Faerie Tale
by Raymond E. Feist
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“A contemporary novel of masterful horror replete with magic, fantasy, and more than a little stylish sensuality.”—The Washington PostPhil Hastings was a lucky man—he had money, a growing reputation as a screenwriter, a happy, loving family with three kids, and he'd just moved into the house of his dreams in rural of magic—and about to be altered irrevocably by a magic more real than any he dared imagine.
For with the Magic came the Bad Thing, and the Faerie, and then the Fool . show more . . and the resurrection of a primordial war with a forgotten People—a war that not only the Hastings but the whole human race could lose.
“Absorbing, thought-provoking, and thoroughly magical. Feist's skillfully crafted prose illuminates many of the darker sides of fairy stories. . . . Try it as a bedtime story . . . but only on nights when you can take some time getting to sleep.”—The West Coast Review of.... show less
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reading_fox Slightly older YA, and a full novel. But the same theme, children move into a new place and discover a creepy 'fairy world' thats hard to escape.
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by epazia
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Een (dark) fantasy verhaal in de huidige (1988) tijd, hoewel sommige het misschien als horror zouden betitelen. Het is het enige verhaal van Feist dat op zichzelf staat. Het verhaal is gebaseerd op Ierse en Schotse Folklore en mythen.
In het begin sleepte het boek zich voort, maar na zo'n 150 pagina's begon het beter te worden, en kwamen de personages beter uit de verf. Ik kon de doodsangst van de kinderen (vooral vooral van Sean toen hij zijn broer ontvoerd zag worden, en toen hij deze probeerde te redden) goed voelen.
Het 'horror'-gedeelte van dit boek betrof voornamelijk de kinderen Sean en Patrick, nadat zij een ontmoeting hadden met de 'Lichte Man'.
Het boek
Zoals gebruikelijk in dit soort verhalen, zijn het de kinderen die dingen zien die de volwassenen ontgaan, en is het aan hen om de boel te redden.
De volwassen personages zijn allemaal net een beetje té perfect. De vader is een succesvolle auteur/scenarioschrijver; zijn vrouw een semi-beroemde toneelspeelster; de dochter (uit een eerder huwelijk) beschikt over een trust-fonds van miljoenen; haar vriend is ook een veelbelovende schrijver.
Het einde van het boek viel wel wat tegen.
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Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist
Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist (rhymes with "iced") is one of my all-time favorite books because it successfully does something I've never seen any other author do (with the exception of J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter) and that is, he introduces an ensemble cast without making it confusing who the characters are. Most authors, even highly gifted and experienced ones, are terrible at doing such a thing.
The story of Faerie Tale is a dark urban fantasy, mixing Celtic faerie lore and a young 20th century family who move into a country home in upstate New York next to enchanted woods. I have long maintained the thing which makes stories wonderful is the telling. A great story idea, told terribly, show more is not a great story. A cliched story idea, told beautifully, is a magical story. You don't need to be told the plot of this book. You already know it. You've seen it all before. Idyllic farmhouse. Happy family moves in. Teenage girl hates it. Young twin boys love it. A cast of character actors come into the picture and you're visualizing Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray. There's an old Irish drunkard and you can't help but imagine him looking a wee bit like Darby O'Gill. You know the story. Weird things start to happen. The level-headed mother and father are skeptical of what the twins are ranting and raving about and think it's overactive boys imaginations. The weird things start to become spooky things. The spooky things become downright sinister and evil. Then someone get captured by the faeries and needs to be rescued.
Yeah. It's really nothing all that inventive or original or creative. But, damn, if the story isn't told in a way that is so wonderful and engaging and eloquent that you just need to keep reading.
Look at Romeo & Juliet for example. When you distill that story down to the prime elements, boy meets girl, they fall in love, their love is forbidden, through a series of mishaps and miscommunication, their plans to run off together are foiled and end in tragedy. To describe it that way sounds terribly boring. Yet, the way the story of Romeo & Juliet is told, it's one of the most heartwarming, romantic and heartbreaking stories ever written.
That is what I'm trying to convey in this review of Faerie Tale. The story might sound like something familiar, something you've seen a million times before, but the writing is so exquisite and the way the story is told is so lovely, that you enjoy every moment of it. Just as you enjoy Romeo & Juliet, despite knowing it ends in tragedy.
My description of Faerie Tale isn't meant to be negative or condescending. As I said, this is truly one of my favorite books. For some reason, it's simply one of the most vivid books I've ever read. Even years after reading it, my memories of this story are like replaying a movie. This isn't the kind of book with passages of quotable text so much as it's a book drenched with visceral memories. When the characters go into the woods, you can smell the tree bark. When they go to the farmhouse, you can hear a squeaky plank of wood on the porch, even though the author never told you the porch had such a thing. You hear the peal of summer windchimes. You see the golden light trickle down a blade of grass in firefly sparks. When you read Faerie Tale, you are there. You don't read this story, you live it.
