What do you think?
Rate this book
The Fantastic Imagination: An Anthology of High Fantasy
Contents:
The Elves by Johann Ludwig Tieck
The Sword of Welleran by Lord Dunsany
The Light Princess by George MacDonald
The Grove of Ashtaroth by John Buchan
The Music from behind the Moon by James Branch Cabell
The Accommodating Circumstance by Frank R. Stockton
The Peach Tree by H. E. Bates
The Loquacious Goblin by Alexander Grin
Riddles in the Dark by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Magician's Book by C. S. Lewis
The Dufflepuds Made Happy by C. S. Lewis
The Tall One by Mark Van Doren
The Foundling by Lloyd Alexander
Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle
The Rule of Names by Ursula K. Le Guin
Beliard by Sylvia Townsend Warner
The Elves by Johann Ludwig Tieck
The Sword of Welleran by Lord Dunsany
The Light Princess by George MacDonald
The Grove of Ashtaroth by John Buchan
The Music from behind the Moon by James Branch Cabell
The Accommodating Circumstance by Frank R. Stockton
The Peach Tree by H. E. Bates
The Loquacious Goblin by Alexander Grin
Riddles in the Dark by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Magician's Book by C. S. Lewis
The Dufflepuds Made Happy by C. S. Lewis
The Tall One by Mark Van Doren
The Foundling by Lloyd Alexander
Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle
The Rule of Names by Ursula K. Le Guin
Beliard by Sylvia Townsend Warner
325 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
5 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Robert H. Boyer
10 books23 followersBob Boyer, A Mercifully Brief Introduction:
I have recently completed work on the second and enhanced edition of THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS. It will be out in 2021. The following biography highlights my personal and professional background from which this novel and my earlier work spring.
Reading, writing, traveling, and teaching Have always attracted me. Being a teacher has enabled me to combine all four activities, with my first love being teaching. When I was a freshman at La Salle High School in my hometown of Philadelphia, I decided that I would be a teacher. I have never looked back.
I retired in 2005, after forty-four years of teaching: four years in high school, three years as a graduate teaching assistant, and the last thirty-six years teaching English at St. Norbert College in Northeastern Wisconsin. I still enjoy teaching occasionally, most recently in the Learning for Life Program at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. I remain connected with St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.
Teaching has afforded me opportunities for travel, often with my family. I have taught in Canton, Ohio, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Phoenix, Arizona, in Philadelphia, and in Northeastern, Wisconsin. I was fortunate to earn a fellowship to study at Oxford University in England, with my wife and four children along. Later on, courses that I taught, or research that I did, took me to Nicaragua (during their civil war), to El Salvador (just after their civil war), twice to Spain, and six times to the Philippines. I spent two sabbatical semesters in Spain (my thanks to St. Norbert College), and I was a Visiting Professor in Manila, the Philippines, for a memorable semester. A friend referred to me as “an adventurer.”
The teaching and travel have resulted in a number of books. Prior to THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS, my most recent book was SUNDAYS IN MANILA, a travel memoir based on my experiences in the Philippines. That country and the many friends and acquaintances I have made there keeps drawing me back. I also write a monthly column for “VIA TIMES Newsmagazine,” a Philippine-American publication out of Chicago. You can find me, including a recent picture, on their web site (www.viatimes.com). All of my earlier books are edited collections of Fantasy Literature or are about Fantasy Literature and some of the people who write it. You can find many of these books listed in my Goodreads Author Profile.
THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS is my first original work of fiction. It is a Historical Fantasy Novel set primarily in medieval Spain during the height of the Arab Ascendancy there from the 10th through the 12th Centuries. The story has been percolating in my mind and imagination ever since I was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania and studied Medieval European Literature, which then covered mainly British literature and its Italian and French influences.
I continued to enjoy and later to teach medieval literature but with a growing sense of uneasiness with its antisemitism and bitter crusades against Islam. The antisemitism was more disturbing to me than the conflict with Islam; Islam was a foe, sometimes even cast as a noble foe in a war in which its heroes could occasionally be victorious. Once, in a moment of perhaps guilty frustration about these matters, I visited a medieval history friend and colleague and asked him, "was there ever a time when Jews, Muslims, and Christians actually got along together?" His answer: "Yes, medieval Spain during the Arab Ascendancy. You should go there." I did, and THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS is the result.
Finally I owe whatever success I have achieved as teacher and writer to my family, especially my wife of 56 years, who has been my best audience, inspiration, and critic.
I have recently completed work on the second and enhanced edition of THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS. It will be out in 2021. The following biography highlights my personal and professional background from which this novel and my earlier work spring.
Reading, writing, traveling, and teaching Have always attracted me. Being a teacher has enabled me to combine all four activities, with my first love being teaching. When I was a freshman at La Salle High School in my hometown of Philadelphia, I decided that I would be a teacher. I have never looked back.
