and his refusal to sentimentalize his women characters.

Unfortunately, Phillips did not get the point. The original novel, to judge from the excellence of the half Phillips left us, was much more than a "Christian romance", it was a Christian work of art. Phillip's condescending assumption that Christians cannot read and respond to Christian literature as art, not just as tract, is unsufferable. Does he wish to spoon feed the Bible to us as well? This is particularly upsetting to me, because most of Macdonald's adult novels are out of print, and virtually unobtainable in their entirety.

In "The Hollywood History of the World", George MacDonald Fraser provides an enjoyable survey of Hollywood's treatment of historical subjects. This is no scholarly dissertation, enumerating all of the factual errors in each film and grading them on accuracy. Indeed, there's very little scholarship at all. Although there is some judgement on historical matters, most of Mr. MacDonald Fraser's commentary is made up observations about actors, sets, dialogue and drama. This book is really the reminiscences of a movie lover who happens to be a history buff. The author adeptly conveys the wonder one must have felt watching movies during Hollywood's Golden Age, and makes one realize how incredible it is that we are able to actually see history resurrected before our eyes, while all previous generations before the early 20th century had to resort to dusty manuscripts and pictures. The movies are the closest process we have to time travel and George MacDonald Fraser concludes that Hollywood has done a pretty job of it.

A brillantly conceived foundation with combines GMF love of history and Films. It also allows him to poniticated on all of the issues and ideas that claim his fancy. It was a very fun read for me!

This is not a dry scholarly study but a witty, droll, and entertaining book in its own right. Fraser has apparently seen every historical film ever made; it goes without saying that films set in Regency England and Mary Stuart's reign in Scotland are throughly scrutinized by Mr. Fraser, along with "One Million Years B.C." and "Ben Hur." Fraser peppers the book throughout with his own knowledge of history without ever getting pedantic. A real treat for movie buffs and fans of Fraser's novels.

I bought this book when it first came out in the '80s, and it has gained that most honored spot for a book -- the bookcase right next to my bed. It's an old friend; I've read it over and over. It's hugely entertaining, and remarkably informative as well. I joined Netflix largely to get access to many of the wonderful old movies I'd read about in Fraser's book, and I've learned all sorts of tidbits of history.

Also fascinating are the many illustrations showing contemporary portraits of the historical characters portrayed and the actors who played them. Much of the casting and costuming has been remarkably good -- in particular, in The Private Life of Henry VIII, Merle Oberon's costume as Anne Boleyn is a dead-on copy of the clothes Anne wore in a portrait. Read this book and you'll have a new respect for how much history Hollywood has gotten right.

This was a very entertaining and unstuffy book to read comparing actual history and historical figures with Hollywood's interpretation of them. Surprisingly, Hollywood did a pretty good job of it, most of the time. It also contains over 200 pictorial comparisons of paintings of historical figures with photos of their Hollywood look-a-likes (or not), e.g. Charlton Heston as Cardinal Richelieu; Charles Boyer as Napoleon; Henry Fonda as a young Abraham Lincoln; and a truly remarkable photo of Ben Kingsley as Ghandi. (On the other hand, cute and perky Doris Day looked nothing like the coarse, drunken, manish Martha Jane Canarray - aka "Calamity Jane.") the author, George MacDonald Fraser, best known for his series of comic novels about the misadventures of the Victorian era rogue Harry Flashman, writes in his usual, easy going and humorous style that is guaranteed to keep the reader's interest high. This is a difficult book to put down. I recommend it to movie and history buffs alike.

While there have been countless books about the Beatles & their music, and there'll be countless more to come, Ian MacDonald has written one of the few truly indispensible ones. It's a precise, clear-eyed, song-by-song analysis of the canon, placing each song in cultural & musical context, with plenty of informative & often witty footnotes. Even if you've heard these songs a thousand times before, MacDonald will have you playing them again, listening as if for the first time. You won't agree with every judgment he makes, some of which are surprisingly harsh -- I certainly didn't! -- but he'll definitely make you rediscover the act you've known for all these years. I can't recommend this one highly enough -- any fan of the Fabs simply *must* own it!

