Category: Fantasy

The Devil in a Forest by Gene Wolfe (1976)

On By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, ReviewsLeave a comment

Gene Wolfe is one of my favorite writers, and this is a wonderful book of his that I found some years after reading his epic Book of the New Sun, an amazing series that I want to reread soon. Unlike that dense, lengthy work, this is a shorter novel of mystery, adventure and myth, but like Wolfe’s other novels, it is  beautifully written, tightly plotted and great fun to read. I just re-read it over the holidays, after hearing the carol, ‘Good King Wenceslas,’ which reminded me of the book. Wolfe explains his writing inspiration for this novel in the epilogue:

“Shortly before Christmas one year, Gene Wolfe was singing the carol ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and was struck by the king’s questions to his page: “Yonder peasant, who is he? Where, and what his dwelling?” And by the page’s answer: “Sire, he lives a good league hence, Underneath the mountain, Close against the forest fence, By St. Agnes’ fountain.”

Wolfe recalls, “I found myself wondering who, indeed, was that nameless medieval peasant from whom most of us are, in one way or another, descended.”

The Devil in a Forest is Wolfe’s story surrounding this peasant, whose little village becomes involved in a struggle between a nameless evil and the forces of good. There is a dangerous highwayman, a mysterious murder, and strange powers that converge upon this village and create havoc for Mark, the protagonist. The attention to detail in Mark’s day to day life, and that of his fellow villagers, is quite well done and made for some interesting reading. Mark’s trials and his battle for survival are suspenseful, keeping you guessing right until the end. I enjoyed this one very much—it is so different from some of Wolfe’s other books, but his concept and the execution are excellent. I don’t want to spoil the fun for those who may be interested in reading this one, but I recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed Wolfe’s more well-known books. Fantasy writing doesn’t get much better.

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson (1999)

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I recently read the first of Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series, Gardens of the Moon. I had a fun time with this book, and enjoyed the epic scope of it. This is a long and dense series, and this first installment is a huge doorstop of a novel, with a cast of dozens of mages, wizards, soldiers, fighters, assassins and those caught up in the war enveloping the Malazan empire and the city of Darujistan. There are plenty of plot twists, political intrigue, and enough magic and battles to satisfy any fan of epic fantasy. If you like reading writers like George RR Martin, Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, and Brandon Sanderson, I think you’ll definitely enjoy this book. An added benefit is that this series is already completed, though the ten novels in it may seem daunting. Gardens of the Moon was first published back in 1999, and though I’d seen his books in the store and the library, I’d never read Erikson before. I’ve already picked up the second of this series and will continue with it after finishing some of the other books I’m currently reading. Highly recommended for fans of epic fantasy.

The Lord of the Rings 25th Anniversary

On By Christopher TuthillIn Fantasy, Movies, Reviews, TolkienLeave a comment

Somehow, it’s been a quarter century since The Fellowship of the Ring first hit multiplexes. That was half a lifetime ago for me. I recall waiting for the movies eagerly, feeling very concerned that they wouldn’t be any good, that they’d get Tolkien all wrong and mess up my favorite book.

I needn’t have worried. They were great films, much better than anyone had a right to expect, and I loved them from the start. Oh, there were plenty of complaints from lots of people about what Peter Jackson and his team got wrong about Tolkien, but such criticisms were in the minority, far outweighed by the millions who loved the movies. The artistic achievement here was really beyond what even the most ardent fan might have hoped. The music, the costumes, the cast, the locations, the attention to detail, the story all came together in a way that rarely happens. The filmmakers created something grand that has stood the test of time.

            I am somewhat surprised that a bigger deal hasn’t been made of this anniversary, but never mind that. I saw that the extended version of Fellowship was in the theater and asked my thirteen-year-old son what he thought. He’s read the books and seen the movies and was enthusiastically in favor of seeing them on a big screen, an experience he’d never had. My ten-year-old daughter also wanted to see it; she fretted a little that she’d not yet read the books, but she soon got over this and happily came along.

