Pre-Tolkien Fantasy discussion

If there is one author who tops the list of authors that you must read prior to Tolkien, I believe it is Lord Dunsany. Therefore I thought I'd start a thread for people to discuss his work and offer recommendations for where to start if you haven't read him before.

Personally, I think he is one of the finest fantasy writers ever, before or after Tolkien. I've loved everything I've ever read by him.

For short story collections I would recommend either The Book of Wonder, The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories or A Dreamer's Tales. Some would recommend The Gods of Pegana but while I agree it is brilliant, I don't think it's necessarily the best place to start with his work. But whatever you do, make sure you read it before Time And the Gods. All of the collections mentioned here are contained in the fantasy masterworks omnibus edition: Time And The Gods.

If you'd prefer to start with a novel, I would either recommend The King of Elfland's Daughter if you are already a fan of fantasy or else The Blessing of Pan if you're not.

A lot of his stuff is free for the download from either here Project Gutenberg here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc...

Or you can get it & more info on him at WikiSource here:
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:...

I's say The Book of Wonder is indeed a great place to start for his short Stories. Alternately, The King of Elfland's Daughter is great for his longer works.

Love him, really want to read more.

I love Lord Dunsany writing so much that i have seriously thought about visiting Ireland only because of him(near enough for 4 day vacation).

King of Elfland's Daugther is one of the most beautiful piece of writing i have read and even the fact i prefer him as a master of short stories. I remember freezing in some horrible cheap Ethiopian hotel, the magical land that bordered to the human world, the story made me forget the psychical pain.

Simon wrote: "If there is one author who tops the list of authors that you must read prior to Tolkien, I believe it is Lord Dunsany. Therefore I thought I'd start a thread for people to discuss his..."

Simon i couldnt agree more about him being one of the best writers ever and imo in any type of literature. Frankly i have read Tolkien and i can compare only the fact they both were important in early modern fantasy field. The reason i think he is a bit underrated outside the genres is his poetry style prose. Not as simple as some mainstream classics authors.

By the way did you read Lord Dunsany stories before me ? I think i remember you being new to him and me gushing about how great he is. Not that he needs recommending.

Mohammed said: By the way did you read Lord Dunsany stories before me ? I think i remember you being new to him and me gushing about how great he is. Not that he needs recommending.

I don't know when you first read him but I first read him many years ago. An appreciation of Dunsany appears to run in my family, my dad being a fan and his dad before him.

Simon wrote: "Mohammed said: By the way did you read Lord Dunsany stories before me ? I think i remember you being new to him and me gushing about how great he is. Not that he needs recommending.

I don't know ..."

Nice family tradition there :)

Did you start with fantasy short story collections ? I hope you read Jorkens volumes back in the day. They are worth a fortune today that scare me away.

I haven't actually read the Jorkens; I'll have to try to track them down one day.

The first thing I ever read by Dunsany was "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" in an anthology of classic fantasy (that volume is also responsible for introducing me to Robert Howard, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber and Clark Ashton Smith) given to me by my Dad. Soon after, I read "King of Elfland's Daughter", also courtesy of my Dad.

Anyway, next up to read (and all this Dunsany talk is whetting my appetite) is "Don Rodriguez: Chronicles Of Shadow Valley".

Simon wrote: "I haven't actually read the Jorkens; I'll have to try to track them down one day.

The first thing I ever read by Dunsany was "The Hoard of the Gibbelins" in an anthology of classic fantasy (that v..."

Hehe thats funny my first read of Lord Dunsany was the also an anthology with "The Hoard of the Gibblins". Short story but dark,weird.

"Don Rodriguez: Chronicles Of Shadow Valley" i bought a few months ago, its actually the book that lies at the top of my reading pile table. I havent read Lord Dunsany in close to a year that sounds terrible to me !!

One more new author try and then back to the Lord Dunsany.

Great, I'll try and read it next too so we can read it at the same time.

Jim wrote: "A lot of his stuff is free for the download from either here Project Gutenberg here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/searc...

Or you ca..."

A lot is also free for the Kindle and thru iBooks for the iPad.

Simon wrote: "Great, I'll try and read it next too so we can read it at the same time."

I will have to keep track of you currently reading, you keep a nice pace of reading book after book unlike my slow reading these days.