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At the Edge of the World
“Dunsany’s stories are a priceless possession for any lover of fantasy. Like first-rate poetry, they are endlessly readable. Those who have not read them have something to look forward to, and an assortment of Dunsany is the foundation stone of any fantasy collection.” —L. Sprague de Camp
Thirty short and short-short stories by the 18th Baron of Dunsany. Edited by, and with introduction, notes and afterword by, Lin Carter.
Contents: Introduction: The dreams of MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀI / Lin Carter — The cave of Kal — Of the gods of Averon — Mlideen — The King that was not — The men of Yarnith — In the land of Time — Time and the gods — The opulence of Yahn — The fortress unvanquishable, save for Sacnoth — Poltarnees, beholder of Ocean — The idle city — Bethmoora — Idle days on the Yann — The hashish man — Carcassonne — In Zaccarath — The dream of King Karna-Vootra — How the enemy came to Thlūnrāna — The distressing tale of Thangobrind the jeweller, and of the doom that befell him — A shop in Go-by Street — The avenger of Perdóndaris — How the dwarfs rose up in war — The probable adventure of the three literary men — The loot of Bombasharna — The injudicious prayers of Pombo the idolater — The bride of the man-horse — The quest of the Queen’s Tears — How one came, as was foretold, to the City of Never — A day at the Edge of the World — Erlathdronion — Epilogue — Afterword / Lin Carter
(Cover Illustration: Ray Cruz)
Thirty short and short-short stories by the 18th Baron of Dunsany. Edited by, and with introduction, notes and afterword by, Lin Carter.
Contents: Introduction: The dreams of MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀI / Lin Carter — The cave of Kal — Of the gods of Averon — Mlideen — The King that was not — The men of Yarnith — In the land of Time — Time and the gods — The opulence of Yahn — The fortress unvanquishable, save for Sacnoth — Poltarnees, beholder of Ocean — The idle city — Bethmoora — Idle days on the Yann — The hashish man — Carcassonne — In Zaccarath — The dream of King Karna-Vootra — How the enemy came to Thlūnrāna — The distressing tale of Thangobrind the jeweller, and of the doom that befell him — A shop in Go-by Street — The avenger of Perdóndaris — How the dwarfs rose up in war — The probable adventure of the three literary men — The loot of Bombasharna — The injudicious prayers of Pombo the idolater — The bride of the man-horse — The quest of the Queen’s Tears — How one came, as was foretold, to the City of Never — A day at the Edge of the World — Erlathdronion — Epilogue — Afterword / Lin Carter
(Cover Illustration: Ray Cruz)
238 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1970
13 people are currently reading
267 people want to read
About the author
Lord Dunsany
633 books796 followersEdward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, eighteenth baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work in fantasy published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes hundreds of short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays. Born to one of the oldest titles in the Irish peerage, he lived much of his life at perhaps Ireland's longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara, received an honourary doctorate from Trinity College, and died in Dublin.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 14, 2020
Okay, Maybe it's my fault, but—honestly—I blame Dunsany.
I begin the reading of each of his stories hopefully, and certainly his prose is gorgeous and musical, but suddenly—still awash in the stream of his prose, bathed in its colors and sounds—I find I have zoned out completely, that I have no longer any idea what I am reading, and this feeling may go on for the length of a paragraph, or more. Then I shake off my torpor, begin to read again, this time with newly marshaled attention, but the zoning out continues, again and again and again. Because of this, one short Dunsany story may take me days to complete.
I have to be fair, though. Sometimes his stories don't make me don't zone out at all. Often it is one of the early pieces, like “Of the Gods of Averon”: half prose poem, half parable, the kind that reveal the gods from Dunsany's reverent but free-thinking perspective. Or it may be one of the later tales—those three fine connected stories, “Idle Days on the Yann,” “The Shop in Go-By Street,” and “The Avenger of Perdondaris” immediately come to mind—in which a detailed presentation of a imaginative world is artfully merged with a philosophical meditation on the nature of creation and time. Then I bow before Dunsany's artistry and revise my opinion of his prose. But later, when I try to read another of his stories, I find I am zoning out again.