The late Ian MacDonald really nailed it with this book. I try to read any comprehensive analysis of the Beatles recorded catalog that I can - and none even come close to this. Simply put, this book changed the way I listened to the Beatles music. It made me a more attentive, discerning listener. It broadened the scope of my knowledge of '60s music by pointing the way towards other music of the era that I hadn't yet heard. I find it hard to overstate the influence this book has had on me personally - I have read it cover to cover numerous times and still find myself going back to it.

This isn't a history of the Beatles - it is a song-by-song analysis, in the order the songs were recorded, of everything officially released by the group. And make no mistake, it is not an objective collection of facts - there ARE mostly reliable recording dates, release dates, and song credits for every entry, so it can be used as a quick reference. But this is a highly opinionated piece of writing - Mr. MacDonald was not afraid to ruffle feathers by offering critical evaluations of some of the Beatles most popular songs (he is quite harsh, for instance, towards classics like "Across the Universe" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps").

Mr. MacDonald does a great job of placing this body of work within the context of the time it was released - but he also manages to assess each song purely on its own terms, as well. While quite obviously a true-blue Beatles fan, MacDonald maintained a certain level of objectivity throughout - never getting caught up in fanboy idolization. He's tough on this music - when he feels a song isn't up to the band's established standards, he makes it very clear what he doesn't like. In a way, I think MacDonald managed to have a significant impact on certain aspects of popular opinion towards the Beatles music. That may sound like a bit much, but keep in mind that this book was originally published in 1994 and has become (arguably) the standard for critical analysis of the Beatles music.

Throughout the book, MacDonald challenges many of the long-held notions that had gone more or less unchallenged in many, many Beatles-related wiritings. Some of the stereotypes - i.e. John was the intellectual and innovator, Paul was the lightweight romantic - had practically become accepted as facts by music fans. There isn't so much revisionism for it's own sake in this book, but rather a serious re-examination of those popular opinions/theories that often yields a fresh perspective. That's where the value really can be found in this book - you may not agree with every idea MacDonald puts forth, but it is guaranteed you will be forced to take a fresh look at the Beatles music.

This is an indispensable book about Beatles music appreciation. MacDonald was one of the most idiosyncratic critics of music that ever lived. This book must be owned by anyone, especially musicians and songwriters, who wants to truly get to the heart of the music of the Beatles.

The only disappointment for me (and for anyone who's been faithfully buying and reading the updates of this book since its release in the mid-1990s) is that the 3rd edition is NOT REVISED. If you own the second edition, you do not need to buy this book. There is not one difference in the text.

Oddly enough, this edition has slightly better quality paper, for some reason, whereas the previous edition uses sort of newspaper/telephone book quality sheets that tear easily. Two other subtle changes are: a different pic on the front cover, and the omission of one of the members of Oasis' profanely worded endorsement of the book.

Happy reading if you've never been inside the book before, but if you have the 2nd revised edition, you can sit this one out.

It stands to reason that people want to evaluate and lend critical analysis of the music of The Beatles. And, like many others, I'm reading it and becoming engrossed in all of it.
However, if you are a "listener", be forewarned that this treatise on musicianship can be a downer to delicate sensibilities. It is possible that all you love about Beatles' music will be disturbingly described as not what you thought it to be.
As an admirer of George Harrison, both for his skill as an instrumentalist and his lyrical voicings, the book is traumatic...only a slight exaggeration. Ringo is nearly non-existent because of his role in the music making process, but George suffers a great deal of scathing commentary that very nearly excludes him from contributing anything to the sound that propelled The Beatles into musical history. On this, I find the author's viewpoint greatly lacking.
So, the book is a resource, but briskly opinionated on many subjects.
It seems we all have our "fave fab"...no exceptions here.

I appreciated this more scholarly approach to the influence of The Beatles on 60s culture, and vice versa. However, there was a lot of focus on the craftsmanship of the songs, which I wasn't really that interested in. I would have preferred more social-biographical content. Some of the more interesting tidbits were relegated to footnotes. But overall a good read, and it's nice to have some information about each and every song in their catalog, even if I disagreed with some of the criticisms and some of the praise.

