Lord Dunsany: In the Land of Time And Other Fantasy Tales

[@saltyk2795]

I picked up that Fantasy Masterworks edition on your recommendation, and I'm intrigued to dive in. Thank you, sir!

[@DebMcDonald]

The family is interesting. The current Baron, Randal Plunkett, is a filmmaker, a vegan, and has turned nearly half his land in Co. Meath into a Rewilding project. He has had great success in reintroducing birds and other wildlife that have disappeared from Ireland.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

He sounds like a really cool Dunsany.

[@April_Davis]

I've never heard of this author. But now I want to read all of his works. I think I need to just live an extra 300 years to get through my ever growing TBR. 😬

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yes. That’s my plan as well.

[@frankmorlock9134]

I'm glad you mentioned Dunsany as a playwright. His plays are, for the most part short and unusual. I'm particularly fascinated by The Queen's Enemies about this poor helpless little Queen of Egypt who because of her youth and inexperience were basically running the country and her. So she built a new palace by the Nile, and invited all her enemies to a banquet. Then the poor helpless little thing excused herself. Her guards barred the doors and opened the sluices letting the Nile in and, you guessed it, drowning all her enemies. Forgive the spoiler, but I couldn't help myself, I was so carried away by emotion, weeping over that poor helpless little Queen. I'm always thinking of her plight.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I think all his plays are available as ebooks. I’m pretty sure.

[@frankmorlock9134]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I believe they are all reprinted as ebooks by Delphi Press which published his collected/complete works very inexpensively for those who are interested. Delphi also publishes complete works of many British and American authors whose complete works are Out of Copyright. Many famous and less famous writers are in their collections. I bought a lot of their books as I began to rebuild my library from scratch here in Mexico. You can get complete sets for less than you might pay for one ebook.

[@onlychesssoloajedrez72]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 in Delph classic. Hug!!

[@sgriffin9960]

I’d never heard of Dunsany until I started watching your channel. Acquired Time and the Gods but have not yet read it! 😄 Story of my life!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m glad my channel has been good something!

[@jeroenadmiraal8714]

Lord Dunsany is the greatest of all time.

[@denisadellinger4543]

Enthralled by this author. Reading a snippet of that story gives you an impression of whether you want to go further with him. I love that he is a Lord. It is not often that you hear of aristocrats doing anything regarding actual work like writing, but there are some who were inventors and poets and lots of things. My impression of them is their times in the House of Lords and managing their estates. Which was no little feat, actually.

[@romeosantos3261]

Man this take me back when I was going through my Dunsany Phase.

[@glockensig]

Good Lord D!!!!

[@alexiskiri9693]

I've heard of him forever but never read him. It is about time I rectified that failure. Thank you, Michael.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thank you for listening to me talk about him.

[@srpyle]

Great stuff! Love your readings!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks!

[@starshiplazyboy475]

I found a reference to Lord Dunsany while looking through Appendix N in the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide for something new (to me) to read. I picked up the book you're reviewing and the King of Elfland's Daughter. I'm still working through them both, but they're great reads.

[@davidhawley3337]

I've read some of Dunsany's work. I have often quoted "The Sword of Welleran." And once, in the early 1980s, I found in the local library a badly battered and tattered copy of _The King of Elfland's Daughter_. I donated money to have the book rebound, and this was done, and done well. But I received no acknowledgement or credit. I hope the library still has it. Or that it found a good home.

[@wburris2007]

I have Time and the Gods published by Gollancz in 2020. If I start ignoring booktube events I might get around to reading it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Although I’m not a huge fantasy fan I do need to read more Dunsany. I read his mystery story Two Bottles of Relish in an anthology recently and really loved it.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You should read him just as soon as you are done with Moby Dick!

[@ThatReadingGuy28]

I’ve been slowly reading through the first Jorkens collection of short stories. I find them light reading but undeniably entertaining.

[@callinicobo5991]

Hello. Thanks to you, I've just bought an illustrated collection with different works of the author published a couple of years ago in Italy. I'm really enjoyng it. And the edition is beautiful if you want to take a look at the cover.

[@myhouseisalibrary]

Love, love LOVE Dunsany ❤️ Thank you for this reading. Yeah, I have that exact Penguin copy.