I think this is because Dunsany is often guilty of what my freshman composition teacher meant by “fine writing,” and, believe me, he wasn't giving out any compliments when he said it. Often this term is applied pejoratively by writers—Raymond Carver or Elmore Leonard fans, for example—who wish to condemn prose more euphonious, richer in diction and metaphor, more syntactically complex than their own. Me? I love Carver and Leonard, but I also love sweet sounding, complex rhythmic sentences graced with remarkable imagery and unusual words. Dunsany does indeed write such sentences, but the “fine writing” of his which continually defeats me is something else in addition to this.
“Fine writing” is created when an author, intent upon the beauty and music of every discrete element of his prose, produces an excellence so merciless and exhaustively uniform that he damages his composition as a whole. After being crammed with banana split and cheesecake sentences, most readers need something like spring water--a small modest clause, a humble fragment—to clear the palate and wet the throat. But Dunsany the confectioner will have none of it. Like guitarist Nigel Tunfel of “Spinal Tap” (to change my metaphors in midstream) he keeps his amplifier turned up to 11, blasting his beautiful, mellifluous prose at full volume, nearly all of the time.
Here is a passage from “How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never.” It is part of the beginning, not a climax. If you can get through it without zoning out just once, you are a better Dunsany reader than I.
I begin the reading of each of his stories hopefully, and certainly his prose is gorgeous and musical, but suddenly—still awash in the stream of his prose, bathed in its colors and sounds—I find I have zoned out completely, that I have no longer any idea what I am reading, and this feeling may go on for the length of a paragraph, or more. Then I shake off my torpor, begin to read again, this time with newly marshaled attention, but the zoning out continues, again and again and again. Because of this, one short Dunsany story may take me days to complete.
I have to be fair, though. Sometimes his stories don't make me don't zone out at all. Often it is one of the early pieces, like “Of the Gods of Averon”: half prose poem, half parable, the kind that reveal the gods from Dunsany's reverent but free-thinking perspective. Or it may be one of the later tales—those three fine connected stories, “Idle Days on the Yann,” “The Shop in Go-By Street,” and “The Avenger of Perdondaris” immediately come to mind—in which a detailed presentation of a imaginative world is artfully merged with a philosophical meditation on the nature of creation and time. Then I bow before Dunsany's artistry and revise my opinion of his prose. But later, when I try to read another of his stories, I find I am zoning out again.
I think this is because Dunsany is often guilty of what my freshman composition teacher meant by “fine writing,” and, believe me, he wasn't giving out any compliments when he said it. Often this term is applied pejoratively by writers—Raymond Carver or Elmore Leonard fans, for example—who wish to condemn prose more euphonious, richer in diction and metaphor, more syntactically complex than their own. Me? I love Carver and Leonard, but I also love sweet sounding, complex rhythmic sentences graced with remarkable imagery and unusual words. Dunsany does indeed write such sentences, but the “fine writing” of his which continually defeats me is something else in addition to this.
“Fine writing” is created when an author, intent upon the beauty and music of every discrete element of his prose, produces an excellence so merciless and exhaustively uniform that he damages his composition as a whole. After being crammed with banana split and cheesecake sentences, most readers need something like spring water--a small modest clause, a humble fragment—to clear the palate and wet the throat. But Dunsany the confectioner will have none of it. Like guitarist Nigel Tunfel of “Spinal Tap” (to change my metaphors in midstream) he keeps his amplifier turned up to 11, blasting his beautiful, mellifluous prose at full volume, nearly all of the time.
Here is a passage from “How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never.” It is part of the beginning, not a climax. If you can get through it without zoning out just once, you are a better Dunsany reader than I.
He whom prophecy had named from of old to come to the City of Never, went down one midnight with his magic halter to a lake-side where the hippogriffs alighted at dawn, for the turf was soft there and they could gallop far before they came to a town, and there he waited hidden near their hoofmarks. And the stars paled a little and grew indistinct; but there was no other sign as yet of the dawn, when there appeared far up in the deeps of the night two little saffron specks, then four and five: it was the hippogriffs dancing and twirling around in the sun. Another flock joined hem, there were twelve of them now; they danced there, flashing their colours back to the sun, they descended in wide curves slowly; trees down on earth revealed against the sky, jet-black each delicate twig; a star disappeared from a cluster, now another; and dawn came on like music, like a new song. Ducks shot by to the lake from still dark fields of corn, far voices uttered, a colour grew upon water, and still the hippogriffs gloried in the light, revelling up in the sky; but when pigeons stirred on the branches and the first small bird was abroad, and little coots from the rushes ventured to peer about, then there came down on a sudden with a thunder of feathers the hippogriffs, and, as they landed from their celestial heights all bathed with the day's first sunlight, the man whose destiny it was as from of old to come to the City of Never, sprang up and caught the last with the magic halter. It plunged, but could not escape it, for the hippogriffs are of the uncaptured races, and magic has power over the magical, so the man mounted it, and it soared again for the heights whence it had come, as a wounded beast goes home.
