Customer Reviews (2)

Great Anthology
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!

Attention Lovecraftian Horror Fans
This is the eleventh book in Chaosium's Cthulhu Cycle series.This volume features tales ofLovecraft'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 ofLovecraft's Mythos fiction then this is a must for your library. ... Read more

Product Description
Edward Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany, (July 24, 1878-Oct 25, 1957) was an Anglo-Irish writer known for his tales set in purely invented fantasy universes under the pen name 'Lord Dunsany.' Most of these stories were published in collections between 1905 to 1919. He loved inventing new worlds, each with bits of amusing detail.

Dunsany later turned to writing stage and radio plays. Dunsany had a huge influence on H.P. Lovecraft, and his inventive fantasy paved the way for J.R.R. Tolkien.

This Dunsany anthology was edited and introduced by William Butler Yeats, who mentored Dunsany.--J.B. Hare
... Read more

Product Description
These tales are of the things that befell gods and men in Yarnith, Averon, and Zarkandhu, and in the other countries of my dreams. . . . -- LORD DUNSANY ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A delightful tale about reincarnation and a prior life as a dog
A first person narrative of a man who meets Dean Spanley, an elder minister, at his club and discovers the Dean has a strong belief in Reincarnation. He begins to suspect the Dean has more than a belief, he may have actual memories of a past life and becomes determined to find out. Hoping to find scientific proof of the transmigration of souls if he can get Dean Spanley to talk, the narrator invites him to dinner. Believing in the adage "In vino veritas" he plies the Dean with wine. When Spanley drinks too much Imperial Tokay, a rare Hungarian wine, he starts talking about his former life as a country hound in the first person.
The narrator is astounded by the revelation and invites Spanley back several times hoping to discover scientific proof of reincarnation in Spanley's stories of his life as a dog. Each visit is harder since Spanley does not like to drink to excess, but each lapse reveals more of his canine existence.
An excellent short novel full of wonderful detail and dry understated humor. Recently made into a film called simply Dean Spanley starring Jeremy Northam and Sam Neill, this is a delightful tale.

At least he knew his dogs.
Oh dear. This could have been a very good short story, especially if given a better twist ending, but stretched to novel length, even a very short novel like this one, the tale wears terribly. The story is of a Dean (the religious kind) who when made drunk on imperial tokay remembers his former life as a dog. The kindest thing I can say (and why it's got two whole stars) is that the observations of a dog's behaviour are spot on. But, oh dear, there is no Characterisation at all, all of them are flat as though cut from cardboard. One person says "never trust a teetotaller or a man that wears elastic-sided boots" - it would have only taken 3 repetitions to get over that he's a drunken bore, but he says it ten times or more - and he's supposed to be a great wit among the group, not a bore. There is no plot, just a series of encounters all of which are the same - and the punchline? That the narrator finds out the meaning of doggy life but he himself had got too drunk to remember it. Oh that it had been something like he got so drunk he remembered his own doggy life, or he remembered being a cat and was chased by the Dean or that the Dean was really a dog imagining that he was a Dean when sober. Lord Dunsany is reported to be one of the originators of science fiction, so perhaps I've seen the worst of him, but on the basis of this book he seems to have been an amateur that got published because of his wealth and connections - a dilletante with half-developed stories and ideas. Sorry, Your Honour.

Arch satire about a Minister who was a dog in a past life!
This is an entertaining read but not one of my favorite Dunsany's!The writing is delightful as always and the outre tale is consistently dottily amusing, it just isn't the grand fantasy Dunsany could do so well.ALondon clubman discovers that when slightly drunk a Dean drifts into areminiscent mood - but what the Dean reminisces ABOUT is his previousincarnation - he was the family dog on a country estate!A very clevernovel in its own way. ... Read more

Product Description
When travelers from London entered Arcady they lamented one to another the death of Pan. They saw him lying stiff and still, horned Pan still as stone, the dew collected on on his fur; he had not the look of a live animal. And evening came and a small star appeared. . . . Fifty-One very short tales from Lord Dunsany, master of the weird. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Short and sweet
Years before Tolkien ever wrote about hobbits, elves and magic rings, there were a few rare fantasy writers. One of the best of these early fantasists was Lord Dunsany, an Irish aristocrat who poured out his imagination into exotic, semi-mythic stories.

He only wrote relatively few novels and novellas, but loads of short stories. And "Fifty One Tales" compiles the shortest of those stories, often meditations on death, joy, life and time. They're less like short stories than long vignettes, but they are striking.

In this collection, Dunsany writes of sunken ships, of Fame's prediction to a young poet, the ghost of a workman, Death trying to frighten the legendary hero Odysseus, a king dreams of a beautiful queen who has been dead for forty years, and a Spanish pirate whose evil deeds mean that he isn't allowed to die.

There is some dark humour in these stories as well, such as when Time comes across a man "antiquing" a wooden chair, and is a bit put out that his work is being done unnaturally. "Charon" is perhaps the most striking of these: the ferrymen of the dead is told by a dead passenger that "I am the last," and finally breaks a smile.

Not many authors could have such an impact with such short stories. Most of them are less than a page long, and sometimes they only focus on a minute or two. Despite this, Dunsany's excellent use of words paints some very, very vivid pictures.

Usually Dunsany either made up his own legends, or sort of coopted vague Eastern myths as they were to the Victorians. "Fifty Tales" isn't quite the same; Greek mythology has a strong presence here, with Odysseus, Pan, Pegasus, Charon, Homer and Helen all either appearing or being referred to.

Dunsany always had an excellent command of language, and he does a great job with "grey and watchful mountains," "glaring factories," and a world being choked by modernity. In one story, flowers cry out: "Great engines rush over the beautiful fields, their ways lie hard and terrible up and down the land," and in another a poet cries out in sorrow because "the progress of modern commerce" has made his songs unwanted.

