The Dedalus Book of Finnish Fantasy (Dedalus Literary Fantasy Anthologies) (Paperback)

~ Johanna Sinisalo (Editor), David Hackston (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Secular literature in Finnish wasn't published until the nineteenth century. Hence, this anthology of stories first published between 1870 and 2003 is the equivalent of an English fantasy sampler ranging from Beowulf to Harry Potter, and it showcases a historical sequence of different literary manners. The one nineteenth-century piece is a synthetic folktale, a variant of the demon-lover scenario. The early-twentieth-century stories--a werewolf tale and a Viking echo of Coleridge's Ancient Mariner--are romantic-historical and the most sensuous things in the book. The mid-twentieth-century selections are superficially realist, regardless of fantastic premises or developments; outstanding among them is the Twilight Zone-ish "Shopping" by Tove Jansson, creator of the famous children's book and comic-strip character Moomin. The newest, late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century stories are often surrealist and subtle, worthy peers of the English-language stories in Feeling Very Strange (2006). Nature and war are motifs of a great many stories, and wild satire informs a pungent handful. Fantasy fare of the highest literary caliber. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

These stories have two common denominators: nature and war. Finland is sparsely populated, and its citizens form close ties with nature; it has also been torn between the empires of Sweden and Russia. Wolf Bride, by Aino Kallas, is set in the mid-17th century. Aalo, a woodsman’s wife, watches a wolf hunt. Later, she can’t resist joining the wolves in the forest and becomes a werewolf. At night she runs with wolves, by day she plays the part of a devoted wife. It’s an eerie tale with an unexpected ending. Tove Jansson is best known for her Moomintroll stories, but her piece is very adult. Following an unspecified disaster, a wife shops for her injured husband by climbing through shattered windows and looking for food among the wreckage. She relishes her role as breadwinner far too much! The editor’s own offering, Transit, tells how a young autistic girl speaks for the first time in 14 years and persuades a drunken hellraiser to help her steal some dolphins.

... intriguing and eye-opening. Rooted in the myths and legends of Nordic sagas, it’s very alive to the modern world, too. -- Matt Warman in The Daily Telegraph

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Product Details

• Paperback: 337 pages
• Publisher: Dedalus,; Tra edition (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 190351729X
• ISBN-13: 978-1903517291
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
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• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,327,137 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)