November 12, 2016
I received this book for free through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers.
It took me forever to finish this book because I was in the biggest reading slump and I've been super busy with school. That being said, I really liked this book a lot. I loved Ivan and Maddie's friendship and how fiercely loyal they are to each other. The subject matter is a bit heavy but the author tackles it well. Overall, a solid YA novel.
It took me forever to finish this book because I was in the biggest reading slump and I've been super busy with school. That being said, I really liked this book a lot. I loved Ivan and Maddie's friendship and how fiercely loyal they are to each other. The subject matter is a bit heavy but the author tackles it well. Overall, a solid YA novel.
April 29, 2013
Dunsany dwells at the very root of the fantasy genre. Read him and you will see a tremendous influence on H.P. Lovecraft and many others. He is, perhaps, the most beautiful prose writer I've ever read.
December 23, 2011
I think of this book as a decorative object—one you can open and start reading on any random paragraph and is still beautiful. Not interesting, but beautiful.
March 13, 2019
Many stories of gods and kings and princesses, and also just ordinary travelers, "who leave the fields we know," and walk further afield, past the edge of the world.
January 15, 2019
At the Edge of the World is an engaging story that takes us to Bear Harbour, a setting rich with scenes of surfing, community salmon dinners, and some heartache. What do you do when your father loves you but can't be a good parent because of his addiction to alcohol? Who do you turn to? Ivan turns inward, shouldering the burden and hiding his home life, but he can't hide from Maddie. She's too good of a friend. And she's the kind of friend who sticks to the end. She's talented too. She's a painter who is just discovering her talent for drawing ravens and renderings of family and friends. We believe in her and by the end of the novel, we believe in Ivan too. He's a young man with a future. One step at a time, he's getting there. Thank you for this beautifully written novel, Kari Jones.
January 15, 2013
Quite flowery in parts but a cracking read.
October 29, 2022
Licensed to sell weasels and jade earrings.
This is a selection from various Dunsany short-story collections. It excludes The Gods of Pegāna because… well, Lin Carter doesn’t actually say.
As the perceptive reader can see, one whole book has been left untouched…
My guess is that he already knew they’d be reprinting that collection in 1972.
While I’ve already read Fifty-One Tales and The Book of Wonder there are a lot here I haven’t read. I’m sure that choosing a handful (large as the handful is) from Dunsany’s various collections was a difficult task. As a survey of Dunsany’s short stories, and especially one coming after those stories had long been out of print as a means to drum up demand, this is a fine collection. It definitely makes me want to read those collections I haven’t already read.
Time and the Gods appears especially desirable judging from the selection here, and A Dreamer’s Tales. The highlights included the very first story in the collection, “The Cave of Kai”, as well as “The Men of Yarnith”, and three stories from Dreamer’s Tales: “The Idle City”, “Idle Days on the Yann”, and “Carcassonne”.
In “The Cave of Kai”, Dunsany does one of the things he’s great at, objectifying abstract things. King Khanazar goes on a quest, in search of “the days that were and certain hours”. When he finds the cave, the dialogue and the King’s voluntary offer of abasement is incredibly on target.
“The Idle City” is a city whose tax on travelers is “the toll of some idle story in the gate”. “Idle Days on the Yann” is a meandering through the lands of dream.
It’s difficult to describe Dunsany’s work in detail, especially the short stories, which have the appearance of being meandering and lazy and yet are packed with detail and meaning. Nowadays, Dunsany’s collections are available at places like Gutenberg or the Internet Archive, and I’d recommend reading them all. But if you enjoy such works better on paper than on screen, this is a great place to start.
…there is a tread that troubleth the grass and a tread that troubleth it not, and each man in his own heart knoweth which tread he hath.