This is the second in the Inspector Felse series. Unfortunately Ellis Peters has written pages that are full of descriptions of emotional trauma and "angst" of the protagonists as well as waxing lyrical with metaphysical insights. There is no doubt that characters need to be 3-dimensional, as well as scenes and situations to have reality and flavour, but Ellis Peters seems to have over-done it. Readers can skim through some of the more esoteric paragraphs without losing the thread. Despite this, the book does have suspense, a good plot and enough action to hook in the reader and, of course, a surprise ending. Having read it, I don't really want to read it again.

I like romances, I like mysteries, I like the combination of the two. This is both mystery and romance, light on the romance, even light on the mystery until you're drawn in and trapped. Ellis Peters's description and prose move the story along unobtrusively yet with no stalls. A touch above the usual.

Ellis Peters was a great storyteller, and this book is a fine example of her wonderful work. The story is about a missing cellist from an English traveling orchestra. The cellist has been missing for 13 years, but events happen that bring his story to the forefront. The story is set in the Austrian Alps, and George Felse and his wonderful wife Bunty are there trying to figure out a mystery. This old disappearance seems to be linked to some modern day crimes, and George wants to follow the thread until he uncovers the long-hidden secret. The book is packed with action, and it will keep you guessing until the end. Ms. Peters knew how to pace a plot to keep her readers quickly turning the pages. Her characterizations are also flawless. If you love the Brother Cadfael series like I do, I suggest that you read the George Felse series as well.

Across the heath to war I fare
The great green heath so broad and bare
For there, where the splendid trumpets blare and thunder
There is my house, my house the green turf under.

Such is the closing stanza of Maggie Tressider's personal translation of "Where the Splendid Trumpets Blow", made when she first began learning her concert repetoire. Contraltos, as her friend and colleague Tom Lovell is wont to say in his more sour moods, are liable to find themselves expected to sing a lot of Mahler.

Sharing the driving en route to a concert in Liverpool, Maggie hits a patch of slick clay at forty, and the last thing she's aware of is her own voice, lamenting "My God, what have I done, I've killed Tom." Even upon awakening in the Royal Hospital in Comerbourne after nearly dying in surgery, and being assured that Tom escaped with only a mild concussion, Maggie is filled with a foreboding shaken loose by the shock of the accident. Her surgeon, a great admirer of her music, persuades her to confide in him, as one artist to another who wishes to keep his work from being wasted. She's haunted by the feeling, too foggy to be quite a memory, that at some time, she failed someone so badly that he died.

Her surgeon (meaning to tactfully steer her onto a therapist's couch), suggests, "Suppose someone else, someone who makes a job of that kind of thing, took over the stone-turning for you?" And Maggie grasps the idea with both hands - and gets him to put her in touch with a good private detective.

Enter Francis Killian, a battered Korean War veteran, who mostly takes on impersonal investigations involving lots of paper: research for writers, tracing witnesses, searching records for lost details. Noting that Maggie always speaks of her victim as 'he', Francis begins combing through her past for the great turning points of her life, and looking for any young men she might have associated with before immersing herself completely in her concert career. Her serious study began with Dr. Paul Fredericks; as one of his star pupils, she accompanied some of his twice-yearly European tours ('Freddy's Circus'). And on her last such trip, there was one difference: Bernarda Eliot Felse, rather than Freddy's sister, served as chaperone.

Enter Bunty Felse and her husband Inspector George Felse. Bunty had noticed a change in Maggie on the trip, turning her back on everything in life but music. And one troublesome young cellist, Robert 'Robin' Aylwin, walked out on the Circus in Austria - left the hotel, the Goldener Hirsch, and never returned. A hotel in a little town at the exact center of a lot of illegal activity along several borders, including another of George's missing person cases. And George, as a professional stone-turner who *hates* loose ends, suggests a little vacation, to see if Francis flips over the right stone to answer everyone's questions.

Did Maggie have anything to do with Robin's fate? Or could he himself have flipped over the wrong rock one summer night, and turned up something deadly?