I retired in 2005, after forty-four years of teaching: four years in high school, three years as a graduate teaching assistant, and the last thirty-six years teaching English at St. Norbert College in Northeastern Wisconsin. I still enjoy teaching occasionally, most recently in the Learning for Life Program at the University of Wisconsin Green Bay. I remain connected with St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin.
Teaching has afforded me opportunities for travel, often with my family. I have taught in Canton, Ohio, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in Phoenix, Arizona, in Philadelphia, and in Northeastern, Wisconsin. I was fortunate to earn a fellowship to study at Oxford University in England, with my wife and four children along. Later on, courses that I taught, or research that I did, took me to Nicaragua (during their civil war), to El Salvador (just after their civil war), twice to Spain, and six times to the Philippines. I spent two sabbatical semesters in Spain (my thanks to St. Norbert College), and I was a Visiting Professor in Manila, the Philippines, for a memorable semester. A friend referred to me as “an adventurer.”
The teaching and travel have resulted in a number of books. Prior to THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS, my most recent book was SUNDAYS IN MANILA, a travel memoir based on my experiences in the Philippines. That country and the many friends and acquaintances I have made there keeps drawing me back. I also write a monthly column for “VIA TIMES Newsmagazine,” a Philippine-American publication out of Chicago. You can find me, including a recent picture, on their web site (www.viatimes.com). All of my earlier books are edited collections of Fantasy Literature or are about Fantasy Literature and some of the people who write it. You can find many of these books listed in my Goodreads Author Profile.
THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS is my first original work of fiction. It is a Historical Fantasy Novel set primarily in medieval Spain during the height of the Arab Ascendancy there from the 10th through the 12th Centuries. The story has been percolating in my mind and imagination ever since I was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania and studied Medieval European Literature, which then covered mainly British literature and its Italian and French influences.
I continued to enjoy and later to teach medieval literature but with a growing sense of uneasiness with its antisemitism and bitter crusades against Islam. The antisemitism was more disturbing to me than the conflict with Islam; Islam was a foe, sometimes even cast as a noble foe in a war in which its heroes could occasionally be victorious. Once, in a moment of perhaps guilty frustration about these matters, I visited a medieval history friend and colleague and asked him, "was there ever a time when Jews, Muslims, and Christians actually got along together?" His answer: "Yes, medieval Spain during the Arab Ascendancy. You should go there." I did, and THE MAGIC NECKLACE OF AL-ANDALUS is the result.
Finally I owe whatever success I have achieved as teacher and writer to my family, especially my wife of 56 years, who has been my best audience, inspiration, and critic.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 28, 2013
I'm so glad I stumbled upon this gem in a used book store!! It features some truly wonderful short stories.
As a fan of Lord Dunsany, I particularly loved The Swords of Welleran. Other standouts for me were The Light Princess by George MacDonald, The Foundling by Lloyd Alexander (I am a HUGE Prydain fan), and Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle. I love Sylvia Townsend Warner, but was disappointed by her story. Still, I loved the inclusion of two female authors to cap off the otherwise male-dominated collection (published in 1977), which was perhaps a nod towards things to come.
Fantasy fans will delight in discovering authors they might have missed previously, despite repetitions from Tolkien and C.S. Lewis which most of us have read before. Definitely well worth a read!
As a fan of Lord Dunsany, I particularly loved The Swords of Welleran. Other standouts for me were The Light Princess by George MacDonald, The Foundling by Lloyd Alexander (I am a HUGE Prydain fan), and Come Lady Death by Peter S. Beagle. I love Sylvia Townsend Warner, but was disappointed by her story. Still, I loved the inclusion of two female authors to cap off the otherwise male-dominated collection (published in 1977), which was perhaps a nod towards things to come.
Fantasy fans will delight in discovering authors they might have missed previously, despite repetitions from Tolkien and C.S. Lewis which most of us have read before. Definitely well worth a read!
April 8, 2009
Pretty solid collection of fantasy stories, thoughtfully presented as kind of a historical overview of the genre. It starts out with 19th-century stories that are more like proto-fantasy, dealing with elves and fairies and such. Then it moves on to 20th century "high fantasy." Good stuff all around, including some authors I didn't really know.
January 29, 2012
A really great collection of fantasy stories old and some modern, and it was a great introduction to writers I had never read before. It was also exciting because it had George Macdonald's "The Light Princess" and selections from C.S.Lewis's "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" as well as the chapter"Riddles In the Dark" from The Hobbit.
July 20, 2012
This book was alright. Kind of disappointing because the short stories from J.R.R Tolkien and C.S Lewis were actually excerpts from their respective books, and I bought the book because I recognized those authors. However, the new stories I read were good - some better than others. Overall it was worth the 50 cents I paid for it at the thrift store.
July 14, 2020
Most of the high fantasy--tales set in detailed worlds that inspire wonder--that I've read have been contained in lengthy tomes, multi-volume series, or both. This book, however, is a collection of short stories. They are tales that carry a touch of wonder, but take much less time to read. The collection contains fairy tales, wizards, sword wielding warriors, quests, magical artifacts, and Death. While none of the stories are a must read, they are worth checking out.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews