''In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales'' is a posthumous collection of short stories by the writer
Lord Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...
in the
Penguin Classics
Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...
series. Edited and with an introduction by
S. T. Joshi
Sunand Tryambak Joshi (born June 22, 1958) is an American literary critic whose work has largely focused on weird and fantastic fiction, especially the life and work of H. P. Lovecraft and associated writers.
Career
His literary criticis ...
, it assembles material from across Dunsany's long career. The cover illustration is a colourised version of a classic illustration for an early Dunsany story by his preferred artist,
Sidney Sime
Sidney Herbert Sime (;1865 – 22 May 1941) — he usually signed his works as S. H. Sime — was an early 20th century English artist, mostly remembered for his fantastic and satirical artwork, especially his story illustrations for Irish f ...
.
Contents
The collection includes several of Dunsany's most famous stories. It is grouped in themed sections by the editor, and the contents are:
* ''Introduction'' (S. T. Joshi)
* ''Suggestions for Further Reading'' (S. T. Joshi)
* ''A Note on the Text'' (S. T. Joshi)
* ''Section I: Pegana and Environs''
** ''
The Gods of Pegāna
''The Gods of Pegāna'' is the first book by Anglo-Irish fantasy writer Lord Dunsany, published on a commission basis in 1905. The book was reviewed favourably but as an unusual piece. One of the more influential reviews was by Edward Thomas in ...
'' (entire text)
** ''Time and the Gods'' ("The Lament of the Gods for Sardathrion")
** "The Legend of the Dawn"
** "In the Land of Time"
** "The Relenting of Sarnidac"
** "The Fall of Babbulkund"
* ''Section II: Tales of Wonder''
** "The Sword of Welleran"
** "The Kith of the Elf-Folk"
** "The Ghosts"
** "
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth
"The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth" is a fantasy short story by Lord Dunsany, first published in his 1908 collection ''The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories''. It describes the hero Leothric's quest to free his people from bad dreams ...
"
** "Blagdaross"
** "
Idle Days on the Yann
"Idle Days on the Yann" is a short story by the Irish writer Lord Dunsany. It takes place in the Lands of Dream and follows an Irishman's voyage down a river flanked by fantastical cities. It was published in the short story collections ''A Drea ...
"
** "A Shop in Go-by Street"
** "The Avenger of Perdóndaris"
** "The Bride of the Man-Horse"
* ''Section III: Prose Poems''
** "Where the Tides Ebb and Flow"
** "The Raft Builders"
** "The Prayer of the Flowers"
** "The Workman"
** "Charon"
** "Carcassonne"
** "Roses"
** "The City"
* ''Section IV: Fantasy and Reality''
** "The Wonderful Window"
** "The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap"
** "The City on Mallington Moor"
** "The Bureau d'Echange de Maux"
** "The Exiles' Club"
** "Thirteen at Table"
** "The Last Dream of Bwona Khubla"
* ''Section V: Jorkens''
** "The Tale of the Abu Laheeb" (the first
Jorkens
Joseph Jorkens (usually referred to simply as Jorkens) is the lead character in over 150 short stories written between 1925 and 1957 by the Irish author Lord Dunsany, noted for his fantasy short stories, fantastic plays, novels and other writi ...
story)
** "Our Distant Cousins"
** "The Walk to Lingham"
** "The Development of the Rillswood Estate"
** "A Life's Work"
* ''Section VI: Some Late Tales''
** "The Policeman's Prophecy"
** "The Two Bottles of Relish"
** "The Cut"
** "Poseidon"
** "Helping the Fairies"
** "The Romance of His Life"
** "The Pirate of the Round Pond"
* ''Explanatory Notes'' (S. T. Joshi)
Reception
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
reviewed the collection for the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. She described the effect reading ''A Dreamer's Tales'' had on her as a child, comparing his effect to
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...
. She felt that ''The Gods of Pegāna'' had aged poorly, and that Jorkens could be a bore. However, she stated that other early works were fine, especially "Idle Days on the Yann", and that Dunsany's best stories were "unique" and well-observed, witty, and had "a mannered but vivid, clear, and subtle style".
References
Sources
* The Locus Index to Science Fiction, 2004
2004 short story collections
Short story collections by Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany
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