The Gods of Pegana

by Lord Dunsany, S.H. Sime (Illustrator)

The Gods of Pegana, by Lord Dunsany, is an imaginative book of fantasy and one of the most important collections of short stories from the early part of the 20th century.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Mythology, Horror, Science Fiction Fantasy

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1905

About the author

Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, eighteenth baron of Dunsany, was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist, notable for his work in fantasy published under the name Lord Dunsany. More than eighty books of his work were published, and his oeuvre includes hundreds of short stories, as well as successful plays, novels and essays. Born to one of the oldest titles in the Irish peerage, he lived much of his life at perhaps Ireland's longest-inhabited home, Dunsany Castle near Tara, received an honourary doctorate from Trinity College, and died in Dublin.

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but ambitious book that attempts to create an entire mythology. Its style, rooted in the fin de siècle', and filled with faux archaism, is charmingly quaint, and its metaphors evoke meditations upon the nature of time and death, dream and creation.

This was a favorite book of H.P. Lovecraft, and it is easy to see Dunsany's influence in the names and histories of his gods.

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gods of Pegana is 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 Pegana has 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!

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Om nom nom. I ate this one up - the language is gorgeous and controlled, the myths archetypally resonant yet fresh and original... yummy fantasy tales.

My favorite tale is the myth of the Trogool:



Also, Sidney Sime's pictures are gorgeous; get a version with his art (or at least look it up online).

[Ahmed Elkhatib · Rating 4 out of 5]

"وعلى جانبي الطريق رأيت البشر يذبحون البشر، وكانت نتيجة مذبحتهم أعظم من مذبحة أي طاعون من أفعال الآلهة الشريرة.
وثارت المدن وروُدمت منازلها بالتراب، وعادة الصحراء مجددا إلى طبيعتها، لتغطي وتخفي آخر أثر لهؤلاء الذين قد أقلقوا سكينتها.
وما زال البشر يذبحون البشر.
حتى وصلت إلى زمن لم يعد البشر يضعون فيه نيرهم على الوحوش، ولكن يتخذون وحوشا من حديد.
وبعدها رأيت البشر يذبحون البشر بالضباب.
وبعدها، لأن الذبح قد فاق رغبتهم، حل السلام على العالم بأيدي الذابحين ، وتوقف البشر بعدها عن ذبح البشر.
ثم تزايدت أعداد المدن، وغلبت الصحراء، وقهرت سكينتها."
رواية آلهة بيجانا ص 88.
....



عندما علمت من صديقي الكاتب والمترجم أحمد المهدي أنه يترجم للسيد العظيم، الفخيم، اللورد دونساني...لم أكن أعي من هذا الكاتب...ولكن بعد أن علمت أن (تولكين و لافكرافت) قد كانا يمتثلا لكتابات هذا الرجل، ووضعا كتاباته نصب أعينهم. تحمست كثيرا له....وخفق قلبي عند سماع أنه أول من اجترح بناء عوالم فنتازية متكاملة.
.....
ولكن عند قراءة كتابه هذا...وجدته غريباً، مميز، تشعر بحكمة وترابط، غير أنك تشعر ببعض سذاجة في التكوين، ولكن الكتاب مثير على أي حال.
ستتملكك الكثير من الشاعرية في الجمل، وستشعر بدقة في اختيار الفقرات.
إنما ستحس بعض الشيء بأنها فصول منفصلة عن بعضها البعض، متماسكة بنسيج خافت باهت ولكنه بخفة يربط الحوادث والآلهة ببعضها البعض.

وهذا ينم على أن الكاتب كان في طور تكوين شيء لا تحده رؤية، مخلوق سيخرج من رحم خيال جامح مبدع.
.....
أعجبتني كثيرا الآلهة ومميزاتها وبناء عالم مرتكزاً على إله واحد فقط يخلق آلهة أقل منه، وهم بدورهم يخلقون البشر والعوالم، لكي يصلو ا لهم.

والحق أن فن الفنتازيا هو أصعب ألوان الكتابة الأدبية، وتكوين العوالم على وجه الخصوص شيء على غرابته فهو يبدو من الخارج شيء يسير، ولكنه مُجهد لأبعد الحدود....وإذا وضعنا نصب أعيننا عنصر الزمن، فسنضع اللورد دونساني في مصاف كتاب الفنتازيا لأنه أول من تمرد على الواقع..