Time and the Gods
The Cave of Kai: 5
Of the Gods of Averon: 4.75
Mlideen: 4.25
The King that was Not: 4.5
The Men of Yarnith: 5
In the Land of Time: 4.5
Time and the Gods: 4
The Opulence of Yahn: 4.75
The Sword of Welleran
The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth: 4.75
A Dreamer’s Tales
Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean: 4.85
The Idle City: 5
Bethmoora: 4
Idle Days on the Yann: 5
The Hashish Man: 4.5
Carcassonne: 5
In Zaccarath: 4.5
Fifty-One Tales
The Dream of King Karna-Vootra: 4.75
How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna: 4
The Book of Wonder
Thangobrind the Jeweller: 3.25
Tales of Three Hemispheres
A Shop in Go-By Street: 3.25
The Avenger of Perdóndaris: 3.75
How the Dwarfs Rose Up in War: 3
The Book of Wonder
The Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men: 3.25
The Loot of Bombasharna: 4.25
The Injudicious Prayers of Pombo the Idolater: 4
The Bride of the Man-Horse: 3.25
The Quest of the Queen’s Tears: 3
How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never: 3.5
The Last Book of Wonder
A Day at the Edge of the World: 3
Erlathdronian: 4
The Book of Wonder
Epilogue: 4
April 1, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/at-the-edge-of-the-world-by-lord-dunsany/
This is a selection of his short fiction assembled in 1970 by Lin Carter, as part of his ongoing efforts to cash in on the success of The Lord of the Rings, with some interesting biographical detail of how and when each set of stories was written.
If you’ve read one Dunsany story, to be honest, you’ve read them all. The descriptions are good and the use of language very effective. But nothing very much happens; there are few surprises or moments of tension, and no memorable characters or grand themes beyond exalted whimsy. That was my prejudice before reading the collection, and I’m sorry to say that it was confirmed.
Dunsany was clearly an influence on both H.P. Lovecraft and J.R.R. Tolkien, and thus on all of their successors, but I think that both were better writers. Dunsany evokes your sensawunda, and makes you feel that there is a magical world just around the corner, out of sight; but both Lovecraft and Tolkien did the same and added a lot more depth and structure to their respective mythologies. With Dunsany, you feel that he is just telling you another story; Lovecraft and Tolkien take you into the depths of their detailed imaginary worlds. Lovecraft also adds horror, and Tolkien moral courage, to give extra dimensionality to the narrative.
Don’t get me wrong, Dunsany is a good writer, but he paved the way for better. (See also, “Lord Dunsany: The Geography of the Gods”, by Vernon Hyles, in More Real Than Reality: The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts, edited by Donald E. Morse and Csilla Bertha.)
This is a selection of his short fiction assembled in 1970 by Lin Carter, as part of his ongoing efforts to cash in on the success of The Lord of the Rings, with some interesting biographical detail of how and when each set of stories was written.
If you’ve read one Dunsany story, to be honest, you’ve read them all. The descriptions are good and the use of language very effective. But nothing very much happens; there are few surprises or moments of tension, and no memorable characters or grand themes beyond exalted whimsy. That was my prejudice before reading the collection, and I’m sorry to say that it was confirmed.
Dunsany was clearly an influence on both H.P. Lovecraft and J.R.R. Tolkien, and thus on all of their successors, but I think that both were better writers. Dunsany evokes your sensawunda, and makes you feel that there is a magical world just around the corner, out of sight; but both Lovecraft and Tolkien did the same and added a lot more depth and structure to their respective mythologies. With Dunsany, you feel that he is just telling you another story; Lovecraft and Tolkien take you into the depths of their detailed imaginary worlds. Lovecraft also adds horror, and Tolkien moral courage, to give extra dimensionality to the narrative.
Don’t get me wrong, Dunsany is a good writer, but he paved the way for better. (See also, “Lord Dunsany: The Geography of the Gods”, by Vernon Hyles, in More Real Than Reality: The Fantastic in Irish Literature and the Arts, edited by Donald E. Morse and Csilla Bertha.)
November 1, 2017
A good selection of Dunsany's stories, with some handy notes about the stories behind the stories. this is best read in collaboration with the penguin classic edition "In the land of time and other fantasies" to experience a more complete version of Dunsany's worlds and the different stages of his writing career.
