Hobgoblin
by John Coyne
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Description
Ancient magic meets contemporary horror in this thrilling tale of a young man's obsession. Scott Gardiner is already shattered by the demise of his character in a sword-and-sorcery fantasy. When his father dies at almost exactly the same moment, the line between nightmare and reality begins to erode. Scott and his mom attempt to start over by moving to Ballycastle, a medieval Irish manor house rebuilt on the banks of the Hudson. A new role-playing game captures Scott's imagination: show more Hobgoblin, in which he takes on the identity of the legendary Irish hero Brian Borù. Before long, he's seeing a black annis ― a terrifying creature of Celtic myth ― darting about the estate. Scott plunges deeper and deeper into the dreamlike allure of Hobgoblin until more than just his sanity is at stake and he is forced to rescue others from a dark power. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
One of the first of the 'what happens to gamers' books. This is about a young player of RPG's who gets into more and more trouble as he lets his games take over his life, or maybe its the monsters taking over the world. Either way, gaming is at fault, and he might not survive! Not very exciting or suspenseful.
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Author Information
19+ Works 910 Members
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
J'ai lu (5270)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Hobgoblin
- Original publication date
- 1981
- People/Characters
- Barbara Gardiner; Scott Gardiner; Brian Boru (Scott's roleplaying character); Warren Gardiner; Valerie Dunn; Fergus O'Cuileannain (show all 8); Derek Brennan; Conor Fitzpatrick
- Important places
- Ballycastle
- Epigraph
- hob-gob-lin (hob/gob/lin), N. 1. anything causing superstitious fear; a bogy. 2. an evil spirit. 3. a fantasy war game based on Irish mythology and folklore, played with dice and a deck of cards.
- Dedication
- To Peter Lampack
- First words
- Barbara Gardiner swung the family station wagon off the avenue and into the cul-de-sac.
Dear Val,
Well, I got to say you really made a hit at old Spencertown. (Epilogue) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)For me, Hobgoblin was the beginning and what happened at Ballycastle was the end. (Epilogue)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Then the morningstar sailed harmlessly away as the dying body of Fergus O'Cuileannain fell on the golden cloak of Brian Boru, the legendary knight of Erin, the last paladin of Ballycastle.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 289
- Popularity
- 110,941
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.17)
- Languages
- English, French, Polish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 4