إنها وجبة مميزة لرجل كان جدير بجائزة نوبل التي لم يحصل عليها، لما أضافه بقوة على فن الفنتازيا الإنجليزي على وجه الخصوص.
هذه رواية لمحبي الفنتازيا فقط...يجب أن تتعرف على اللورد دونساني.
الشكر والعرفان للصديق الكاتب والمترجم أحمد المهدي، على الترجمة الرائعة...دمت فنتازيا.
أربع نجمات تقديرا وأعجابا لكل شيء في هذه الرواية القصيرة.

[Albert Marsden]

Ooooh yeaaaah

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for everyone, but definitely for me. This isn't so much a collection of short stories as a collection of vignettes and prose poems that, taken together, create a kind of artificial mythology -- kind of a precursor to The Silmarillion but without as much narrative linkage and structure. But the episodes are told in a kind of rich King James Bible-influenced prose that I find almost impossible to resist. Not a recommended jumping-on point for Dunsany -- if you're new to his work, I think you'd be better served with Gods, Men and Ghosts: The Best Supernatural Fiction of Lord Dunsany. But a jewel and a treasure nonetheless.

[Eddie B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

يكفي من يهمه الأمر أن يعرف أن لافكرافت وتولكين صرَّحا بالإعجاب وبالتأثر بكتابات لورد دنساني. ويكفي أن أقول إن "آلهة بيجانا" تحمل -على صغر حجمها- سحرًا وعذوبةً وشاعريةً قد تُناهز، في بعض المواضع، ما كتبه تولكين عن لوثلوريين وريفنديل، وما كتبه لافكرافت عن عوالم أحلامه.

أحمد الديب
يوليو 2020

[Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent merge of fantasy and mythology from the man who wrote The King of Elfland's Daughter, Gods of Pegana is a very short and thoroughly enjoyable piece of fantasy fiction from the early days of the modern genre.

It's easy to see this book as the predecessor to The Silmarillion, and in many ways Lord Dunsany is the one author prior to Tolkien that's the most similar to him in style. And that, of course, also makes Dunsany the best of the early fantasy writers in my eyes.

The tales of the creation of the worlds and the Gods of Pegana, of Skarl tirelessly beating his drum and of the secrets hidden in the heart of the Seven Deserts beyond Bodrahan, managed to fill up a bunch of pages with an intriguing piece of worldbuilding.

And of course, one cannot complain about Dunsany's writing...

But ere the day comes back to her own again, and all the conquering armies of the dawn hurl their red lances in the face of the night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegana into the Sea of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.

[Jay Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read so many negative reviews about this collection of "prose- paintings" I was surprised that I actually enjoyed "The God's Of Pegana". I think it's important to take this collection for what it is. Dunsany builds an imagined mythology around a pantheon of God's revealed through poetic shorts discussing each God/Godess.

These "proto-stories" are not meant to build a coherent plot with deep characters or introspection, they are light-hearted experimental illustrations of myth-making.

Dunsany soars as a prose-stylist, painting an imaginary universe in broad strokes evoking a coherent fable through his King James Edition Biblical diction. The God's Of Pegana are bizarre; with names like MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI the playful creativity of Lord Dunsany is at the fore.

I ask reviewers to not take these "prose- paintings" seriously, this collection of shorts are meant to be fun. Dunsany's shorts exemplify his range in tone, style and subject matter. I for one am enjoying the wild and unpredictable ride, can't wait for more.

[Joel Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta es una colección de pequeños relatos sobre la creación y mitología de un mundo ficticio. Representa una de las piedras fundacionales del género fantástico como lo conocemos hoy.

Lord Dunsanny fue uno de los primeros autores en separar el cuento de hadas e irlo moldeando en un nuevo género que tomaría elementos de literatura ya existente, como escritos mitológicos antiguos y novelas de caballería.

Le sirvió de inspiración a Lovecraft y a Tolkien, así como a otros autores que vendrían después (como Ursula K. LeGuin y C. S. Lewis). Lord Dunsanny emula un estilo narrativo parecido al de textos como la Biblia, probablemente para dar mayor seriedad a la creación de su mundo. Por esta situación puede resultar un poco denso y pesado. Mi consejo es que se lea un poco cada día.

[molosovsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eigentlich ein Unding(!!!), dass es dieser Klassiker der Phantastik — immerhin, soweit ich weiß, das erste Werk, für das sich ein Autor eine eigene Götterschar & Welt ausgedacht hat, einfach nur, um damit zu narrativ zu spielen — seit über hundert Jahren immer noch nicht komplett auf Deutsch vorliegt.

Dunsanys Pegana war sowohl Inspiration für Tolkiens Mittelerde als auch für Lovecrafts Traumlande. Muss man erst mal schaffen, auf zwei so unterschiedliche Zweige der Phantastik entscheidenden Einfluss auszuüben.