[@SEKreiver]

Great clip! It's Dun-SAY-ney. It rhymes with 'insaney', as one wag pointed out. Contrary to several assertions, it doesn't appear that Robert E. Howard read much Dunsany other than a few poems. On the other hand, Clark Ashton Smith and Fritz Leiber were both fans.

[@MagusMarquillin]

I've read one short story by this guy, the Ghosts, which is only 4 pages but showed he was pretty effective at supernatural horror, the descriptions reminded me of something Lovecraft or Clive Barker would write. I've found a copy of the King of Elfland's Daughter this summer though and I'm looking forward to reading more of his pivotal influence. I want that masterworks and/or that penguin now - what a great cover, vaguely like William Blake.

[@BookBlather]

One more of the early authors of the genre that I didn’t really know about until you started talking about him. Looking forward to trying his work.

[@royreadsanything]

Excellent reading. Love Dunsany! Might get that Penguin so I don't have to maul my Ballantines in order to read him 🤔

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I have a couple old Ballantine Dunsany volumes as well.

[@charliedogg7683]

What I especially love about Dunsany is that he can pack so much feeling and such rich settings into such short stories. Very evocative. And wouldn't The Gods Of Pegana work so well with DC Comics' "The Sandman", considering that Mana-Yood-Sushai's dreams create the entire universe of the gods and their worshippers. A great choice Michael.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks Charlie!

[@JoelSwagman]

I've often heard Steve Donoghue mention Lord Dunsany on his channel, and I've been vaguely curious, but I've never bothered to find out much about him until now. Thanks for making this video.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks for watching it!

[@ChrisDailyReading]

I had never heard of Dunsany, but this sounds quite amazing.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It is!

[@tkengathegrateful4844]

Thank you so much! I've loved Dunsany since I first encountered his work in college ... Lovecraft was the gateway drug, so things worked in reverse for me. My recommendation is any volume of his works that includes the illustrations by Sydney Sime - they complement the stories beautifully, capturing the mystery and whimsy. My very favorite stories of Dunsany's are "Idle Days upon the Yann", "A Tale of Land and Sea", and "The Revolt of the Home Gods", but there are many, many more. Sometimes his titles are as good as the story: "Why the Milkman Shudders when he Beholds the Dawn", "The Bad Old Woman in Black", "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth", and more. He's a quick read; although the first two I mentioned are in the 25-35 page range, a lot of his tales are 2-3 pages, or even less. And yes, your lips will move when you read, just because you want to savor the words, like when reading Zelazny at his best.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You are right about how great those titles are.

[@chrisbeveridge3066]

The Rim of Morning by William Sloane and Clark Ashton Smith The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis...Smith is my man... We gather upon those gulfward beaches rolled, driftage of worlds not shown on any chart; and pluck the fabled moly from wild scaurs; though these are scorned by human wharf and mart- And scorned alike the red , primeval gold For which we fight the Griffins in strange wars. Review these please Later

[@paulmonahawk4921]

fascinating! Michael Moorcock and Niel Gaiman also talk about Dunsany being influential on their works of Fantasy...

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yes, you can definitely see the influence there.

[@PaxPanic]

Wow never heard of this one!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Many people haven’t.

[@stephenblair2554]

Have you read Dunsany's great novel The Charwoman's Shadow?

[@myhouseisalibrary]

That one was also great!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Not yet!

[@stephenblair2554]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I can''t understand why such a beautiful novel has been forgotten

[@robertwalsh6090]

Off topic info... The King in Yellow/The Mystery of Choice by Stark House Press (new paperback, approx. $15 on Amazon) - This is a nice volume. Stark House Press is putting out some great stuff, Algernon Blackwood, et. al.. Also, Valancourt Books (has a website), nice paperback presentations, comfortable font. Jane Austen named 7 Horrid Novels in her Northanger Abbey, all circa 1795. I'm reading the 2nd, making my way to Jane. Later!