Bunty has a larger role in this volume than in some of the cases set earlier in the Felse marriage. Their son, Dominic 'and his Tossa' are away in Yugoslavia (possibly _The Piper on the Mountain_) and don't enter into the story. Maggie Tressider, the woman with an archangel's voice whose face carries more force than any photograph can convey, dominates the story, however. After her ranks Francis, who's being forced to feel again after so much digging through her emotional history, looking for someone who could have made her feel so guilty. The supporting players are also very well drawn: surgeon Gilbert Rice; Friedl, an otherwise beautiful woman cursed with a harelip, one of the family who runs the hotel; and who can forget the platoons of drunken Austrian wedding guests infesting the hotel late in the story, getting in *everyone's* way as a search is undertaken. :)

When a friend recommended this book to me, I thought she was out of her mind. The stories were written in the 1800s and the writer was from Scotland, of all places. I decided to read it anyway, and was greatly surprised! It takes a little while to get into it, and if you can overlook the fact that it's not a modern setting, it actually gets pretty good. This book is actually three books in one. It starts with the story of an unmarried vicar in a small Scottish town, and ends years later with his daughter's story. There are some very interesting characters in this book. The vicar is very human and very loving (and non-judgmental). I would recommend this book to middle/high schoolers. It would make a great summer reading or even a homeschool supplement.

A lovely collection of stories. A delight in today's sea of romances. Very thought provoking. Recommended for adult and young adult alike.

This is an omnibus editon of George MacDonald's three Vicar Walton stories, the second and third of which are fairly difficult to find. Excellent reads, very enjoyable. The only drawback is this particular edition is edited into modern English, so the original flavor of MacDonald's writing is lost. While that has its advantages, especially in readability, still this aren't the books that MacDonald wrote and that C. S. Lewis named as some of his favorites. If you are a casual reader that just wants some of the finest English fiction from the late Victorian period, I highly recommend this edition. If you're a fan of MacDonald, though, you might want to keep looking for the unaltered originals.

One of the more challenging books I've read but well worth the effort. MacDonald weaves a wonderful story about a vicar and his family. Hamilton did a great thing when he edited this trilogy for generations to come. Take up the challenge and end up with a jewel of a book!

We read this aloud to our family and ALL loved it. We think the author is the best ever. Most of his books are Scottish and C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolken both claimed him as their mentor! GET IT ! :)

A young boy with no advantages, as this world counts them, in seeking goodness, went on to discover that doing right, as God counts right, is the best reward. A wonderful book.

George MacDonald is the master when it comes to communicating the beauty and power of Nature. He has a deep appreciation for the transcendant meaning and purpose which God infuses into Nature by His very character which is ever-present Love. And because man is made in God's image, he is able to experience in the deepest way possible the all-present Love of God. A God who is always seeking to sympathize with and redeem the men and women He created.

This is the story of an orhan who cannot speak who flees the city and manages to find friendship and love in the midst of a simple country family. In the end his life leads him back to the city and to places he never could have imagined.

If you are interested in finding out what life is all about and where true happiness lies this story is an exellent guide-book.

If you are a fan of George MacDonald's books, this is definitely the version to get. Johannesen reprints the original, rather than editing it and taking all of the colour out by removing dialect.
As for the story itself, it is a bit weaker than some of the author's books, but is a worthwhile read anyway. The main character is the son of a poor scottish laird who is slowly losing his battle against debts incurred by his ancestors. But despite all, the Laird and his son, and those they influence learn about true Father/Son relationships, and truth in general.
And of course there is romance too.

Of all MacDonald novels, this is among my favorites and, perhaps, for that very reason, one of the most difficult for me to suitably and satisfactorily describe. It is unlikely that I call it a favorite because it contains the most profound of spiritual truths, nor is the plot in any manner unusual or extraordinary. No, such is not the case, for all MacDonald books are generously interspersed with the much needed, though too often neglected, Biblical insights and verities. The plot, while ever engrossing, entertaining, heartwarming, and, at times, spellbinding, was merely the vehicle by which MacDonald could communicate his unwavering love of God. It just so happens that this book was my introduction to George MacDonald, and, as a result, I have become inextricably attached to the various characters, particularly Cosmo's father, "The Laird," a man who lived only to serve and obey his Master by serving and loving His people.

Cosmo was indeed a fortunate and richly blessed young man. For, while his earthly existence was little more than the barest subsistence, his father, through every thought, word, and deed ever directed him to His heavenly Father, where life was found not in that which feeds the body, but in those precious things that sustain and invigorate the soul and set the spirit free. There is evinced a deep and abiding love between father and son; a love so great, so pure, so real that no external circumstance is able to weaken or diminish the bonds that not only join, but serve as conduits between, these two, dear hearts.