»The Gods of Pegana« bietet keine richtige Handlung, sondern versammelt — ziemlich launisch — eine grob chronologisch ablaufende Folge kurzer, ab und zu fast nur anekdotischer, Geschichten einer Mythologie: von der Schöpfung der Welt; über die ersten Taten der Götter; den Machenschaften menschlicher Priester beim Versuch, dem Tod zu trotzen oder das Geheimnis der Götter zu ergründen; bis hin zum Weltenuntergang.

Dunsany schreibt mit kraftvoller, poetischer Sprache, deren Satzstellung auch für englische Muttersprachler wohl etwas gewöhnungsbedürftig ist, was aber, nach einigen wenigen Seiten der Eingewöhnung, dem großen Lesevergnügen keinen Abbruch tut. Im Gegenteil: habe das Buch mehrmals laut gelesen & großen Spaß dabei.

Ganz besonders nahe ging mir der zarte, manchmal auch schwarz-stoische Humor, mit dem Dunsany das vergeblich eitle Treiben des Gemensche bedenkt. Wer empfindsame Misanthrophie zu schätzen weiß, die vermag, Verachtung & Ekel in Zärtlichkeit & Verständnis zu verwandeln, wird hier reich beschenkt.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gods of Pegāna was the first book of Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany. This edition is the 1916 American first edition, published by John W. Luce. Sidney H. Sime was the illustrator for Dunsany’s early work, including The Gods of Pegāna. Sime’s whimsical imaginings are the ideal match for Dunsany’s stories.

Every few years, I get The Gods of Pegāna down from the bookshelf and read through it. It’s a slim book and a short read. There’s no story, as such and no characterization, as such. Dunsany conjures up an entirely new pantheon of gods, along with some of their prophets. His writing is influenced by the style of the King James Bible, and the book reads like a fantastic scripture, written in Dunsany’s sonorous and gently ironic tone.

Dunsany wrote his books with a quill pen. He did not edit his stories, because he felt that editing compromised the integrity of his creative process. What you read is what flowed from his pen to the page.

The Gods of Pegāna was a revelation in Dunsany’s time. Nothing like it had ever been written before, not by William Morris nor George MacDonald nor any of the other fantasists that preceded Dunsany. In addition, although many writers coming after Dunsany tried to reproduce his style, and the creation of new pantheons of gods is not unusual these days, it’s probably fair to say that nothing else quite like The Gods of Pegāna has been written before or since.

[Pallavi Gambhire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clearly, this was sort of an inspiration for 'The Silmarillion'. Do not look for a story because there is none ( except if the slumber and awakening of Mana-Yood-Sushai is considered one). Instead look at the brilliant word-play, the ease with which worldly concepts are described and the scope of the world created and it will amaze you. The Gods of Pegana have a voice, unlike the gods in 'The Silmarillion' and they can be unforgiving, unwavering and at times cruel.
They are the heroes of the book, not the innumerable earthlings they create, for not much is spoken about them. I really enjoyed this book and luckily my fondness for Dunsany's language has only increased. Onto his other works now! ( In case you are wondering,'The Worm Ouroboros' is not gripping enough for me yet)

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 1 out of 5]

When a work, that should be accurately described as unadulterated pompous b*****t, gets practically worshipped as one of the most influential writings in English, it's time to realise that either Sir Terry Pratchett has succeeded in moving all of us into the Discworld (possibly some unfathomable pool of stupidity created by those wizards of Unseen University), or else the so-called evaluators (or auditors) of literature have gone ape. Regrettably, the later appears to be more probable. Therefore, please stay away from this awful piece of ****, unless you too wish to act weird. NOT RECOMEENDED.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Gods of Pegana is one of those books that I want to like a whole lot more than I actually do. I understand that Dunsany was to some degree using this volume to establish a pantheon that he would re-visit in later works, but by itself The Gods of Pegana is just a little bit too slight, and even when considered as prose poetry, the individual chapters feel under-developed, even if the language itself is indeed beautiful at times.

I still intend to read more of Dunsany's work, since he was admired by a number of writers that I also admire. But here's hoping that his later books have less of a superficial shape and impact!

