Date Posted:15:27:37 02/11/02 Mon Author: Omega Subject: Brief Review: The King of Elfland's Daughter
I was able to find at a Half-Priced books in Cincinnati a copy of Dunsay's "The King of Elfland's Daughter."
I didn't know what to expect from the book. I knew it was considered one of Dunsany's best fantasy novels. I knew Dunsany influenced Lovecraft, and probably also Tolkien.
Having read the book, I can see his influences upon Lovecraft, Tolkien, and others. The novel isn't filled with much action, but rather, it is a dreamy-tale which mixes the world itself with magic. The theme: don't risk playing with magic, for you will get more than you want from it.
The story itself is a love story, a study of magic, a discussion of hunting, and many elements from tradition celtic lore on faeries thrown in. The style of writing, in its dreamy nature, is quite good. Those wanting action will have to go elsewhere. Those who want magic, will get it, but it is of course not the modern over-the-top magic but rather the deep, dangerous, and yet subtle kind of magic is what one has in store for them in this book.
Because there is not much of a plot to this novel, in the ways most novels have plots (there are a few small stories going on at once, I would say), I don't plan on saying too much about it. But you will quickly see the relationship between elves and humans in this book, and the inter-marriage between the two, and how it influenced Tolkien's writings on the topic, with the common theme of immortality vs mortality quite apparent.
So I would recommend the book, and especially for those interested in a work highly connected to the development of fantasy as a literary genre, but I would also forewarn, it isn't a sword and sorcery epic, but rather, just like magic in the book, what one gets is a more subtle, more dreamy like story to ponder.
