Monthly Archives: July 2008

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

By terje | Published: July 19, 2008
1926. 273 pages. Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks. Foreword by Neil Gaiman. Where the rivers Dapple and Dawl converge is situated the small country port of Lud-in-the-Mist, capital of the free state of Dorimare. From here, the burghers send their trading ships out into the world, bringing back wealth to the upper strata of Dorimarite society. But Lud and Dorimare has [...]
Posted in Ambiguity, British humour, Collections, Death, Gaiman, Impressions, Irony, Language, Literature, Review, Speculative fiction | 4 Comments

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

By terje | Published: July 17, 2008
2008. 536 pages (Gollancz Fantasy trade paperback). “Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.” — Paul Gaugin. This being the opening quote of Last Argument of Kings, the concluding volume in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law series, one can perhaps perceive that this is a bleak affair. As I remarked in my reviews of the first [...]
Posted in A Moistening of the Eyes, A Praise Chorus, Ambiguity, Art, Awe, Conflicting emotions, Death, Discomfort, Evilness, Goosebumps!, History, Literature, Misery, Oh noes!, Pain, Panic, Paranoia, Pessimism, Recommendations, Regret, Review, Speculative fiction, Whoa, Wistfulness | 13 Comments

The Well of the Unicorn by Fletcher Pratt

By terje | Published: July 17, 2008
1948. 338 pages. Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks. When young Airar Alvarson is evicted from his family farm by a henchman of the occupant Vulkings, he does not require much prodding to join the Dalecarl resistance, who are (or would be) fighting against the Vulkings’ rule over their homelands of Dalarna. A seemingly chance meeting with the old enchanter and [...]
Posted in Ambiguity, History, Language, Literature, Review, Speculative fiction | 9 Comments