Submitted by CP Johnstone 
(Sep 11, 2001)Much of what we call modern fantasy is a pale, predictable mesh of cliches. It is a bookshelf filled with stories that bear far too much in common with one another. Sometimes indeed it feels that originality, which ought to be the cornerstone of fantasy seems to be all but evaporated. Lord Dunsay is - different. He is one of those illusive pre-Tolkien fantasy writers and you will be shocked at how much of modern fantasy derives from him. And then doubly shocked to find he still did it better. Lord Dunsay writes beautiful and elaborate prose. He weaves stories in which magic is not some work-a-day technology but rather a brooding, powerful and very nearly living force. But be warned, Lord Dunsay will not please everyone. The style is archaic. Plot is paramount and overrules characters. Emotion is removed and distant. Still I recommend that you give it a chance - you may find that the rich taste of his prose grows on you. (The King of Elfland's Daughter is presently being reprinted by Fantasy Masterworks)
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(22 ratings)