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The King of Elfland's Daughter

Lord Dunsany,

Neil Gaiman (Introduction)

Start date: May 1, 2021

Finish date: May 31, 2021

Discussion: Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Science Fiction and Fantasy

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Jan 21, 2013 Douglas Beagley rated it it was amazing

You should read this.

Sure, this book is the origin of all modern fantasy literature, and without it the genre would not exist. So there’s that. If you read it, you'll get to see what happened to Spenser when the modern (post-modern?) novel appeared. You'll see where Tolkien and Le Guin and Patricia McKillip and Moorcock and so forth came from, etc. etc.

But also? It is exquisite. It casts a spell.

When you read The King of Elfland’s Daughter, you feel like everything else you’ve ever read is burge You should read this.

Sure, this book is the origin of all modern fantasy literature, and without it the genre would not exist. So there’s that. If you read it, you'll get to see what happened to Spenser when the modern (post-modern?) novel appeared. You'll see where Tolkien and Le Guin and Patricia McKillip and Moorcock and so forth came from, etc. etc.

But also? It is exquisite. It casts a spell.

When you read The King of Elfland’s Daughter, you feel like everything else you’ve ever read is burgers and fries. You think you love fantasy novels, and then you realize you’ve only ever had garlic, and garlic is fantastic, but you’ve never tasted basil before. Or sage. And suddenly, there they are, dancing on your tongue. And there are subtle notes, deeper tastes, that you can just barely see because your tongue is out of practice.

Flaws? Sure! Not every reader will want to read an entire chapter about a Troll looking out the window on a single day. And not every reader will be convinced that descriptive repetitiveness is a stylistic choice. I loved these things, but then I am a broken, misguided fool.

The book has four main character journeys (the Council of Erl, Alveric, Lirazel, and Orion), and several smaller roles (the witch, Ziroonderel and the troll, Lurulu). The conclusion of the goals of the Council of Erl, which ends with a speech by Ziroonderel, is really magnificent. But the other threads only come to a head in the final page of the book, where we are asked to believe that everything just sort of works out. Nope. The grim resignation of Alveric is so rich, so well developed, the yearning of Orion so genuine... for a book that takes its time to really feel things and explore things, there are not enough pages devoted to the resolution.

I think that the ending was written because stories need endings, and the author really just wanted to explore the problems and how they play out in the human heart. But, he needed an ending, so he wrote one. I would like to see it end with half-solutions instead--with loss.

But this book is not about plot arc. This book is about Ziroonderel sweeping the earth with her broom, about fancies that fly into our consciousness, about Lirazel praying to the reflection of the stars, about Lurulu leading the will-o-wisps to dry land like the Killdeer leads away the fox. It is a book of momentary wisdom on the bridge between the left and right sides of the brain, about asserting our will over nature and all the wonder and calamity that results.

Loved it, will read again. ...more

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Jul 21, 2016 Tom Britz rated it really liked it

The language of this novel was gorgeous. Lord Dunsany had a way of describing a thing that brings it to life in a way that has never occurred to you before. The pace was a bit slow as a lot of books from the early nineteen hundreds were. There wasn't much dialog so most of the book was in exposition. The story line was fairly pedestrian, boy meets an elven girl, runs off with her, they have a son, but eventually she just couldn't cope with the differences and she answers the call back to her fat ...more

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