The interesting thing about author Raymond E. Feist is, he only writes books that are part of a series. He has written 10 book series ranging from duologies to tetralogies and Faerie Tale remains the only standalone book he has ever published. Faerie Tale is also the only urban fantasy novel he has written. All the other Raymond E. Feist books are pure high fantasy novels of swords and sorcery. That may seem irrelevant, but as an author myself, I believe this is significant. Breaking out of writing the same kind of novel more than 30 times is going to give you something fresh. New. Exciting. I've never met Raymond E. Feist. Never spoken to him. But nevertheless, I am confident to say, as a fellow novelist, this book inspired him in a way nothing else ever had. He finally found himself in unexplored territory. I'm positive that had to be thrilling for him, and I think his enthusiasm shows within the pages.
As a lover of dark faerie tales (the theme of which is very dominant in my own duology The Vampire Noctuaries), this book is not entirely accurate to traditional faerie folklore. Raymond E. Feist conforms to about 70% of traditional stories and the other 30% seems to be entirely made up. He successfully incorporates the darker elements of the unseelie court and the cruelty and sensuality of naughty and deranged impish things. He is accurate about moving days and some faerie charms and glamours and those elements of the story are enchanting for readers who will understand the references. Those of you who are steeped in faerie myth and know a lot about it, might find some elements of Faerie Tale a little annoying, because you'll know according to tradition, faeries might not behave this way or that. However, most people are only casually aware of Celtic faerie mythologies. Those of you who don't know anything about faeries beyond A Midsummer Night's Dream and a few Disney movies, won't notice how much is kind of skewed in Faerie Tale.
This book, as I have twice reiterated, is one of my favorites of all time. The story is compelling. The characters are vividly realized. The setting comes to life. The scary parts make shadows move in the corner of your bedroom late at night. The atmosphere permeates from makebelieve pages into the very air you breathe. Faerie Tale is a magical story in the best sense of the phrase. When you're looking for a book to take you out of your boring and mundane world, and deliver you into a place that skirts the line between dream and memory, walk the pages of Faerie Tale and you will find yourself on a path where you have always belonged. Just beware of the Bad Things. They'll be watching you. show less
Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist
Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist (rhymes with "iced") is one of my all-time favorite books because it successfully does something I've never seen any other author do (with the exception of J.K. Rowling in Harry Potter) and that is, he introduces an ensemble cast without making it confusing who the characters are. Most authors, even highly gifted and experienced ones, are terrible at doing such a thing.
The story of Faerie Tale is a dark urban fantasy, mixing Celtic faerie lore and a young 20th century family who move into a country home in upstate New York next to enchanted woods. I have long maintained the thing which makes stories wonderful is the telling. A great story idea, told terribly, show more is not a great story. A cliched story idea, told beautifully, is a magical story. You don't need to be told the plot of this book. You already know it. You've seen it all before. Idyllic farmhouse. Happy family moves in. Teenage girl hates it. Young twin boys love it. A cast of character actors come into the picture and you're visualizing Dan Ackroyd and Bill Murray. There's an old Irish drunkard and you can't help but imagine him looking a wee bit like Darby O'Gill. You know the story. Weird things start to happen. The level-headed mother and father are skeptical of what the twins are ranting and raving about and think it's overactive boys imaginations. The weird things start to become spooky things. The spooky things become downright sinister and evil. Then someone get captured by the faeries and needs to be rescued.
Yeah. It's really nothing all that inventive or original or creative. But, damn, if the story isn't told in a way that is so wonderful and engaging and eloquent that you just need to keep reading.
Look at Romeo & Juliet for example. When you distill that story down to the prime elements, boy meets girl, they fall in love, their love is forbidden, through a series of mishaps and miscommunication, their plans to run off together are foiled and end in tragedy. To describe it that way sounds terribly boring. Yet, the way the story of Romeo & Juliet is told, it's one of the most heartwarming, romantic and heartbreaking stories ever written.
That is what I'm trying to convey in this review of Faerie Tale. The story might sound like something familiar, something you've seen a million times before, but the writing is so exquisite and the way the story is told is so lovely, that you enjoy every moment of it. Just as you enjoy Romeo & Juliet, despite knowing it ends in tragedy.
