Wonder Tales: The Book of Wonder and Tales of Wonder [Paperback]

Lord Dunsany (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2003

One of English literature's most original talents, Irish writer Edward J. M. D. Plunkett, the 18th Baron of Dunsany, created many of the best fantastic tales in the language. This collection of 33 stories includes all of the tales from two of his finest collections, including "The Three Sailors' Gambit," and "The House of the Sphinx."

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (October 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486432017
• ISBN-13: 978-0486432014
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Occult > Supernatural
  • #33 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Horror > Ghosts
  • #39 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy > Anthologies

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dunsany's tales are a "Wonder", May 2, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonder Tales: The Book of Wonder and Tales of Wonder (Paperback)

Lord Dunsany was one of the handful of fantasy writers before "Lord of the Rings" took the world by storm. Now "Wonder Tales" compiles two of his best short story collections, with their exotic fairy tales ranging from the comic to macabre.

"The Book of Wonder" is a mix of all kinds of fantasy tales: a pair of dueling idols; a man whose interest in his imaginary land eclipses the real world; a magical window that shows amazing things; suitors try to make a cold queen cry; the story of the Gibbelins, who eat "nothing less good than man"; and of Miss Cubbins and the Dragon of Romance.

"Time and the Gods" is a radically different kind of story. Ever read the Silmarillion? Dunsany jumps into similar turf with his invented legends of gods and heroes, such as the story of Time and how it overthrew even what the gods favored, how Inzana lost her golden ball (an enchanting little sun legend), the meeting between Night and Morning, and the tale of Slid, an upstart young god.

Dunsany's fantasies aren't as vibrantly realistic as J.R.R. Tolkien's, or as pensive as C.S. Lewis's. Instead they're like fantastical, melancholy little paintings. Some are whimsical ("Miss Cubbins," "Chu-Bu and Sheemish"), while others are majestic and mythic, like the entire "Time and the Gods" book.

Dunsany's writing is lush and descriptive, but in the slightly distant style of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. He handled comedy, tragedy, horror, and made-up legends with skill and imagination. Not to mention that his mythmaking -- one of the earliest examples of a fictional mythology -- is astoundingly realistic and beautifully made.

"Wonder Tales" is an excellent collection of some of Dunsany's best short stories. Vivid and beautifully written, this early fantasy writer is a must-have.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful, May 8, 2005

By 

Josephine Velez "Ghost Writer" (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonder Tales: The Book of Wonder and Tales of Wonder (Paperback)

As David Eddings has said, this author teaches any writer humility for what he can do in four pages fantasy writers cannot do in 400. I have a much older version of this book, taking it on advice that i should read it, i had to own it at all costs and i regret it not. This writer is fantastic and not cheesy in the way Robert Jordan is. An underated writer, and he came out before Tolkien. Well worth buying. Some of the most enjoyable stories i have read.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you are weary of the world, then we have new Worlds here., October 20, 2007

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wonder Tales: The Book of Wonder and Tales of Wonder (Paperback)

Somehow I expected this collection to be rather thicker- and yet, upon reading, I am not disappointed. Lord Dunsany used exactly the appropriate number of words in every case to paint his word pictures. Most of these tales are only four pages or so long, yet they are all perfect, or nearly so. Each story is a gem- an exquisite miniature.

As for content, these are all accounts of the Edge of the World. Perhaps you know it as Faery, the Mittelmarch, or even the Twilight Zone. It is the interface between our world and the next higher. You discover it by chance, here and there, when the improbable seems to mix more and more with the mundane. Sometimes you catch a glimpse of it in the twilight, the gloaming, for that is the only light by which it may be illuminated to our eyes. It penetrates our world like silver veins through granite- and communicates with an infinitely greater, deeper, body of bright ore...

And yet the author had humor- and a distaste for the sordid in the world. He lets drop hints of no politician being honest- and of ordinary work being a meaningless affair. Plus, the second half of the book (written in 1916) speaks of being weary of a world of mud, and blood, and khaki. Yet, I sense that Lord Dunsany was no idle escapist- he was an explorer.

Save this book to read before sleep, for I sense that is where many of these stories came from- their inspiration is there still, if you are lucky enough to connect with it.