Customer Reviews

Grimbolds Other World

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One of my favourite books ever, this humorous and quirky collection of short stories about one boy and his relationship with the world of faery is written with intelligence and wit. Grimbold is a large black cat who guides Muffler, the foundling child raised by farmers, on many midnight adventures through the "night world", where everything becomes, physically, what it is spiritually, or mentally. Cats are huge, fearsome and fast, and dogs are small, cringing things full of fear. (Great for cat people: I felt very vindicated.) I highly recommend it for bedtime reading, as it is harmless and not frightening at all, and each chapter can be read on its own. Grimbold is full of dry, sarcastic humor, and Muffler is an endearing character for children and parents alike.

Nicholas Stuart Gray is a very talented, underappreciated artist who wrote other children's fantasy fiction. Notably, he wrote a story called "Seventh Swan", about the last of the ! "swan prince" brothers from the fairy tale. The premise of the novel is, what happened to the poor prince who was left with one swan's wing at the end of the story?

My Dad has told to sit down and prattle on about Grimbold and Muffler in the hope that the publishers will put Nicholas Stuart Gray books back into print again.

Dad read us Grimbold's Other World,and this is what I think of it:

Muffler,brought up by farmers, meets Grimbold the cat, who takes the boy into the Night World, where cats grow enormous and dogs quiver like mice,and where Sable,the merciless sorcerer, lives in Red Tower, with his mischeivous son, Gareth. Gareth always defys his father,and gets into rather serious trouble, but Muffler and Grimbold help him.

Muffler also meets the Hob,who lives in the barn and is the luck of the farm,and Madam Nettleweb, Sable's scatty sister.

This is a fabulous book,full of magic and mystery. I recommend it for any age from 7 and upwards.

I had this book read to me by my mother when I was seven, and fell in love with it... an enduring affair it seems, as I have just finished reading it. to my own seven-year-old son. He was even compelled to leave his xbox and stop slaughtering Orcs , to beg for a nightly chapter of the adventures of the not-quite-all-there goatherd, Muffler, in the world of night.The nightworld is configured in the same fashion as our own, but more mysterious, elemental, and enchanting. Cats are twice their usual size, with powers of magic some of us have always suspected they possessed. Nicholas Stuart Gray was a renowned children's writer, child actor,and playwright. His style combines sinuous story-telling with seductive wit, making the dialogue a joy to read, unlike the often leaden exchanges of fantasy fiction. Old themes are explored, the sense of being different, the yearning to belong but not conform, and , most poignantly, the pain of loss, of abandonment, separation, ageiing and death..I haven't made it sound all THAT jolly yet , have I? There is even a ring of power, and a sorcerer who, if not exactly evil, displays a fine temper and a nasty turn of phrase. Above all, this is a funny book, displaying a feline wit. The characters are gloriously drawn, and outrageous. A camp , damp ghost called Heliotrope, ineptly materialising and scaring itself silly, assorted talking horses and other friendly beasts, and the cool, glamorous Grimbold himself, the sleek ringmaster of this nocturnal circus, make this book a deep delight for the imaginative of all ages.

An orphaned child, the realms of magic, dragons, wizards, and a large, talking cat... Grimbold's Other World has all the earmarks of an enduring fantasy novel appropriate for genre-lovers of all ages.

When Muffler, hero of the tale, discovers his gift of speaking to animals both commonplace and magical, his adventures are just beginning - and his affiliation with Grimbold, a black cat with mystic powers, leads him into the wild lands of the "Night Worlds" to become the unwilling champion of a powerful wizard's son, the defender of dragons, and a word-magician in his own right. His journeys through the worlds of spells and incantation lead him on a hero's quest where the ultimate prize is one he did not seek - his own true identity, and his destiny in the world of men.

It baffles me that this book ever fell out of print... the chapter involving dragons alone will have children of all ages howling in delight! I highly recommend it to fantasy fans of the old school, loving the old magics of CS Lewis and Tolkien.

This book straddles many lines: it's a book that can be read to young children; it can be read by young adults making their first forays into book-length fiction; and it can be read and enjoyed by adults looking to recapture some of the magic of childhood. There is a lot of wisdom contained in its pages, far more than in most "adult" novels.

At the same time, Grimbold is a very manageable read. The book is not long and stands alone -- this is no multi-volume series of 500+ page tomes. Further, it is divided into chapters that form an overall story in sequence yet stand alone as episodes, providing easy stopping points for daily/nightly reading. The vocabulary is not difficult, and the fact that paragraphs are short should make reading it less daunting than, say, a Harry Potter book, whether it's being read aloud or internally.

The praise heaped on many "young adult" books today is that they're helping young adults accept and enjoy reading as a form of storytelling, alongside more visual forms like TV and movies. That's well and good, but Grimbold's Other World goes beyond that. It doesn't just tell an interesting story, it tells it well. It's a book that can help people learn to enjoy written stories as an art form -- it can help foster an appreciation of language in itself, rather than seeing it as just a medium to transmit stories. It's simply the most well-written, well-told young adult story I can remember reading: a classic of the genre that deeply needs to find its way back into print.

I've been a big fan of Nicholas Gray ever since I first borrowed 'Overhills to Fabulon'. I think that Grimbold's Other World was one of the most magical books I've read, and this is including Nicholas Gray's other books. I totally agree that this author should be reprinted and considering the popularity of the Harry Potter series, I can't understand why any publishing company doesn't undertake this sensible option.

Okay, it may not be perfect literature, but it is perfect childrens fantasy. The originality of the cats and other animals and the nightworld they know of has been unjustly neglected. You may have trouble finding the books, but read them if you do!

This was my favorite book as a young reader. It's a charming and intelligent children's fantasy - an old fashioned book of fairy tales told with a light and sophisticated touch. Nicholas S. Gray created a moody, mystical atmosphere that will appeal to any imaginative child. I suspect that many of today's popular writers of fantasy owe a debt to Mr. Gray. His books are not easy to find now, but so worth reading if you do run across one.

Every kid should read this book. It was one of my favorites after the only copy was discarded from my library for 10 cents and I was lucky enough to grab it. This is quite a long review because I want everyone to take notice of this book immediately. If you landed on this page, BUY THIS BOOK. It has been forgotten on dusty shelves and sold are library yard sales to afford Lewis Carol too long.

Muffler is a traditional foundling hero for that era of fantasy, but he's more accessible than almost any but Harry Potter. Compared to any single Potter book, I found Grimbold more rich, if, of course, much shorter, and better written. It is stimulating for young minds and fun for older ones. The adventures are classics, the characters are unforgettable and the Night World is tempting but also frightening. It contains many lessons kids into fantasy shouldn't forget, such as "Just like everything beautiful, it is dangerous", to evaluate deals well because of hidden costs/fine print, that not everyone ugly or frightening is actually bad (and likewise that not everything is as it seems), that adopted children are just as loved as biological children, that good people can do bad deeds and people deserve second chances, that friendship is incomparable valuable, that risks are sometimes necessary and that cats, even the heroes, are not trustworthy (ha ha).

Beyond being a captivating fantasy, the poetry is just great. I still remember most of it because I liked it so much that I memorized it.

The packaging for the book is great and the book arrived earlier than I expected.
The book is as described and in a better condition than I thought. :)