My description of Faerie Tale isn't meant to be negative or condescending. As I said, this is truly one of my favorite books. For some reason, it's simply one of the most vivid books I've ever read. Even years after reading it, my memories of this story are like replaying a movie. This isn't the kind of book with passages of quotable text so much as it's a book drenched with visceral memories. When the characters go into the woods, you can smell the tree bark. When they go to the farmhouse, you can hear a squeaky plank of wood on the porch, even though the author never told you the porch had such a thing. You hear the peal of summer windchimes. You see the golden light trickle down a blade of grass in firefly sparks. When you read Faerie Tale, you are there. You don't read this story, you live it.
The interesting thing about author Raymond E. Feist is, he only writes books that are part of a series. He has written 10 book series ranging from duologies to tetralogies and Faerie Tale remains the only standalone book he has ever published. Faerie Tale is also the only urban fantasy novel he has written. All the other Raymond E. Feist books are pure high fantasy novels of swords and sorcery. That may seem irrelevant, but as an author myself, I believe this is significant. Breaking out of writing the same kind of novel more than 30 times is going to give you something fresh. New. Exciting. I've never met Raymond E. Feist. Never spoken to him. But nevertheless, I am confident to say, as a fellow novelist, this book inspired him in a way nothing else ever had. He finally found himself in unexplored territory. I'm positive that had to be thrilling for him, and I think his enthusiasm shows within the pages.
As a lover of dark faerie tales (the theme of which is very dominant in my own duology The Vampire Noctuaries), this book is not entirely accurate to traditional faerie folklore. Raymond E. Feist conforms to about 70% of traditional stories and the other 30% seems to be entirely made up. He successfully incorporates the darker elements of the unseelie court and the cruelty and sensuality of naughty and deranged impish things. He is accurate about moving days and some faerie charms and glamours and those elements of the story are enchanting for readers who will understand the references. Those of you who are steeped in faerie myth and know a lot about it, might find some elements of Faerie Tale a little annoying, because you'll know according to tradition, faeries might not behave this way or that. However, most people are only casually aware of Celtic faerie mythologies. Those of you who don't know anything about faeries beyond A Midsummer Night's Dream and a few Disney movies, won't notice how much is kind of skewed in Faerie Tale.
This book, as I have twice reiterated, is one of my favorites of all time. The story is compelling. The characters are vividly realized. The setting comes to life. The scary parts make shadows move in the corner of your bedroom late at night. The atmosphere permeates from makebelieve pages into the very air you breathe. Faerie Tale is a magical story in the best sense of the phrase. When you're looking for a book to take you out of your boring and mundane world, and deliver you into a place that skirts the line between dream and memory, walk the pages of Faerie Tale and you will find yourself on a path where you have always belonged. Just beware of the Bad Things. They'll be watching you. show less
Faerie Tale steps more into the modern world than a lot of Feist's work. I like this more than any *any* of his Riftwar work, as at least it is working from a fairly original premise rather than adapting gaming sessions. Some of what's below is going to sound kind of negative, but ultimately I did enjoy this more than any other Feist work, and as long as some of the...triggering things aren't too much for a reader its probably worth the quick read it it is. Right out of the gate, potential readers should know that there's a fairly detailed sexual assault. I've read some criticism of how the aftermath is handled, but I think Feist is at least trying to give a reasonable in-universe explanation within the story. Overall, the story is show more pretty preoccupied with sex, probably something to expect from a semi-modern faerie story, but just be aware going in. How a lot of sex and gender relations are handled is pretty par for the course from an 80s horror/fantasy story, but again, from a current lens is going to feel pretty cringy and insensitive at times.
Its early for the urban fantasy movement, but is closer to that than most other sub-genres. Its clear some research went into the supernatural/folklore aspects of the book but its implementation is just okay. The main characters consist of a family of five, a few scholarly friends, one of whom is a love interest to the oldest daughter. Every one of them is exceedingly brilliant and wealthy. Some are famous (the parents, one of the scholarly friends), some are genius academics far more well off than academics should realistically be (another of the friends and the love interest), some have inherited wealth (the heiress daughter), some like the daughter and another academic are just so broadly brilliant and talented it puts the idea of a polymath to shame. For me, this was a harder issue to get past reading the story than dated handlings of gender roles and sex, but your mileage may vary. show less
Its early for the urban fantasy movement, but is closer to that than most other sub-genres. Its clear some research went into the supernatural/folklore aspects of the book but its implementation is just okay. The main characters consist of a family of five, a few scholarly friends, one of whom is a love interest to the oldest daughter. Every one of them is exceedingly brilliant and wealthy. Some are famous (the parents, one of the scholarly friends), some are genius academics far more well off than academics should realistically be (another of the friends and the love interest), some have inherited wealth (the heiress daughter), some like the daughter and another academic are just so broadly brilliant and talented it puts the idea of a polymath to shame. For me, this was a harder issue to get past reading the story than dated handlings of gender roles and sex, but your mileage may vary. show less
Faerie Tale walks a fine line between dark fantasy and horror, and lands mostly outside of horror only because of its subject--which is to be taken as something of a warning for dark fantasy readers, as the gore, the trauma, and the various resolutions tread territory that's often closer to what I'd expect from horror vs fantasy.