As a fan of Lovecraft and Tolkien I had heard about the influence Dunsany wielded on fantasy, but now i finally read him, I'm in awe from being completely enthralled in his stories, sometimes only two pages long. Two pages of Dunsany has more effect then two hundred or two thousand pages of other books. His use of Mythology and poetic language create sombre moods of forgotten lands and mythic people, and he adds humour and an undertone of human values and dangers that resonate as strongly today as they did back in the early 1900s, just as Tolkien's themes with 'Lord of the Rings' do.
Dunsany is now one of my all-time favourite authors!
As a fan of Lovecraft and Tolkien I had heard about the influence Dunsany wielded on fantasy, but now i finally read him, I'm in awe from being completely enthralled in his stories, sometimes only two pages long. Two pages of Dunsany has more effect then two hundred or two thousand pages of other books. His use of Mythology and poetic language create sombre moods of forgotten lands and mythic people, and he adds humour and an undertone of human values and dangers that resonate as strongly today as they did back in the early 1900s, just as Tolkien's themes with 'Lord of the Rings' do.
Dunsany is now one of my all-time favourite authors!
April 18, 2024
Classic high fantasy from the early 20th century, very influential on later writers. This kind of fantasy casts a gauzy curtain between our world and the fantasy world (which Dunsany calls the Land of Dreams, or the Edge of the World). These stories are quite short – 30 stories in 234 pages. They usually have some lavish descriptions of exotic places and people (or creatures), and end with an abrupt (and sometimes amusing) conclusion.
The language can be archaic, sometimes intentionally so and sometimes just how grammar and vocabulary were over a hundred years ago. It can seem dated today but can capture a feeling that is rare in today's more 'contemporary' fantasy.
The language can be archaic, sometimes intentionally so and sometimes just how grammar and vocabulary were over a hundred years ago. It can seem dated today but can capture a feeling that is rare in today's more 'contemporary' fantasy.
June 1, 2022
A lovely little book of very little stories that was a direct influence on Lovecraft, Tolkein and many more fantasy luminaries. If you want to better understand 20th century speculative fiction, you'd be wise to read Dunsany.
Read
November 27, 2023Disappointed by the ending, felt far too abrupt and too many loose ends for me liking, but on the whole a nice read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2019
Lord Dunsany, ha sido un genio sin parangón, un creador impresionante de dioses y mundos crepusculares, oníricos, fantásticos. No creo que haya existido otro autor de tanta capacidad creativa en la historia de la literatura de ficción. En "Fifty one tales" (lamentablemente traducido parcialmente) demuestra un asombroso talento para hacer brotar de su grandiosa imaginación cincuenta y un argumentos diversos, aunque todos tengan algo en común; lo maravilloso. En este tomo, que me ha costado conseguir, y con el que he soñado muchas veces (he soñado literalmente)existen pruebas irrefutables de lo dicho anteriormente. Entre muchos de los relatos geniales que abundan en este libro, quiero destacar especialmente algunos de ellos. Los dos mejores, para mi gusto son las continuaciones del extraordinario "Días de ocio en el país del Yann"; me refiero a "Una tienda en Go-By street" y "El vengador de Perdóndaris". Son simplemente relatos llenos de magia y poesía, de absurdas situaciones, de fino humor y paisajes de ensueño; y es que los acontecimientos transcurren como en algunos cuentos de su admirador H.P. Lovecraft, en sueños. William Butler Yeats, el gran poeta irlandés, ha dicho que si hubiera leído "Días de ocio en el país del Yann" y "La caída de Babbulkund" de pequeño, su vida hubiera cambiado inexorablemente; para bien o para mal. ¿De cuántos escritores podemos hoy decir lo mismo? Lean a Dunsany; la fantasía de sus relatos los va a envolver, a mecer dulcemente en su fantástico regazo.