[Czarny Pies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lord Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter" is a sublime work and an important precursor to the works of our contemporary fantasy genre. I found the "The Gods of Pegana", however, to be ghastly. Few, it would appear, agree with me. There is a strong consensus that "The Gods of Pegana" had a major influence on the writers that gave us the contemporary fantasy genre. Among others J.R.R.Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Guillermo del Toro and Lovecraft are cited as having been inspired by it.
True to its title, "The Gods of Pegana" is essentially a listing of the names of the multiple deities of a fictitious realm called Pegana. The supreme deity is called "Māna-Yood-Susha̅i̅  " who can not be adored by common mortals. Only other deities can pray to him. The text imitates that of the King James Bible.
One can certainly detect similarities between the "Gods of Pegana" and the "Silmarillion". The trick discovered by Dunsany is that there exists a class of readers who will be impressed when bombarded by a list of names with strange sounds if presented in an false archaic style.
I tip to my hat to those writers who were able to find something of value in this weird book. I am obviously not a writer and would never know where to look for inspiration.
For those looking simply for a delightful read, I would advise them to read instead Dunsany's vastly superior "The King of Elfland's Daughter."

[˚✧ Nathalie ˳✧༚ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ngl I speedran this drunk on new year’s eve but this was an indeed interesting book, old language but still unique

[Joseph Bradford · Rating 4 out of 5]

These few micro-episodes are strange, bleak, hopeless, nihilistic and despairing but all the while marvelous, utterly captivating and intriguing, queer and unexpected, whimsical and ingeniously novel (for the most part), always in truly "mellifluous prose" as ever Dunsany wrote his myth. I've got to look into the "distinctly Irish" quality to this whimsicalness of his. These are certainly worth a read, even if their gods are grievously heartless and apathetic. Perhaps it's best to read these in small pieces.

[أماني العازمي · Rating 3 out of 5]

أحب الفنتازيا، بس هالرواية مستوى آخر! غريبة بس حبيت السرد وأسلوب الكتابة، استمعت له ككتاب صوتي وربما الأفضل لو اقرأها ورقي أفضل.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pure world building. Before Tolkien wrote The Silmarillion, Lord Dunsany also created his own mythology. It tells of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who created the gods and now sleeps. At THE END, he will awake and unmake the gods and the worlds. And it tells of the many gods: Of Sish, the destroyer of hours and guardian of Time, that hound of the gods who at THE END shall turn on his masters; of Mung the god of death who makes the sign of Mung before all men; and of the home gods, such as Gribaun, who sits in the heart of the fire to turn the wood to ash, and Pitsu, who stroketh the cat. There are also beings who are not gods, such as Trogool, the Thing who sits behind the gods and reads from the book of the Scheme of Things; and Skarl the drummer who sits at the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and beats his drum. When Skarl stops drumming, MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall awaken and unmake the gods and the worlds.

[Mona · Rating 4 out of 5]

فانتازيا ساحرة

[Harry Goodwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5)
Got a lovely collection of 5 books of short stories bu Lord Dunsany in one volume.
This is the earliest (though annoyingly last in the book). It is, I hear, notable for being the first of its kind. A pseudo-religious text detailing the extensive creation myth of a completely fictitious land. There are flashes of genius, like the priests on top of the desolate mountain waiting for the god to destroy the world, but overall it drags and hasn't aged well. Yet, it's still an impressive innovation, and a quick read. A whole deal snarkier and more tongue in cheek than tolkien's altogether more earnest baton-pick-up (and at least 10 years its senior). Have already dug into some of the short stories to come and that's really where he starts getting brilliant, it seems.

[Gabs 🫧 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s quite an astonishing work as it aspires to create the whole new mythology. And this is something astounding and intricate, but that „newness” comes from basically merging together monotheistic religions (mostly Islam, Christianity, Judaism) with the notions of the polytheistic ones (namely Indian and Greek) and therefore being quite dull and boring if one knows much about those religions. Still, I can’t imagine how much research and work the author must have put into creating this work and for this alone he requires a higher rating.

[Devero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante poema in prosa lirica. Capisco come e perché ne fu influenzato HPL; ci vedo riflessi anche nell'opera di JRRT ma secondo me quest'ultimo non fu influenzato da Dunsany, bensì si ritrovò semplicemente a usare soluzioni simili per lo stesso problema di sub creazione cosmogonica mitopoietica.
E dopo questi paroloni: mi è piaciuto? non più di tanto, dopo tutto quello che ho letto in vita mia il senso di deja vù è grande, ma non è certo colpa di Dunsany.
3 stelle

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this delightful little book, that is both epic and witty, Lord Dunsany created a whole pantheon, along with the world of their prophets and believers. Based mostly on Celtic mythologies, with a touch of Hinduism, this book was a major influence on both Tolkien and Lovecraft. This is not a collection of shorts stories, but rather a peculiar combinación of erudition and satire. The myths about their origin and their end, as well as their capricious and confusing relationship with mortals, create a whole world that is both tangible and a humorous reflection of real legends and lore.