Travel back to the Scotland where the 'Castle' was but a symbol of what once had been a mighty and proud people. Visit the site of Cosmo Warlock's birth, the harsh, barren Scottish Highlands; a place of haunting beauty and unforgiving reality. Walk the heather-covered hills with young Cosmo as he discovers the true meaning of life-its greatest value and only duty.

You are invited to explore a world that no longer exists. As a result of social, economic, and political upheaval, the Scotland of young Cosmo exists only in the literature of individuals such as George MacDonald and the imaginations of those who share his illustrious works. Yet the very truths conveyed through the pages of this book are as germane, as vital, as real, and as essentially necessary in this, the present, as they were when MacDonald roamed the Highlands of Scotland.

George MacDonald has a gift for seeing beneath the surface, and through the medium of his fiction, reveals truths we all need to acknowlege within ourselves inorder to proceed on our earthly journey to nearness with God. In this particular story, the most touching feature is the character Cosmo, and his love for his father on earth which developes into love for his Father in Heaven. The excitement of the story makes it difficult to put it down, as we follow Cosmo on his journey to discover the meaning behind a seemingly nonsense rhyme told him by an old woman, which becomes the key to learning his family's history and opens the door to adventure in the old castle, which he dearly loves and is always a hairsbreadth away from losing due to the poverty into which he has fallen. I have read several of MacDonald's books, but this is the first one that is not a revised edited version and is directly from the original. The Scottish dialect is a little tricky to grasp at first, but once I got the feel for it, it was easy to understand and added something to the story. And as for all the preaching and comments removed in modern editions, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. For me, it helped make the story valuable, inspirational, and thought provoking. Truly a book I would recommend for anyone looking for nourishment on their spiritual path, or for anyone who enjoys a story with mystery, drama, and excitement.

Christian Mythmakers is a good overview of some of the thoughts and ideas of various Christian fantasy writers. While the chapter on John Bunyan is basically little more than a summary of Pilgrim's Progress, the rest of the book is interesting and thought provoking. The chapter on Charles Williams is a "must read" for anyone interested in or confused by Williams' work.

I had the privilege of taking courses under Dr Hein in the early 90's at Wheaton. He is a very knowledgeable teacher and has great affection for the people he is writing about in this book. If you have any interest in these authors, this book is a must read. I wasn't aware that he had written this book when I came across it looking for books on George MacDonald and C.S. Lewis. As an Economics major, I somehow ended up taking four Lit. classes from Dr Hein because he is such a good instructor and passionate about his subject matter.

This book is a fascinating look at ten Christian mythmakers, that is authors who have used the power of myth to convey Christian truths in a new way. The narrative begins with John Bunyan and his seminal Pilgrim's Progress, continues through George Macdonald, G.K. Chesterton, Charles Williams, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and finishes up with Madeleine L'Engle, Walter Wangerin, Robert Siegel, and Hannah Hurnard.

Professor Hein begins with a short biography of the author, and then proceeds to explain the author's work, examining its theology and significance. I found this book to be quite fascinating, with the author giving me a look at these masterpieces of Christian literature in a way that I had never thought of before. If you are a fan of any of the authors above, then I highly recommend that you get this book!

For those of you who have wondered if D&D was simply Hack & Slash this will give you a true insight of the game. It truely is one of the best fantasy books I've read. This book and those of the forgotten realms are good solid reading matierial and though some may consider it "Bubble Gum" I don't.

I read this book and I loved . this is a book for all fantasy lovers and it is good for anyone who doesn't have anything better to do as well.I liked the characters and how the author made them seem like real people. I also play AD&D so I can relate to this boook. this book can only be described by one phrase. THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!!!.

At last, the huge module (96 pages!) that covers the adventure of Alias in the Forgotten Realms - the heroes (levels 6-9) awaken to find curious blue sigils wrapped around their skin - what could this mean? Worse, their "mark of Cain" makes them VERY intriguing to some horrific evil that they'd rather not contend with... this adventure will teach your players paranoia in a way that only life-threatening fun ever could. :)