November 8, 2016
Ivan has lived with an alcoholic and utterly irresponsible father since he was young and his mother left without a trace. Clinging to the only parent left in his life, Ivan covers up for his father’s many, many disgraceful acts and lives in squalor. While Ivan longs to abandon his father and start a new life for himself he can not quite muster the courage to leave. His best friend Maggie offers him a golden ticket to escape: a chance to live with her in the city while she attends art school. Ivan is miserably conflicted and Maggie begins to wonder about all the mysterious cuts and bruises, the constant empty refrigerator and the filthy house that Ivan so quickly dismisses if anyone asks. How in this tiny beach town of western British Columbia has no one noticed what is going on with Ivan and his father? And when are all the secrets too much to bear? Told in alternating chapters, Ivan and Maggie’s friendship is a thing of beauty and their loyalty to each other is just what will save them both from an unpredictable future. Set in Canada where the drinking age is lower than in the United States, the prevalence of teen drinking is simply part of the story. This is a great addition to any realistic fiction collection. With short chapters and two likable characters, Orca Publishing has put forth another novel that reluctant or unenthusiastic readers will devour.
Grades 8 and up. Highly recommended.
Grades 8 and up. Highly recommended.
August 29, 2016
I read At the Edge of the World in one day. I liked it straight from the first line. It has been a while since I read a YA novel that was more gritty, and with a tough subject, and that combined with Kari Jones' writing style made me curl up with the book and not put it down.
I really enjoyed Ivan and Maddie's friendship, and I loved the setting of the story, the scenery, and what surfing meant to these kids. Through Maddie and Ivan's struggled, I really rooted for them. I wanted Ivan to get help, or for Maddie to get help for him.
I found the behavior of Ivan as an abandoned kid taking care of his alcoholic parent heart-wrenching and realistically dealt with.
However, all the while, there was a part of me that felt somewhat detached. I can't put my finger on it, but I think I felt that I would have liked a little more development in Maddie and Ivan's friendship. I felt that as a whole, it was skimmed over.
Further into the book, towards the end, I was getting emotional. I was heartbroken, I was angry, I needed to get to the end to see how things would turn out.
True to the rest of the novel, things ended on a realistic note.
All in all, At the Edge of the World is a great story.
I really enjoyed Ivan and Maddie's friendship, and I loved the setting of the story, the scenery, and what surfing meant to these kids. Through Maddie and Ivan's struggled, I really rooted for them. I wanted Ivan to get help, or for Maddie to get help for him.
I found the behavior of Ivan as an abandoned kid taking care of his alcoholic parent heart-wrenching and realistically dealt with.
However, all the while, there was a part of me that felt somewhat detached. I can't put my finger on it, but I think I felt that I would have liked a little more development in Maddie and Ivan's friendship. I felt that as a whole, it was skimmed over.
Further into the book, towards the end, I was getting emotional. I was heartbroken, I was angry, I needed to get to the end to see how things would turn out.
True to the rest of the novel, things ended on a realistic note.
All in all, At the Edge of the World is a great story.
July 6, 2011
I don't think I can say it better than Dunsany himself, so I'll quote from Idle Days on the Yann:
"All in that city was of ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, that was new in Astahahn."
DUNSANY, LORD (2005). A Dreamer's Tales (Kindle Locations 473-478). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.
And with the possible exception of Clark Ashton Smith, nobody has ever shown Dunsany's facility at inventing names.
"All in that city was of ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, that was new in Astahahn."
DUNSANY, LORD (2005). A Dreamer's Tales (Kindle Locations 473-478). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.
And with the possible exception of Clark Ashton Smith, nobody has ever shown Dunsany's facility at inventing names.
August 23, 2016
I received this book from Orca Book Publishers in exchange for an honest review. When I began reading At the Edge of the World, I didn't immediately take to it. There wasn't enough introduction to the characters and the interaction between the characters felt rushed and shallow. About halfway through the book, I warmed up to it and started enjoying the story. The setting makes the book more interesting and Maddie and Ivan's relationship was cute. But, towards the end of the book I was confused. Maddie kissed Ivan and they cuddled but there was no talk of them being anything other than friends. The ending with Ivan's dad did help the book a little bit, but I still feel like I didn't get closure on a lot of the characters. Overall, it was a good story that was hindered by a lack of deep characters.
May 3, 2015
Yes! This is the one that got me hooked many moons ago. The stories here by Lord Dunsany are GREAT! I own this one and I've read it about 20 times over the years. Always great. Always like I've reading these stories for the first time.
But! Do not over look the super editing job done here by the late Lin Carter. An excellent selection of Dunsany's stories (Did Dunsany ever write a bad story?) and Carter's introductions are a priceless guide to the poor lost reader trying to find more of Dunsany's work for future reading. Carter's editing of this and other great books lead me to places in fantasy and reality reading I never would have gone without his assistance.
I would like to see this one reissued. It deserves to be.
But! Do not over look the super editing job done here by the late Lin Carter. An excellent selection of Dunsany's stories (Did Dunsany ever write a bad story?) and Carter's introductions are a priceless guide to the poor lost reader trying to find more of Dunsany's work for future reading. Carter's editing of this and other great books lead me to places in fantasy and reality reading I never would have gone without his assistance.
I would like to see this one reissued. It deserves to be.
September 13, 2016
**This book was given to me to review via LibraryThing Early Reviewers**
I really loved both the characters and the dynamics between them. You really get a good picture of what is going on in both Ivan and Maddie's life due to the alternating POV's in each chapter.
Maddie was my favorite of the two because of her fierce loyalty to Ivan. When Maddie learns the truth behind Ivan's life at home, she is distraught. She feels guilty for not having noticed the depth of his problems despite having been friends forever. She In her loyal way, she is determined to help him any way she can although she struggles with Ivan's demand that she not tell anyone his secret.
I would have finished this in one sitting, but I started late in the day and decided not to read too late. Great book though!
I really loved both the characters and the dynamics between them. You really get a good picture of what is going on in both Ivan and Maddie's life due to the alternating POV's in each chapter.
Maddie was my favorite of the two because of her fierce loyalty to Ivan. When Maddie learns the truth behind Ivan's life at home, she is distraught. She feels guilty for not having noticed the depth of his problems despite having been friends forever. She In her loyal way, she is determined to help him any way she can although she struggles with Ivan's demand that she not tell anyone his secret.
I would have finished this in one sitting, but I started late in the day and decided not to read too late. Great book though!
August 30, 2016
I received an advanced copy of this book from Library Thing.
I was slightly skeptical when I began the book because changing the point of view between characters for each chapter is very difficult to pull off successfully. I think Kari Jones does it well though and it really works for the story line and showing how events play out from different perspectives.
Although the book contains subject matter that is heavy, the book flows easily and never becomes weighed down by it. The relationships between the characters stay at the core of the book.
This was a fast read for me but one that could provoke a good discussion with a teen book club.
I was slightly skeptical when I began the book because changing the point of view between characters for each chapter is very difficult to pull off successfully. I think Kari Jones does it well though and it really works for the story line and showing how events play out from different perspectives.
Although the book contains subject matter that is heavy, the book flows easily and never becomes weighed down by it. The relationships between the characters stay at the core of the book.
This was a fast read for me but one that could provoke a good discussion with a teen book club.
June 25, 2021
I can remember reading this book, when I was young, in the 60s. I’d already read the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings, when this book came to me one Christmas. The brilliance of the descriptions, the dreamlike touch, the way the stories took me away to places, I think influenced me as much or more than Tolkien did. This style of writing fantasy is no longer in vogue; violence and sex have taken over as ways of creating interest and tension. I wish more of this kind of writing would come back; it just made my heart sing, and still.
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth, is probably my favourite short story ever written. So much packed into such a short piece, and such imagination.
The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth, is probably my favourite short story ever written. So much packed into such a short piece, and such imagination.
December 30, 2016
2.5 b/c young adult fiction isn't my favorite. This is an okay book. The two main characters, who have grown up together as neighbors, are finishing high school and debating what happens next in their lives. The book deals with addictions, choices, honoring parents and keeping secrets, and how much to get involved in the lives of others, especially as one discovers the outer veneer is not what truly goes on behind closed doors.
February 13, 2020
contains some very fine bits. most excellent is "the probable adventures of three literary men," which ends famously with one anti-protagonist "falling from us still through the unreverberate blackness of the abyss." how awesome is that?
June 16, 2013
A great introduction to Dunsany's Pegana.
November 17, 2015
Excelente...
March 21, 2018
It's really a great story. You feel for the careture, really love the Swedish thing in the story (cause im sweden)
August 4, 2021
This book doesn't seem to have much of a plot, or a story, or an ending. Took me forever to get through because it wasn't engaging.
March 2, 2015
Best consumed in small doses, like the decadent confections they are.
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