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The Not-World
One would not have expected to find the last hideout of the ancient weird folk of legend and prehistory in an English forest of two centuries ago - and yet in that land which has always been haunted by the lore of little folk there had to be some truth behind such universal belief.
The magic pen of Thomas Burnett Swann, master of fantasy and chronicler of the pre-humans, has produced in The Not-World one of his finest - and most piquant - novels.
Here is the story of Dylan and Deirdre, of Thomas Chatterton - and of the balloon flight that brought them into an older and more enchanted land to mingle their fates with those of Arachne and the Night Mares in whom a rising industrial materialism could no longer believe.
The magic pen of Thomas Burnett Swann, master of fantasy and chronicler of the pre-humans, has produced in The Not-World one of his finest - and most piquant - novels.
Here is the story of Dylan and Deirdre, of Thomas Chatterton - and of the balloon flight that brought them into an older and more enchanted land to mingle their fates with those of Arachne and the Night Mares in whom a rising industrial materialism could no longer believe.
160 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1975
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About the author
Thomas Burnett Swann
60 books56 followersThomas Burnett Swann was best known as the author of numerous fantasies published in the 1960s and ’70s. Many of his bucolic tales were set in the Ancient World and populated by mythic creatures. His best-known works include the novel DAY OF THE MINOTAUR and the shorter works “Where Is the Bird of Fire?” and “The Manor of Roses,” all nominated for Hugo Awards. Swann was also a poet, professor, and literary critic.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 22, 2020
DAW Collectors #140
Cover Artist: George Barr.
Name: Swann, Thomas Burnett, Birthplace: Tampa, Florida, USA, (12 October 1928 - 05 May 1976)
The story is set in Georgian England, but in a remaining scrap of "forest primeval". A lame Gothic novelist, Deirdre, meets a down in his luck sailor, and they are thrown together when the coach he is driving and she is renting is lost in the forest. They encounter the poet Thomas Chatterton, and after a balloon ride, and further encounters with more or less typical Swann creatures, they win through to consummate their love. OK, but less than great. And I don't think Swann came within light-years of capturing the mindset of people of that era.
Cover Artist: George Barr.
Name: Swann, Thomas Burnett, Birthplace: Tampa, Florida, USA, (12 October 1928 - 05 May 1976)
The story is set in Georgian England, but in a remaining scrap of "forest primeval". A lame Gothic novelist, Deirdre, meets a down in his luck sailor, and they are thrown together when the coach he is driving and she is renting is lost in the forest. They encounter the poet Thomas Chatterton, and after a balloon ride, and further encounters with more or less typical Swann creatures, they win through to consummate their love. OK, but less than great. And I don't think Swann came within light-years of capturing the mindset of people of that era.
March 5, 2018
This short book describes the adventures and romance of a thirty year old novelist who has been living as an invalid since a riding accident when she was fifteen, and a young sailor, ably assisted by the woman's aunt who provides comic relief. Unlike most of Swann's output that I have read, the setting for this is not the ancient world with a Greek, Roman, Egyptian or Cretan mythology. Instead, this is supposedly eighteenth century England, except that it is either extremely alternative or full of anachronisms which brought me up short several times.
In his afterword, the author says that he did take liberties with the date of when a hydrogen powered balloon would have flown - I certainly found this odd when reading the story, as the first such aerial transport was accomplished with hot air balloons - and that he used Marjorie Quennell's history of England for a reference. However, the inclusion of farthingales as women's dresses is very jarring if you have knowledge of historical dress - no wealthy eighteenth century woman would have been seen dead in one, as they went out of fashion in the mid seventeenth century. And the inclusion of a witch burning scene was the major thing that derailed the story for me, as witches were never burned in England, hanging was the penalty, and although some remote country districts did occasionally persist with the 'swimming' trial of suspected witches, the last execution in England was in 1682. In fact, the 1735 Act established prosecution for anyone claiming to be a witch on the grounds that this was a fraud, so far had belief in witchcraft died out with the onset of the scientific explorations that formed part of the 'Englightenment'. So I found that aspect completely unconvincing.
However, I realised as I read on that the book has to be taken very much as an alternative history given that witchcraft is real in the story, along with a variety of weird supernatual creatures who make up the inhabitants of the Not-World, a name given to the dark wood close to the city of Bristol. As such it is a light hearted read and the two main characters are likeable and have a good line in banter as they gradually become close over the course of the story despite their disparate social classes.