All that said, this is a fast-paced and fairly fun read. It does read as somewhat dated--there's so much head-hopping there, I often rather wished it were written from a more contemporary style--and the women in the book are especially stereotypical (though, truth be told, most of the characters do come across as fairly superficial/undeveloped, maybe partly because there are just so many POVs here and the action show more takes all of the focus). But if you can get past that dated quality and just fall into enjoying the story, there's plenty of entertainment to be had here.
Will I recommend this book? To anyone interested, given the caveats, yes. Will I read more of Feist's work? Likely only if the concept really jumps out at me, as plot gets a lot more focus in this story than character, and I more often enjoy books that are at least partly driven by engagement with character. show less
All that said, this is a fast-paced and fairly fun read. It does read as somewhat dated--there's so much head-hopping there, I often rather wished it were written from a more contemporary style--and the women in the book are especially stereotypical (though, truth be told, most of the characters do come across as fairly superficial/undeveloped, maybe partly because there are just so many POVs here and the action show more takes all of the focus). But if you can get past that dated quality and just fall into enjoying the story, there's plenty of entertainment to be had here.
Will I recommend this book? To anyone interested, given the caveats, yes. Will I read more of Feist's work? Likely only if the concept really jumps out at me, as plot gets a lot more focus in this story than character, and I more often enjoy books that are at least partly driven by engagement with character. show less
Nothing like his other works I've read. I had just finished (and loved) the Empire Trilogy, where I was so impressed with the character-building, complexity, and nuance. This had none of that. Descriptions were superficial and in-your-face, characters were never fully developed to the point where you understood or cared about them, and so many things were never really explained or only explained briefly with preposterous hand-waving. I actually finished it, so it gets two stars, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else - I'm pretty sure you have better things to spend your precious time on.
There was a lot to like about this book, but it seemed methodical and not exciting. There was menace in it from the fey, but I just didn't feel it built to anything exciting.
One of feist's better works. As everybody knows - when the faerie lost the battle over the world with humans and were expelled into the ether, they seperated into the dark and light courts. They still trvael the earth from place to place staying for six months before moving on at the equinox. When they stay in middle america strange things happen, and the local children start to investigate. The dark king is trying to lure humans to break the treaty made so long ago when the exile happened. Fortunetly the guardians are still nearby, though they don't take account of the individual lives. Can the brother save his twin in time?
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Author Information
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Fantasy writer Raymond E. Feist was born in Southern California. He received a B.A. in Communication Arts with honors from the University of California at San Diego in 1977. His first novel, Magician, published in 1982 is the first book of The Riftwar Saga. His other series include The Serpentwar Saga, The Empire Trilogy, The Riftwar Legacy, show more Krondor's Sons, Legends of the Riftwar, Conclave of Shadows, Darkwar Saga, Chaoswar Saga, Demonwar Saga, and The Firemane Saga. Feist's work appears regularly on the bestseller lists of The New York Times and The Times of London. He has also worked with Sierra Studios and PyroTechnix to produce a role-playing game. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Een boosaardig sprookje
- Original title
- Faerie Tale
- Alternate titles
- Elfensprook
- Original publication date
- 1988
- People/Characters
- Phil Hastings; Sean Hastings; Patrick Hastings; The Fool; Ariel; Oberon (show all 12); Titania; Wayland Smith; Gloria Hastings; Gabbie Hastings; Mark Blackman; Gary Thieus
- Important places
- Faerie; Pittsville
- Dedication
- One of life's truly rarest treasures in friendship. I count myself exceedingly fortunate in this regard My friends have given of themselves above and beyond the call, in far too many ways to recount, but, most important, ... (show all)in love, support, and acceptance. I shall never be their equal in generosity.
But as a humble token of appreciation, this book is dedicated to:
The Original Thursday Nighters:
Steve A., Jon, Anita, Tim, Richard, Dave, Ethan, Jeff, Lorri, Steve B., and Bob (and April, for I can't seem to remember a time when she wasn't there)
back when April & Steve's house was Steve and Jon's apartment and we all sweated finals, experimental results, orals, dissertation defenses, finding jobs, the triumphs and failures, the pain, the love, and the growing...together - First words
- Barney Doyle sat at his cluttered workbench, attempting to fix Olaf Andersen's ancient power mower for the fourth time in seven years.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Pushing aside the momentary disquiet, he turned and entered the warm kitchen.
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.54
- Canonical LCC
- PS3556.E446
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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