[Mohamed Osman · Rating 3 out of 5]

معزوفة خيالية شاعرية يشجينا بها اللورد دونساني
أنصح بها كل محبين الفانتازيا، وفي انتظار ترجمة باقي أعماله

[Para (wanderer)]

I don't even know how to rate this. It's one of the books that defy simple quantifications.

Perhaps because it's not a story, as such. It's pure worldbuilding, a wonderfully inventive mythology written in the style of a religious text, made more authentic by the archaic language and repetition. It's divided roughly into two parts - at the beginning, it deals with the gods themselves, then mostly with their prophets. I found the parts about the gods to be more interesting overall (among the normal death, sea, fate, etc. gods, there's are also gods for stroking cats, calming dogs, dust, broken things...), but it's good all the way through. My favourite chapters were probably The Sayings of Slid (water/sea god) and The Deeds of Mung (death god) - they're especially heavy on repetition and parallelism, plus their names are fun to say.

I also liked the take on Hell

Then said the people to the prophet: "Shall not black hills draw round in some forsaken land, to make a vale-wide cauldron wherein the molten rock shall seethe and roar, and where the crags of mountains shall be hurled upward to the surface and bubble and go down again, that there our enemies may boil for ever?"

And the prophet answered: "It is writ large about the bases of Pegana's mountains, upon which sit the gods: 'Thine Enemies Are Forgiven.'"

As per recommendation, I listened to it as an audiobook (public domain, librivox), which is divided into seven episodes, twelve minutes each, about the length I can handle. This is one of the books that works better listened to than read, I think. Even though the narrator wasn't perfect. Normally, I find archaic language insufferable and reading it would likely drive me bonkers - but it has a nice cadence to it, like poetry, so listening works very very well. I still kept the ebook open in the background, but I didn't need it too much.

More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.

[Joshum Harpy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seminal work in fantasy, this book exerted an influence on a slew of legendary 20th century fantasy and horror writers including H.P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Leguin and J.R.R. Tolkien. That, in and of itself, is pretty unfuckwithable, but what drew me to this was my obsession with the illustrations of Sidney Sime. Contemporary with Harry Clarke, Aubrey Beardsley, and Arthur Rackham; Sidney Sime took a delicate blend of the popular gothic, fairy tale aesthetic and gave it a brilliantly executed psychedelic twist. The text is interesting with some satisfying delivery of classic mythological blood and thunder, quite novel in it's unapologetic delivery, but at times falls short of the lofty, spiritual grandeur of it's prose. In form, the book takes a tone of classic mythologies exerting influence from greek tragedy to Hindu Vedas, and maintaining a metered delivery jam packed with epic concepts and subtle poetry, at times stiff, but unwavering in it's commitment to style. The illustrations courtesy of Sidney Sime, in my opinion, elevate this book and mythos to a more engaging level and quite possibly created the stylistic push it took to cement this collaboration in the minds of so many talented writers.

All in all, it was a short, easy read that not only gave some satisfying depth and context to many of Sime's illustrations that I love so dearly, but also a compelling glance into a source of inspiration that sparked the imaginations of some of my most beloved writers.

[Lanko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reading! Dunsany created a whole mythology, from the creation of the universe itself to how the gods act around.

I heard he had a vast influence of writers such as Lovecraft, Le Guin, Tolkien, Robert Howard and so on. The writing is very classical but far from being archaic.

My favorite god has to be Mung, which is apparently the aspect of Death on this universe. People initially think of him as evil, but as the story unfolds some slowly realize his purpose.

One human builds a tower and shouts curses at this god. Mung does not reply by killing him, and this impresses people enough that they start giving this man gifts and such.
Eventually, as this human ages and decays, death does not come, to the point he finally realizes what's happening and in desperation starts singing praises to Mung, who simply ignores him for eternity.
Even as he turned to bones decades and centuries and millenia later, the guy was still alive. Pretty nasty and fabulous tale!

It's a very short book as well (~100 pages) but it did show the promise of a great world, and some very nice well written passages.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short-story collection with a unified theme: the pantheon of the world of Pegana. The style is reminiscent to that of the King James Bible (one of Dunsany's influences), and also similar to JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion (which was likely influenced by this book). Recommended if you enjoy reading that kind of thing.

One of the finest examples, to my knowledge, of mythopoeia (invented mythology) for its own sake, The Gods of Pegana features a lofty and mystical style befitting its subject matter. The pantheon fits together in an interesting way, with individual gods and beings filling unique roles, like Skarl the Drummer, who drums to preserve the slumber of the all-powerful creative and destructive god MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.

There isn't much plot; it's very focused on the setting Even the characterizations feel more like parts of the setting as opposed to concrete individuals. The book probably would have benefited from the inclusion of a stronger heroic cycle element.