[@davidhawley3337]

"And now that the ardour of battle had passed away, the spirits of Merimna's people began to gloom a little, like their leader's, with their fatigue and with the cold of the morning; and they looked at the sword of Welleran in Rold's hand and said: 'Not any more, not any more for ever will Welleran now return, for his sword is in the hand of another. Now we know indeed that he is dead. O Welleran, thou wast our sun and moon and all our stars. Now is the sun fallen down and the moon broken, and all the stars are scattered as the diamonds of a necklace that is snapped off one who is slain by violence.' Thus wept the people of Merimna in the hour of their great victory, for men have strange moods, while beside them their old inviolate city slumbered safe. But back from the ramparts and beyond the mountains and over the lands that they had conquered of old, beyond the world and back again to Paradise, went the souls of Welleran, Soorenard, Mommolek, Rollory, Akanax, and young Iraine."

[@jasonvizcarra709]

The apple books apps has tons of his e-books for free. I just downloaded them all. Some have really nice illustrations

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I didn’t know that. That’s great!

[@MrRourk]

Do the King in Yellow next?

[@davebrzeski]

I first encountered Lord Dunsany in an anthology of sword & sorcery stories titled 'The Spell of Seven', edited by L. Sprague de Camp in 1965 - albeit I think I picked up my copy in 1970. Who was it who said they thought 7 was a really good number of stories for an anthology? I think it may have been The Outlaw Bookseller. If you don't watch his channel, you really should. Anyway, this book contained stories of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Ellric of Melnibone, Conan the Barbarian etc. But the one that has always stuck in my memory was 'The Hordes of the Gibbelins' by Lord Dunsany. I've been a huge fan ever since.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I need to hunt down a copy of that anthology.

[@alpertroncp2198]

Just wondering, but have you encountered Thomas Ligotti before? There's a Penguin Classics collection of some of his work and it's fantastic. I encountered him in the weird fiction unit of my masters degree and he truly is a modern Lovecraft. I've got a feeling his short stories are right up your alley - truly weird and often genuinely frightening.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I have read some Ligotti before. I have a copy of his Penguin volume but have not read it yet. I will though. I’ve enjoyed his work.

[@freelivefree7221]

No one writes like Lord Dunsany but Dunsany. I often wish I could write like him and I know despair because I know I can't. He was a supreme stylist. The first Dunsany I read was A Dreamer's Tale and I found it more intense and pleasurable than the time I was high on drugs (because of dental surgery, don't look at me that way.) It's a tragedy he is not more read.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It really is. And anything that helps you get through dental surgery is okay by me.

[@cmmosher8035]

You know that book you bought because the author influenced a whole bunch of your favourite authors but never actually read? This is that book for me...i should change that.

[@jordanthomas4379]

Did you read Lord of the flies at school? I feel that’s a book many people read at school.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I avoided reading it at school. I was supposed to.

[@stews9]

Epic, other-world fantasy has lost its arch tone to its detriment.

[@DDB168]

Does this come in an English translation ? 🤣 I can see (hear) the influence on Tolkien. 😴 🥱

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I can’t see how you can be so critical of my action packed narration!

[@DDB168]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 It's not you, it's Dunsany 😇

[@Mike-wr7om]

Hi Michael, I'd like to read Lord Dunsany. One problem I've found when I've tried to read pre-Tolkien fantasy (and I might have tried to read Dunsany at some point a while ago) is that all of the focus seems to be on setting and atmosphere, and the plot and character aspects of the stories are very underdeveloped. A cool fantasy idea for a setting is nice, but a cool fantasy idea for a setting married to a great plot and great characters is better.

[@freelivefree7221]

Dunsany is light on plot and character. What he is good at is his prose style and atmosphere. I( think he may be the writer with the most beautiful prose ever written.) So he may not be for you, though you certainly at least should try him.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I don’t think there is only one way to write a great fantasy story.

[@kittenmittentheatreadventu3185]

It's pronounced LORD DUNZAAANY. Far greater than Tolkien. Dunsany wrote real magic and wonder - Tolkien wrote for the masses (yes he did. Elfin language is BS). If I was to enter those magical worlds I will travel with Dunsany!

[@richardbrown8966]

All those stuffy Englishmen, EF Benson, MR James, H G Wells, JRR Tolkien, Lord Dunsany, Rudyard Kipling....

[@DebMcDonald]

You just named some of my favourite authors! If you haven’t read them they’re fantastic!

[@richardbrown8966]

@@DebMcDonald I have read them all. They are great. I was being ironic.

[@DebMcDonald]

@@richardbrown8966 Sorry! I was defending my favs!

[@richardbrown8966]

@@DebMcDonald You've got excellent taste.