Grails: Quests of the Dawn [Paperback]

Richard Gilliam (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Edward E. Kramer (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

New York Times bestselling authors Neil Gaiman, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and 23 more masters of fantasy deliver spellbinding stories of Arthurian knights, innocent maidens, sorcerers, and sword masters who have been touched by the power of the Holy Grail...

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

From Neil Gaiman's story of a housewife's encounter with a Knight of the Round Table ("Chivalry") to Brad Strickland's cautionary tale of covetousness and human foibles ("The Gift of Gilthaliad"), the 25 stories and poems that comprise this collection of Grail-inspired fiction represent a strong showing from a host of celebrated fantasy and sf authors. First published in a limited edition, this volume (the first in a two-part series) explores broad and literal interpretations of one of literature's most enduring legends. Suitable for fantasy and short story collections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Actually, not quite original: Grails first appeared in 1992 as a 200,000-word hardcover limited to 1,000 copies. This volume is the first half of an expanded edition totalling 300,000 words (a second volume is promised for August 1994) and arrives courtesy of the editors who thought up last year's Confederacy of the Dead anthology. Strangely, though dedicating the book to Fritz Leiber, and including an afterword by him, the editors fail to mention that Leiber died in 1992. So, then, this first volume comprises three poems, one ``masque in verse,'' 20 stories, and the aforementioned afterword. Evidently, the authors were encouraged to take the idea of ``grail'' as metaphor and then run with it; sometimes they ran very far indeed. The results range from orthodox grail stories through Arthurian connections to elves, gypsies, the sun, westerns, WW I, charlatans, Atlantis, genies and wishes, second sight, freedom, visions, immortality, mad professors, baseball gloves, Down's syndrome, the Philosopher's Stone, and space-time distortions. The famous contributors include Andre Norton, Jane Yolen, Gene Wolfe, Alan Dean Foster, and Orson Scott Card. Patchy and discursive, with one or two real delights, some pleasant surprises and an equal number of clunkers. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Roc (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459644
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459640
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,334,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gaiman story is worth the price, May 15, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Grails: Quests of the Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

The Gaiman story in this collection is brilliant. There are other bright spots as well, particularly the contributions from Diana Paxson and Alan Dean Foster. Good, fun stuff.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only a few bright spots, February 28, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grails: Quests of the Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

Arthurian fiction in general is steeped with awful fiction, and short story collections are a mixed bag. Let me simply say that I was left unimpressed - and often disgusted - by the stories in here. There are some good ones, but they are few and far between. (Do not be led astray by the pretty cover art! It is pretty, but that's almost all it has going for it)

We start with an icky poem by Jane Yolen; then a groanworthy Mercedes Lackey story "The Cup and the Cauldron" -- it stars girls and yes, has more Christian-pagan stuff if you're as sick of that as I am; an incoherent Andre Norton story "That Which Overfloweth"; Marion Zimmer Bradley's equally groanworthy feminist-Goddess-server "Chalice of Tears." We hit something far better in Diana L. Paxson's "Feast of the Fisher King," which is both well-written and entertaining, as well as being in play format; also Brad Strickland's enjoyable elf-fantasy-Arthurian story "Gift of Gilthiliad."

Then it's back into "groan" territory with Ilona Ouspenskaya's gypsy tale "Curse of the Romany," where you wonder what-the-heck-does-this-have-to-do-with-it? James S. Dorr's "Dagda" is pretty; Gene Wolfe's odd "Sailor who Sailed After the Sun" is another where you wonder what the relevance is; Lee Hoffman's indifferently-written western-fantasy "Water" takes a long time to get to the point, as does Alan Dean Foster's "What You See..." and Richard Gilliam's "Storyville, Tennessee" and Jeremiah Phipps' "Hell-Bent for Leather" (are you seeing a pattern of irrelevance here?)

Lisa Lepovetsky pens another icky poem; Orson Scott Card's "Atlantis" stretches indefinitely; Dean Wesley Smith's "Invisible Bars" is pretty amusing; Janny Wurts bores and annoys with "That Way Lies Camelot"; Kristine Katherine Rusch's "Hitchhiking across an Ancient Sea" is a pale, pale short story; Lawrence Watt-Evans's story has a good idea, but is poorly written; Lionel Fenn's "The Awful Truth in Arthur's Barrow" is just plain bizarre, as is Brian M. Thompson's "Reunion." Margo Skinner redeems the poetry angle with "Quest Now"; Neil Gaiman's "Chivalry" is enchanting; Bruce D. Arthurs is weird again in "Falling to the Edge of the End of the World", same with Rick Wilber's "Greggie's Cup."

As you can see, this mixed bag tends toward the dull, irrelevant, pretentious and just poorly written. Half the stories seem to have the Grail thrown in (if it's there at all) just as an afterthought. Except for Margo Skinner's poem, the poetry all stinks; only a few of the stories retain the beauty and prose that one espects to see in an Arthurian story. When I buy a book classified as Arthurian fiction, I WANT Arthurian fiction; I do not want stories about pregnant gypsies, fantasy westerns, or genies.

There are much better collections out there, however bright the bright spots in this are. Read "The Doom of Camelot" and the upcoming "Legends of the Pendragon" if you want good Arthurian short stories.