The Gods of Peganais an invented pantheon. This slim book by Lord Dunsany has been tremendously influential, having inspired illustrious personages sThe Gods of Peganais an invented pantheon. This slim book by Lord Dunsany has been tremendously influential, having inspired illustrious personages such as H.P.Lovecraft and J.R.R.Tolkien. And the original illustrations by Sidney Sime are classics by themselves.
I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, but the actual reading left me a wee bit disappointed; as this is not a story, rather an idea for one. Dunsany has done a tremendous job of world-building. The Gods are all imagined in detail and exquisitely developed as characters: the language is appropriately archaic and elliptical: and the events described are sufficiently awe-inspiring. However, the book stops there. No story is developed, other than bits and pieces of legends and myths here and there.
The Pegana Gods are loosely modelled on the Celtic Pantheon, as the names indicate. However, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI who sleeps and dreams up the universe could be a stand-in for Vishnu, the Hindu preserver God, who does the same thing. And there are also gods for dreams and sleep, and even for stroking cats and dogs!
The Gods of Peganahas done a wonderful job in providing inspiration for The Silimarillion and the Cthulu mythos. That alone should mark it for immortality.
A short and enjoyable read for fantasy/ mythology fans.
PS: This book is available for download on the internet archive. Make sure you download the one with the Sidney Sime illustrations... they are magnificent!...more
I usually don't read YA: just picked up this book at a garage sale without knowing what it was, read two pages and abandoned it. I went back to it onlI usually don't read YA: just picked up this book at a garage sale without knowing what it was, read two pages and abandoned it. I went back to it only because I wanted a slim volume to keep up my book count for the reading challenge... but now I am glad that I did. Good for goodreads!
I am in two minds about this book. The premise and story are superb, and the characters are drawn with a few deft brush-strokes. But this book is too thin, almost an outline for a novel than a novel itself. The beginning is so abrupt that I was tossed head-first into the middle of the story, and it took me quite some time to regain my breath: then some more time was spent on getting my bearings in this strange universe into which I had descended. Then, I was captivated.
Corinna Stonewall is an orphan and a Folk-Keeper. She dresses up as a boy (Corin) and lives in the cellar of the Rhysbridge orphanage. Her task is to keep the Folk (beings which are "mostly wet mouth and teeth" - brr! Right out of M.R.James, that) from working their black magic and spoiling food and harvest, by continuously feeding them. She is jerked out of this less than idyllic but stable existence and hauled off to Cliffsend in the Northern Isles, by Lord Merton and his wife Lady Alicia, along with Lord Merton's cousin Edward. Lord Merton dies immediately after meeting Corinna, after startling her with knowledge of her secrets: but he intrigues her enough to persuade her to travel.
Once at Cliffsend, Corinna begins to make startling discoveries about her true nature. The Folk are stronger here, but they are not the only denizens that inhabit the twilight world between reality and fantasy. As Corinna slowly discovers her kinship to them, the secrets of her past are also slowly revealed.
The Folk Keeperis a fairy tale and Gothic romance rolled into one. The author makes use of common devices of both the genres and merges them seamlessly. I could feel the bite of the cold wind at Cliffsend, and the woodland sprites flitting about at the corner of my vision. And the resolution is satisfying to both genres.
This is also a coming-of-age story, and a Hero's journey, where the heroine finds her true nature at the end (though not in the way we expect).
Why only the three stars then? Well, as mentioned in the beginning, the story is spread too thin. It seems as though Ms. Billingsley was in a hurry to get the novel out. I can't help feeling that this is one book which would have been better if it had been a little fatter....more
I love road stories. The concept of a journey symbolising a person's passage through life is as old as the hills (The Pilgrim's Progressis a good exaI love road stories. The concept of a journey symbolising a person's passage through life is as old as the hills (The Pilgrim's Progressis a good example). Here, Alan Dean Foster gives us a refreshing new take on the theme, about a family's vacation trip to Vegas which becomes wackier and wackier as reality slowly unravels about them. It's weird and very readable....more
Nandakishore
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