Bittersweet and beautifully written, these fifty-one short stories leave behind the impression of a magical land that has faded away. Though not Dunsany's best work, it's still a classic. ... Read more

Product Description
Bel-Narb: I would not do this thing, Aoob. I would not do it. It is only what I say to myself as I smoke, or at night out in the desert. I say to myself, "Bel-Narb is King in Thalanna." And then I say, "Chamberlain, bring Skarmi here with his brandy and his lanterns and boards to play skabash, and let all the town come and drink before the palace and magnify my name." ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1917. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

Product Description
My dreams are here before you amongst the following pages; and writing in a day when life is cheap, dreams seem to me all the dearer, the only things that survive. I offer you these books of dreams from Europe as one throws things of value, if only to oneself, at the last moment out of a burning house. . . . ... Read more

Product Description
And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight that I had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either shore two cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing in the light of the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of mountainous altitude, and they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling between them and found the sea. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Masterpiece
One of my favorite books of all time and one of the very first novels to deal with an environmental issue. What environmental issue?Saving a bog, a piece of ground that many would consider of little use or beauty.But a young man in Ireland in the last quarter or so of the 19th Century sees all its beauty and loves the bog, which is about to be torn up for development.What can save it? His only allies seem to be the young woman he loves, an Irish fighter who once seriously considered shooting him, a wise woman living on the edge of the bog and her very wise but unlettered son.The story takes one just to the edge of Irish myth.It concerns love, forgiveness and the wonder of the world.

Highly recommended.

A Well Woven Plot
A very good book for those who love Dunsany's other books. I can't tellvery much about this book, because to tell a little is to give away toomuch. I'd recommend this book for those who can follow a story very well,and enjoy some suspense. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

If you like 'The Fisherman and the Soul', read this...
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. ... Read more

Product Description
BILL Well, anyway, I won't let any more of them passengers go jumping into trains any more, not when they're moving, I won't. When the train gets in, doors shut. That's the rule. And they'll 'ave to abide by it. ... Read more

Product Description
Fritz Groedenschasser, standing in that unseemly mud, greatly yearned for them to find soon what they were looking for. Eight batteries searching for something they can't find, along a trench in which you have to be, leaves the elephant hunter's most desperate tale a little dull and insipid. Not that Fritz Groedenschasser knew anything about elephant hunting: he hated all things sporting, and cordially approved of the execution of Nurse Cavell. And there was thermite too. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 3374 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Customer Reviews (4)

A Book of Wonders
Many of Dunsany's most eerie and effective stories are collected in this excellent collection.TIME AND THE GODS is probably his single best work, and all of the stories from that long out-of-print masterpiece are to befound here.This should be enough to persuade Dunsany enthusiasts in favorof this volume.

For those who haven't read Dunsany, he is one offantasy's true masters; many have imitated his archaic, elaborate style,but none have succeeded in capturing the peculiar Dunsany magic withoutbeing artificial.Dunsany's strange meditations on time, destiny,prophecy, and fate are reminiscent of Borges, and his prose is rich and (asnoted) perilous to imitate.

S. T. Joshi's introduction somehow makes itseem as if Dunsany's chief merit were his influence on Lovecraft, but it ismore correct to say that Lovecraft's chief merit is his influence onothers, while Dunsany remains a neglected literary master, one of the fewwriters ever to capture wonder and mystery at their most elemental inwrappings of elaborate, aristocratic prose.

Visit Lovely Pegana
Dunsany is a master of language and of myth. Reading his prose reminds me of listening to Bach; seeing light through stained-glass windows.

Anything by Dunsany (John Edward Moreton Drax Plunkett, LordDunsany) is worth reading; the Complete Pegana is exceptional.There issomething in Dunsany's construction of an alternate world of gods and men,of the Great god, who made the world and then slept; and the lesser gods,who fear the Creator will someday awake...which resonates with other greathuman myths.Lord Dunsany never fails to delight.

This is fantasy forgrown-ups; not too sweet.Thought provoking and original, with timelessthemes and characters that evoke something fundamental.

This is one bookI'd take with me to the proverbial desert island.

A credible mythology - great early modern fantasy
Lord Dunsany was one of the key figures in the development of modern fantasy and this book gives a rare chance to see where it all began.It presents the entire contents of two books - "The Gods of Pegana"(1905) and "Time and the Gods", along with three excellentrelated stories.Pegana offers a genuine artifical mythology, inwonderful, sonorous language - if you enjoy reading myths and legends,you'll probably enjoy this.The first volume consists of short, sparetales from the beginning of the world on, looking even to the end.Many ofthe stories in the second volume are more elaborate, as are the threelinked "Beyond the Fields We Know" pieces, which are amongDunsany's finest work.Reading "Idle Days on the Yann", forexample, it is not hard to feel yourself drifting along as the narratorvoyages through strange and wonder-full lands.This is a very welcomepublication - the author can be very hard to find in print - and a greatread.Hopefully readers will feel inspired to try some of Lord Dunsany'slater collections and books - "The King of Elfland's Daughter",for example, is just back in print.

THE WALLS ARE MELTING AGAIN!!!!
OK.... where to begin...?It's weird.VERY weird.

The Complete Pagana is a book of mythology from some other world, and reads like African or Native American fables, ("So-and-so went to the sea andasked...." etc.).There are a number of characters (godlings) and Ioften found myself going, "What?Who?" after reading asection.

I won't lie to you: I picked this book up because it wasChaosium Fiction, so I assumed it would be C'thulhu-like.I was wrong; theonly similarity is that The Complete Pegana also deals with the impact ofgods among mortals.I'm not a quick reader, and this book took me a lotlonger than it should have.

But that's my only complaint. ... Read more