Time and the Gods [omnibus]

This review is for ISBN 9781857989892, the Gollancz Fantasy Masterworks edition of Time and the Gods.

The title of this book is misleading - this is actually an omnibus of Dunsany's first six short story collections.
1. The Gods of Pegana
2. Time and the Gods
3. The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories
4. The Book of Wonder
5. A Dreamer's Tales
6. The Last Book of Wonder

Having read Lovecraft's Dream Cycle stories years before I ever got around to Dunsany, I have to say that I can see the strong resemblance. I'd go so far as to say that Lovecraft was deliberately trying to copy Dunsany's style in many of those stories. (He failed, to his benefit. Lovecraft's writing style is distinct enough that it shines through even his pastiches).

These are show more all excellent collections, overall. The quality is very uneven - some stories are superb works of imagination (The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth, the Hoard of the Gibbelins, Idle Days on the Yann), some are dull to the point where I had to skim them quickly just to get through them and move along (The Bride of the Man-Horse, the House of the Sphinx). But there are more good ones than bad ones. Universally these stories show a wildly active and unique imagination.

Unfortunately, despite apparently receiving the blessing of the Dunsany estate, this edition does *not* include the original illustrations by Sidney Sime, which is a shame.

The first collection, the Gods of Pegana, is easily the worst set (and Gollancz put it last, presumably because the editor knew it too), while I think The Sword of Welleran is probably the best overall.

I'm glad these were put back into print, as they really deserve to be in anyone's fantasy library. Previously your best chance was tracking down expensive Modern Library editions from the 40's. show less

Then along the torchlit corridors the King went to his chamber, and having shut the door in the empty room, beheld suddenly a figure wearing the cloak of a prophet; and the King perceived that it was he whose face was hidden at the banquet, who had not revealed his name.
And the King said:
'Art thou, too, a prophet?'
And the figure answered:
'I am a prophet.'
And the King said: 'Knowest thou aught concerning the journey of the King?' And the figure answered: 'I know, but have never said.'
And the King said: 'Who art thou that knowest so much and hast not told it?'
And he answered:
'I am THE END.'
Then the cloaked figure strode away from the palace, and the King, unseen by the guards, followed upon his journey.

The book "Time and the Gods" in the show more Fantasy Masterworks series contains six collections of Lord Dunsany's short stories. I have just finished the first of them, which is also called "Time and the Gods". The stories were more like mythology than fantasy, having quite a detached air about them, and more atmosphere than plot. show less

Superb fantasy. If anyone doubts his influence, then without Dunsany we would have had no Arthur Clarke, Jack Vance or Lovecraft. As another reviewer noted, it's long. That's because it's SIX books squashed together, and they date from the Edwardian era when people made time to read, and didn't rush about so much (they probably had a servant to it for them).

Unemcumbered by footnotes, Dunsany's only use of one was to elucidate the meaning of the word "gluttered": see any dictionary, but in vain.

The Gods of Pegāna
Descriptions of the gods of Pegāna with a few tales about the prophets at the end. The style is haunting, magical, despite the almost complete lack of any narrative in the first half. I don't know why the omnibus edition puts this collection at the end when it was the first written.

Time and the Gods
I think this omnibus edition does the stories a disservice. It is too rich a diet of a magical prose style totally unrelated to the world as we experience it coupled with shifts from story to story with no connections between them. I've put it too one side to be continued later after reading something a bit more mundane.

The Sword of Welleran
The stories in this third collection were much more narratively straight forward, show more which made them easier to read. I particularly enjoyed "The Highwayman", "The Fall of Babbelkund", and the title story.

A Dreamer's Tales
I still like the style and the general atmosphere. "Where the Tides Ebb and Flow" was probably my favourite from this collection.

The Book of Wonders
The title just about sums it up.

The Last Book of Wonders
More like a book of tall tales. No real wonders, just some amusing stories set in a world which isn't quite ours. show less

Time and the Gods is an anthology of stories by the author. As with any anthology (as I am so fond of saying), there are those stories that are quite good, some that are okay, some that are so-so and some that you can take or leave. This book is no exception.

Time and the Gods is a major fantasy fest; if you're not into fantasy, don't even pick it up. The book is divided into six sections:

Time and the Gods
The Sword of Welleran
A Dreamer's Tales
The Book of Wonder
The Last Book of Wonder
The Gods of Pegana

Out of those, I earmarked several stories that I thought were outstanding:

"The Sword of Welleran"
"The Kith of the Elf-Folk"
"The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth," (which may have been my favorite story in this volume)
"Where the show more Tides Ebb and Flow"
"Poor Old Bill"
"The Day of the Poll"
"Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance"
"How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Arts Among the Gnoles"
"The Wonderful Window"

If you enjoy fantasy, then most likely there's something in here that will appeal to you.

I really wanted to read something of Dunsany because of the influence his works had on Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of my very favorite authors ever. You can really see how these works influenced HPL if you've read Lovecraft.

Recommended for those who are into true-blue fantasy; others may not like it so well. show less

I've read bad books. I've read boring books. But it's rare to read a book where I have no idea what the heck happened. This is the book to read when your high on drugs or drunk. Some older books are books of there time. This book is just nuts. The only thing I can remember about this book is wanting to buy a bottle of wine and hoping I wake up and somehow got to the last page.

Time and the Gods: 3
The Sword of Welleran: 3.5
A Dreamer's Tales:3.5
The Book of Wonder: 3.5
Tales of Wonder: 3.5
The Gods of Pegana: 3