Thomas The Rhymer (Mass Market Paperback)

by Ellen Kushner (Author)
Key Phrases: famous flower, Thomas the Rhymer, Middle Earth, Elf Queen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Based on the famous ballad of the medieval minstrel who was abducted by the Queen of Elfland, this romantic fantasy is a happy blend of discreet scholarship and literary style. A Boston-based radio producer, Kushner ( Swordspoint ) is at ease in Middle-Earth where Thomas, insouciant harper and rhymer, appears at the humble dwelling of a weathered crofter and his wife. Dazzling them with stories of the king's court, the damsels he's won and the sights he's seen, he also enthralls young Elspeth, a neighbor. Their mutual attraction is frustrated when Thomas suddenly disappears, and for seven years is held captive by the silken Queen of Elfland, who releases him with a questionable gift, the inability to speak anything but the truth. As Thomas renews his earthly life with Elspeth, the gift leads to interesting complications. Kushner creates a lavish microcosm where riddles and runes and magical transformations govern.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Thomas the Rhymer's carefree life as a wandering minstrel changes forever when a fateful encounter with the Queen of Elfland takes him from the world for seven years, returning him unmarked by age and gifted with the inability to lie. The author of Swordspoint brings the freshness of her storytelling talent to this ballad-inspired tale of a man's brush with immortality and its inescapable legacy. This graceful medieval fantasy is highly recommended and may have appeal to nongenre readers.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (November 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812514459
• ISBN-13: 978-0812514452
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,203,308 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the usual fantasy fare, June 9, 2004

By	amazonker (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This is not a book to read if you're seeking a stirring adventure. Thomas does go on a long, strange trip, but the focus is as much on how his life impacts the people important to him as it is on his experiences in Elfland. Kushner's decision to write only Thomas's Elfland experiences in his own voice, then, is a clever one. Also, seeing Thomas before and after his journey through the eyes of others reveals the extent of the change in him more thoroughly than if we remained in his head.

Kushner does an excellent job of giving each of the four narrators a distinct perspective, a difficult thing to do. And because they see different things in each other and percieve their relationships with one another differently, there's the opportunity to ponder how it is we get along in the world when we all have disparate visions of reality. This is a marvelously subtle way to question whether True Thomas can ever wholly tell the truth. Is the truth absolute, or is it changeable depending on individual understanding? This question lingers long after the book is shut.

So why did I give Thomas the Rhymer only three stars? Well, for all the lovely writing and thoughtful structure, it left me cold. For one, the Faery Queen who is the heart of all this trouble and change seemed to me little more than a blowup doll. She laid a couple of spells on Thomas, but mostly all they did was copulate, and I needed either for her to be more interesting or to feel more of why Thomas was infatuated with her. (Because of the distance I felt from her, also, the ending of the book was less moving for me than it should have been.) Apart from that, I felt Kushner passed over a great opportunity to explore what the effects of Thomas's truth-saying might be. There was some of that, certainly, in the final section of the book, but much was made of the gift of truth-telling in Faery (and whether it was a gift at all), and then very little was done with it.

Reading this book is a gamble. It has its virtues, and if you think you'll enjoy piecing together a larger meaning based on the fragments of story and varying points of view, you'll probably enjoy it well enough. However, if you want a story that swallows you whole and spits you out at the end with no respite to sit back and intellectualize, this may not be for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical, yet somehow unsatisfying., August 21, 2001

By	Joe Jacco (Sarasota, FL USA) - See all my reviews

I read several reviews of this book several years ago and received several more word-of-mouth reviews since them. All were raves. The facts that the book was out-of-print and hard to get added to the mystique. So, when I saw the book on a friend's shelf, I was beside myself with rapture, and immediately borrowed the book and read it.

Though it was a good story, true to the ballad, and beautifully written, it was not the religious experience I was anticipating. Perhaps my expectations were too high, I just don't know. But mostly, I did not find Thomas to be a particulary sympathetic character, The people that loved him did not find their love returned, I fear. Thomas was a touch too self-centered for my tastes.

All in all though, I'm glad I finally found and read the book. I would recommend it to all fantasy fans and fans of Celtic/Scottish/British folklore if for no other reason than "historic" relevance.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another world, another time -- and that's the truth, January 23, 2003

By	hrladyship (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews

Ellen Kushner has used an old ballad to create a fascinating and lovely tale of a young harpist and singer. Thomas appears one day at the door of an older and childless couple in the country who take him in and begin to love him as a son. He in turn, loves and respects them, all the while finding himself fascinating to and fascinated by a neighbor girl whose fiery temperament charms him. Off and on he reappears, leaving behind the courts of the nobility where he sings and plays for their pleasure.

One day, while visiting his friends, he wanders onto Eildon Hills and meets the queen of the faeries. She takes him with her to her home where he abides for 7 years. He becomes her lover, her plaything, and a challenge to others in the land, because he is forbidden to speak to anyone except the queen. Having fulfilled his bargain, the queen returns Thomas to his own world, burdened with a terrible gift: He can only speak the truth.

Told by Gavin, the elderly farmer, Thomas, and the girl whom he marries upon his return, the story of the life of True Thomas unwinds almost as a song does. There is melody, harmony, and many verses. For those who come to believe, the end will bring tears to their eyes.

Readers who enjoy this book might also enjoy Kushner's earlier novel, Swordspoint. She does not write often, but she writes well.