            My daughter’s response to the films was quite sweet, and for me, it put to rest once and for all the idea that these films were somehow no good. I know Christopher Tolkien, as well as some Tolkien superfans, hated the movies, but whenever I heard such criticisms over the years, I couldn’t have cared less, and after seeing my daughter’s adoring reaction to the movies, I think whether someone disliked these films is not something I could ever be persuaded to care about. She loved the epic scope of it, the characters and the settings and the battles. She loved Gimli and Gandalf and the hobbits and everything in between. Again: she is ten years old and now can’t wait to read The Lord of the Rings. It was her introduction to this vast, glorious epic. She knows about Tolkien, since she’s heard me talking about his books and has seen all the games and memorabilia I have, but these movies further sparked her imagination, just as Harry Potter and other books and movies have. There is nothing at all wrong with her uncritical love of these movies, nor with the way the rest of the audience have found happiness or escape or emotion in it. Any critic, no matter how well versed (or not) in Tolkien, is free to dislike the movies as much as they wish, but it’s quite clear they are missing the point and need to perhaps understand that we all come to these things differently.

            For my part, after having lived with these interpretations of the books for so long, I was amazed at how well they held up. They still look better than anything else out there, which is a real testament to the craftsmanship, hard work, and love with which they were made. It’s of course condensed and simplified from the novel, but I don’t care about that at all. Filmmakers are required to do things to sell a movie; it’s a different medium that requires different things than a book does, especially when so much money is at stake. Given such constraints, it is a miracle these movies were as good as they were.

            My children loved seeing The Fellowship of the Ring so much that we went back Saturday to see The Two Towers, and Sunday for The Return of the King. We are now reading the books together. I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend. If you’ve never seen these movies on the big screen, I highly recommend it.

The Navigator’s Children, by Tad Williams (2024)

On By Christopher TuthillIn Books, Fantasy, Reading, Reviews3 Comments

There are a lot of fantasy series out there, but in my view, Tad Williams’ Osten Ard novels are some of the very best. I was a huge fan of his epic Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy back when it came out; I was in high school when the first volume arrived, and I was hungry for more fantasy adventures after reading Tolkien. I found Williams to be great in his own right, very different, much darker. I loved the series and read some of his other books over the years.

A few years ago, when I learned he was going to write a sequel series set in Osten Ard, I was overjoyed. The Last King of Osten Ard has been a fun and engaging trip for me, and for many of us who love epic fantasy. These four volumes exceeded my expectations. There were also two shorter, superb prequel novels for the series that I highly recommend.

I finally read The Navigator’s Children over the holidays–it deftly ties the series up in a satisfying conclusion. There is a war to be fought, backstabbing villains, heroic deeds, and endless intrigue. There are also no easy answers or morality here. I really am in awe of how Williams finished this series, after so many years away from these characters. The story is dense, the world is staggeringly vast, and it is hard sometimes to keep track of all the interweaving story lines. I think Williams deserves so much credit for doing justice to all these characters and this story. It is no easy task. Most writers struggle to write convincing prose for much simpler kinds of tales, but he has again managed to do it in a lengthy, sweeping narrative.

I was happy to adventure again with Simon, Miriamele, and their many friends. In my view, what Williams really excels at is keeping the fates of all these characters in doubt right until the very end. They face such impossible odds that you think there must be no way out, again and again. I don’t wish to spoil anything for those of you who haven’t yet read the books, but I want to encourage those of you who have enjoyed books like Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, or other epic fantasy, to read these as well. If you’ve not read the original trilogy, start there, with The Dragonbone Chair. It may be an investment of time, but it’s well worth it; if you love epic fantasy novels, and haven’t read these, you are missing out. I was sad when it all ended, but pleased to see that Williams has a new Osten Ard book planned for later this year, which I will happily devour.

One observation about marketing from me, a guy who is an avid reader but who is not a businessperson or bookseller: I think bookstores could have made a better effort to promote this excellent novel. Maybe it’s just me, but my local Barnes and Noble didn’t have it when it came out, which I found shocking. I would think there would have been a major effort to promote it, with its own table, quotes from admiring authors like George RR Martin, and so on. I guess people who know and like Williams’ work were going to buy it, but it was surprising to me that there wasn’t more publicity. My local bookstore also didn’t have the latest Philip Pullman novel when I was last there, which seems very odd. Perhaps those of us who read these kinds of novels are getting older, but in my opinion it’s a missed opportunity on the part of booksellers when they don’t make a bigger deal out of new releases from major authors.

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft (1936)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween, HIstory, Horror, Reading, Reviews, Short Stories6 Comments

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.”

Lovecraft is another of those giants of horror who could fill this list all on his own, but I had to pick just one story, and this is one I really enjoy. A group of ill-fated scientists from Miskatonic University make the terrible mistake of going to Antarctica where they find evidence of a race of beings far older than anything known to humans before, beyond a range of mountains larger than any that have ever been recorded. They explore buildings left behind by this civilization, which have been devised through ‘non-Euclidean geometry,’ and find hieroglyphs that help them learn about Elder-things and shoggoths, monsters that populated the place and whom they have foolishly awakened. They escape, but not before losing several members of the party. The novella serves as a warning to others who might want to return to study the antarctic.