In his afterword, the author says that he did take liberties with the date of when a hydrogen powered balloon would have flown - I certainly found this odd when reading the story, as the first such aerial transport was accomplished with hot air balloons - and that he used Marjorie Quennell's history of England for a reference. However, the inclusion of farthingales as women's dresses is very jarring if you have knowledge of historical dress - no wealthy eighteenth century woman would have been seen dead in one, as they went out of fashion in the mid seventeenth century. And the inclusion of a witch burning scene was the major thing that derailed the story for me, as witches were never burned in England, hanging was the penalty, and although some remote country districts did occasionally persist with the 'swimming' trial of suspected witches, the last execution in England was in 1682. In fact, the 1735 Act established prosecution for anyone claiming to be a witch on the grounds that this was a fraud, so far had belief in witchcraft died out with the onset of the scientific explorations that formed part of the 'Englightenment'. So I found that aspect completely unconvincing.
However, I realised as I read on that the book has to be taken very much as an alternative history given that witchcraft is real in the story, along with a variety of weird supernatual creatures who make up the inhabitants of the Not-World, a name given to the dark wood close to the city of Bristol. As such it is a light hearted read and the two main characters are likeable and have a good line in banter as they gradually become close over the course of the story despite their disparate social classes.
March 16, 2022
Think I liked this better when I was younger. I still liked Deirdre and Dylan though.
November 29, 2015
Another in a series of works by forgotten SF authors, "The Not-World" is the second Swann book that I've read. While "Day of the Minotaur" felt a bit more cohesive, the character-building in this work was much stronger. Swann effortlessly evokes the real past and a timeless age of wonder. More importantly, he balances the POV of his two characters in a delightful fashion. The classic romance (deliberately) echoes "The African Queen" with a rough and worldly man and an intelligent and elegant woman, drawn together through shared danger and verbal sparring.
The ending feels trifle forced, but not enough to derail an otherwise excellent, slim little novel. Once more I find myself wishing that modern writers would assemble short, sweet gems like this, rather than 1000 word tomes. And wishing that some publisher would rediscover Swann and package his books as YA novels and get them before a wider audience.
The ending feels trifle forced, but not enough to derail an otherwise excellent, slim little novel. Once more I find myself wishing that modern writers would assemble short, sweet gems like this, rather than 1000 word tomes. And wishing that some publisher would rediscover Swann and package his books as YA novels and get them before a wider audience.
January 9, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this tale!I listened to the Audible version and Jem Matzen does a fantastic job narrating!Deirdre is a 30 something spinster w/continual pain and is a successful author.Dylan is a 'grunt' who while looking for a real job is driving a 'chaise'(?) Deirdre needs someone to transport her and Dylan fits the bill.While getting to know him they go on an adventure and end up in 'The not-world',a place Dylan knows and doesn't want to be.I won't give the whole story away.I will be looking for more from this author!
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."
March 21, 2017
The Not-World is a romantic fairytale type of story. The story itself was good, but a bit predictable. I do love the mythical creatures Swann uses in this story. What I enjoyed the most was the narration. The reason I chose this book was for it's narrator. Jem Matzan doesn't just read the story, he acts it out! He does an amazing job with each and every character. He is very versatile with his accents with both male and female characters. If you enjoy old classic fantasy books, you'll love listening to this!
July 24, 2018
Another odd book by Swann - goofy, kooky, dated, and not at all politically correct.
I thought it was completely adorable.
I thought it was completely adorable.
January 25, 2016
This was a book I had some hesitation going into. I recently started liking fantasy- but nothing quite so 'fantasy', if that makes any sense! I ended up liking this story- though I feel like 'Auntie' got made fun of just a bit too much. But it was funny. It was also very full of adventure, oddities and a bit of romance. If you're a big fantasy fan, I'd recommend it.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from the author, publisher or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review.
June 19, 2019
I do think there's something good there, in the character relationships and overall themes, but it's buried under so much awful writing and terrible plot work. This isn't an adventure, it's a poor attempt at constructing an adventure. The way the plot is developed is straight up incompetent.
October 9, 2025
Uno de esos escritores de fantasía olvidado y desconocidísimo. Literariamente no es muy brillante y/o la traducción es bastante mala (las ediciones de esta colección de EDAF suelen serlo, con muchos errores de puntuación y acentuación), pero al menos aporta algo diferente al mundo de la fantasía recuperando la tradición folclórica celta y de cuentos de hadas oscuros. "El mundo inexistente" cuenta una historia extraña en un bosque al lado de Bristol con drusos, enanos, brujas, Desazones de la Noche... Supuestamente un mundo precristiano de creencias ancestrales y criaturas feéricas.
En el fondo es sobre todo la historia de amor entre Deirdre y Dylan, los protagonistas. Las ideas de la narración son un poco caóticas, al principio la libertad sexual de Arachne me parecía un gran añadido, pero después resulta ser una bruja malvada y sus apetitos sexuales son descritos como algo negativo. La forma en la que se habla de la tía Adeline es muy ambivalente, se burlan constantemente de su físico porque está "gorda" y, aunque por momentos el autor parece rechazar las ideas puritanas e incluye orgías y elementos sexuales, la voluptuosidad de los personajes y el sexo están ligados a características malvadas de los personajes. Es todo muy extraño.
Su gran ventaja es que es una novelita corta y tiene un cierto aire de encanto rural en contacto con la naturaleza en la que sobreviven los seres antiguos y "El mundo inexistente", un mundo de misterios oscuros y liminal, situado en los márgenes de la emergente civilización industrial y el cristianismo.
En el fondo es sobre todo la historia de amor entre Deirdre y Dylan, los protagonistas. Las ideas de la narración son un poco caóticas, al principio la libertad sexual de Arachne me parecía un gran añadido, pero después resulta ser una bruja malvada y sus apetitos sexuales son descritos como algo negativo. La forma en la que se habla de la tía Adeline es muy ambivalente, se burlan constantemente de su físico porque está "gorda" y, aunque por momentos el autor parece rechazar las ideas puritanas e incluye orgías y elementos sexuales, la voluptuosidad de los personajes y el sexo están ligados a características malvadas de los personajes. Es todo muy extraño.
Su gran ventaja es que es una novelita corta y tiene un cierto aire de encanto rural en contacto con la naturaleza en la que sobreviven los seres antiguos y "El mundo inexistente", un mundo de misterios oscuros y liminal, situado en los márgenes de la emergente civilización industrial y el cristianismo.
January 31, 2024
I found the one protagonists struggle to be interesting. I like the arc of the secondary protagonist. The setting did not captivate me as much.
December 29, 2024
strange time travel of a Celts flavor.
December 29, 2015
"I was provided this audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator in exchange for an unbiased review via AudiobookBlast dot com."
Another reviewer has given a good summary of the story points, and anyone familiar with this type and era of fantasy will certainly be able to predict key elements. I showed the cover to a co-worker and he ran through the descriptive cast of characters, salient plot devices, the choreography of the story arc and so on, but said he had not read it and didn't know it himself. If you do know this sector of our literary abundance from the latter part of the 20th century, then the story can speak for itself. It is well written, no doubts there.
In keeping with the style of writing by Swann, Jem Matzan reads The Not-World like a Herald proclaiming the news/ story of the hero and heroine.
In my own mind's eye, I could have been sitting in the dim light of a camp fire, listening with the others, huddled together to keep the forbidding Forest at bay. Matzen's delivery was well "acted", he really gave the story life with a sense of both urgency and time-lessness in his paced reading. Within the first chapter or two, I was not listening to a mere reader, I was hearing the voices of the individual people and creatures.
The main thing affecting my enjoyment was that this genre just isn't my style of fantasy, though I had liked it better for the narration than for the story alone.
Another reviewer has given a good summary of the story points, and anyone familiar with this type and era of fantasy will certainly be able to predict key elements. I showed the cover to a co-worker and he ran through the descriptive cast of characters, salient plot devices, the choreography of the story arc and so on, but said he had not read it and didn't know it himself. If you do know this sector of our literary abundance from the latter part of the 20th century, then the story can speak for itself. It is well written, no doubts there.
In keeping with the style of writing by Swann, Jem Matzan reads The Not-World like a Herald proclaiming the news/ story of the hero and heroine.
In my own mind's eye, I could have been sitting in the dim light of a camp fire, listening with the others, huddled together to keep the forbidding Forest at bay. Matzen's delivery was well "acted", he really gave the story life with a sense of both urgency and time-lessness in his paced reading. Within the first chapter or two, I was not listening to a mere reader, I was hearing the voices of the individual people and creatures.
The main thing affecting my enjoyment was that this genre just isn't my style of fantasy, though I had liked it better for the narration than for the story alone.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews