Magical Justice

by Ellen Galford

Presents tales and examines beliefs about justice in the enchanted world.

Genres: Fantasy, Mythology, Fiction, Folklore, Reference, Paranormal, Science Fiction Fantasy

143 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Ellen Galford is a Scottish writer of fiction and nonfiction.

Reviews

[Katrin]

what can i say about this series?? this one truly deserves five stars. there are magical stories from allover the world, i was really amazed by the diversity this time, because some editions are pretty much only about irish and british lore. i of course love all celtic, welsh, scottish, irish and british lore very much, but a glimpse at other cultures is really fascinating, too. these stories were all kind of satisfying with justice handed to those who did wrong. I especially loved stories about Artemis.

[Rex Hurst]

Volume 16 of the Enchanted World series focuses on the dubious term of Magical Justice. While I have said that previous volumes seemed like filler titles to group together old stories left out of previous volumes, in this case there is no doubt. Not that the stories are boring or uninteresting, nor does this volume shirk on its art budget. However, the theme is stretched thin and so ambiguous that nearly anything could fit. In fact, one tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” has nothing to do with magic at all.

On the other hand, this is a great collection of old folk tales from all across the world. Some are very familiar - “The Tale of King Midas” “Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven” - while many others “A Celestial Usurper”, “The Beggar’s Bride” were new and refreshing. The lack of rhyme or reason in this volume actually frees it to take the best from every culture and every time. And the book is better for it.

[Julie]

From the god's capricious sense of justice to the magic of everyday people, places and things enchanted which is often not that capricious and closer to what we humans consider justice, but not always. This series is beautifully illustrated and very readable. The stories are presented like they actually happened, therefore not compromising anyone's belief system.

[P.S. Winn]

Just like in the real world, in the mystical realm, justice applies. The sentencing and the rules may be different but readers will love reading about how it is done when magical justice is used. As always a Time-Life Book is well written and includes amazing pictures.

[Athena]

My review for all of these books in this series is the same.

Time-Life has once again done an outstanding job putting together a series. From cover to cover they are thoughtful, beautiful books. I'm starting to sound generic, but it's true.
I'm a DK fan, I like white backgrounds and side notes with clear sections for every subject. This series has none of that. What they do have is an old book feel. Timeless artwork, thoroughness, and very well written makes these a must on my occult/paranormal bookshelf at home. I've been collecting the series slowly over several years and still have a few books to go. I refuse to go on amazon and buy them. It's all in the hunt for me. There is no subject they have left untouched. I highly recommend them.

[Jamie Belanger]

I really think this was the best of the series so far (and really hope I haven't already said that about an earlier book!)

My favorite thing about this book is the format of it. Instead of having big, sprawling stories stretching tens of pages, this book is a series of stories that are all one to four pages in length. It makes the entire book really easy to read, especially in small chunks of time. Combine that with the subject matter of people reaping what they've sown, and you have a recipe for success.

[Anne]

good

[Kathy Duffy]

Came across this and since I am a professional storyteller and Justice Stories is the topic of one of my program, I had to squeeze this into my reading pile. I found two stories that I will try to add to my repertoire.