Lovecraft has of course been highly influential and much has been written about him and his work. “Who Goes There?”, John Campbell’s horror tale set in the arctic with a group of explorers, immediately comes to mind, as do the films based upon it, including the 1951 version “The Thing From Another World,” as well as John Carpenter’s excellent “The Thing” from 1982.

I think it’s best to learn about Lovecraft straight from the source. There are many entry points for his mythos, but I think this is a great place to start. You could also read the Call of Cthulhu, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, Dagon, or any number of others. The Library of America has a wonderful collection of his tales that I highly recommend.

So there you have it. Thirty-one tales of gothic terror and wonder over the month of October. I think it’s a pretty good list of some of the gems I’ve read over the years; I chose them in no particular order as the month went by, but I stand by each of them as tales that are either unique, or influential, or just plain scary enough to keep you up at night. Perhaps I’ll choose another 31 next October. For now, I hope you’ve enjoyed perusing this list, and that you’ve been inspired to read something you haven’t before. If you have your own favorites, or if you like what you’ve read, be sure to let me know in the comments.

Happy Halloween!

The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers (1989)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween, HIstory, Horror1 Comment

“Crawford felt drops of sweat run down his ribs under his shirt as he slowly forced the muscles of his neck to tilt his head up; he saw the upper slope, bristling with trees that obstructed a view of the road, and then he saw the outer branches of the tree he was braced against, and finally he gathered his tattered courage and looked straight up.

And it took all of his self-control not to recoil or scream, and he was distantly resentful that he couldn’t just die in this instant.”

Tim Powers has had a long and illustrious career writing historical fantasy, and he ought to be a household name. You can read any of his books and be transported to a different world, but for this time of year I think Stress of Her Regard is a great place to begin. It’s a wonderful tale about Michael Crawford, who accidentally finds himself the object of a nephilim, a sort of succubi that he has unwittingly courted. His bride to be is found dead, and he’s the main suspect. He travels around Europe trying to rid himself of the creature, and meets up with Shelley, Byron, Keats, Dr. Polidori, and others, all of whom are trying to avoid these strange, dangerous creatures. It’s great fun to read and gets my highest recommendation-for those who love literary history and fantasy, it doesn’t get much better than this. I’d also recommend Powers’ other books, which are all terrific. I particularly enjoyed On Stranger Tides, a pirate story, and his Last Call series. He’s one of the best fantasy writers we have, and he’s still going, with his latest book due out this fall.

Ghost Story by Peter Straub (1979)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween, Horror, Reading1 Comment

Ghost Story was a great success for Peter Straub when it was published in 1979, and it’s easy to see why. The novel has all kinds of unsettling stories within, enough to keep any reader up late at night. It’s written in the form of ghost stories told by four old men who suffer from terrible nightmares. Their stories from their own youth seem frighteningly believable and really captured my interest as I read. Since the men are elderly, we are reaching back in time many years, learning of strange happenings in rural upstate New York. I happen to live up here, and I felt Straub did a great job in that vein, carrying on the tradition of Washington Irving. The ghost tales become increasingly elaborate, with supernatural events in the present time overwhelming the characters.

I really enjoyed reading this book, which received high praise from Stephen King and others. (King would also collaborate with Straub on two different novels, The Talisman and Black House.) Straub wrote many successful novels and in addition to editing the Library of America’s Fantastic Tales set, which I’ve raved about a few times, he also edited their excellent H.P. Lovecraft volume. He was one of the greats of horror fiction, and this is a perfect starting point for his work.

The Phantom Coach, by Amelia Edwards (1864)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Christmas, Fantasy, Halloween, HIstory, Reading, Short Stories1 Comment

In the grand tradition of Victorian Christmas ghost stories, Amelia Edward’s The Phantom Coach first appeared in The December, 1864 issue of Charles Dickens’ literary journal, All the Year Round. Amazingly, the preceding link is to that full issue (the cover image is below), which I intend to read. Much of the run of this journal is freely available online, thanks to the Hathi Trust, the Internet Archive, and other sources.

The narrator of this tale of the damned is a man named Murray who is traveling across the Scottish moors when a snowstorm hits; afraid he won’t make it back home, he hails a passing stranger and asks for shelter. The man, Jacob, is the servant at a nearby house, but warns Murray that his master will not want him to stay. Jacob reluctantly allows Murray to follow him back to the residence.

The master of the house is at first irritated by Murray’s presence and tells him he has lived in this secluded place for twenty-three years, with no visitors at all for the past four. But the man is eager for news of the outside world—they have a fireside chat during which the old man tells him:

“The world grows hourly more and more sceptical of all that lies beyond its own narrow radius; and our men of science foster the fatal tendency. They condemn as fable all that resists experiment. They reject as false all that cannot be brought to the test of the laboratory or the dissecting-room. Against what superstition have they waged so long and obstinate a war, as against the belief in apparitions? And yet what superstition has maintained its hold upon the minds of men so long and so firmly?”

The man further says that he himself believed in the supernatural, and as a man of science, his career was ruined for it. He speaks with eloquence about various philosophers and scientists, leaving Murray in awe at the breadth of his knowledge; Murray says that he “wandered from topic to topic, from speculation to speculation, like an inspired dreamer.”

When the storm ends, Murray wishes to make his way home, though it is late at night—it’s decided he’ll join the mail coach, which will be passing through a few miles away. Jacob leads him to the stop, and now the story gets macabre. He mentions that a mail coach had crashed over an embankment, killing all aboard, nine years before.

It’s at times like this in most ghost stories when I, and most readers, want to tell the protagonist to find some other way home. Of course, Murray doesn’t. He gets on the coach when it arrives, at first relieved to be out of the cold, until he realizes the awful truth of the matter.

This is a very fun, atmospheric horror tale, and I can see why it has been anthologized so often. You are set up beautifully by the desolate moor, the irritable servant, finally the old man telling tales of the supernatural in a parlor teeming with hundreds of books and scholarly apparatus of every conceivable kind. Incidentally, I want a room just like this, complete with a fireplace and ghost stories and a glass of sherry. If anyone out there reading this wants to help me achieve this, I’d be grateful.

 I came across my copy of this tale in a Dover thrift edition of ghost stories. I’ve loved those Dover editions since I was a young man—for just a few dollars you get some first-rate stories. My college instructors used to kindly assign these editions to their poor students, and I’ve kept with the tradition.  

Amelia Edwards was a woman of many talents: in addition to writing many novels and short stories, she was also a journalist, illustrator, and Egyptologist. Like most of the authors on this list, you can learn more about her life in her Dictionary of Literary Biography entry, though you will need a login to access it.

A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny (1993)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Fantasy, Halloween1 Comment

This novel is a wonderful seasonal treat by the legendary Zelazny. Each of the chapters is a night in October, told from the point of view of Snuff, a dog who is the companion of Jack the Ripper. Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein, the Wolfman, and various other spooky characters haunt the pages of this book, each with an animal familiar, all playing a game that will determine the fate of humanity. I found this book to be a tremendously appealing conceit, such a fun read and so well told. If this kind of story sounds appealing to you, do not delay: sit back, relax, pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy it by the fire–you won’t be disappointed. If it doesn’t sound appealing to you, that makes me sad and I’d encourage you to try it anyway.

Ozzy

On By Christopher TuthillIn Fantasy, musicLeave a comment

I discovered Ozzy at the height of the Satanic Panic, when I was in the eighth grade. A friend gave me a copy of Blizzard of Ozz and I admit when I first heard it, I found it frightening. The news said this man was Satanic and a kid had killed himself to the music. I was used to the milder stuff and didn’t get it at first. Only on repeated listenings did I start to understand this was Ozzy’s act,  an awfully fun one that upset parents and made kids love him all the more.

No Rest for the Wicked, Bark at the Moon, Diary of a Madman, one after another left their mark. I learned he’d fronted a band in the early mists of time, before I was born, called Black Sabbath. Mind blowing stuff. War Pigs is still enough to give you chills. There’s no better music than this for kids who love Dungeons and Dragons, pulp fantasy novels, and sci fi and horror movies.

He was funny and had a humanity and warmth that made me enjoy his music even more. The Spinal Tap moments on his reality show were priceless, and he took it all in good fun, part of his madcap act. I never saw him, but always knew I could trust a fellow who told me he was heading to Ozzfest. They were always kind souls. I’m so sad to hear he passed away; I feel like I’ve lost a part of my childhood.

What a ride he took us all on. God bless you, saintly Prince of Darkness. Rock on forever.

Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of Judgment, God is calling
On their knees the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins