Customer Reviews

Diana Wynne Jones: The Fantastic Tradition and Children's Literature (Children's Literature and Culture)

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Farah Mendlesohn knows as much about the elements of fantasy writing as anyone on the planet, which enables her to not only appreciate but explain Diana Wynne Jones's brilliant technique and her subversion of many fantasy-genre cliches, from hackneyed Arthurian-type grail quests to invariably beautiful heroines. She does a particularly good job of disentangling Jones's intricate use of series-A and series-B time travel; if nothing else, it will help you understand why you don't understand what's going on in some of Jones's books (like, for instance, Time of the Ghost and A Tale of Time City). She also offers background on many of Jones's references, including the Gwyn Ap Nudd myth that figures in Dogsbody, the variations on Tam Lin/Thomas the Rhymer folktales in Fire and Hemlock, and possible sources for the animistic gods and goddesses in the Dalemark Quartet. I loved, loved, loved this book.

Farah Mendlesohn was the shining high point of my anthropological journey to WisCon 2009. She is a brilliant academic, incisive and witty. I deeply enjoyed her book, which draws on her extensive knowledge and vast comprehension of the goings-on in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Well-read and better written, this is an excellent textbook, as suited to reading on the metro as in the classroom.