Phantastes (Hendrickson Publishers)

I have been trying to expand my reading choices lately by dabbling into fiction more and more. I generally prefer to stick to nonfiction, but I know it will be good for me to broaden my horizons. Of the fiction I read, I try to stick with works that have stood the test of time. That puts me at a bias against recent works, but I just find so much more beauty in older works. One author I have recently been introduced to is George MacDonald. MacDonald was a Scottish minister, poet, novelist, and was dubbed the "grandfather" of the Inklings. Now, you see my interest in his work. Today, I am reviewing the book Phantastes, which is produced by Hendrickson Publishers.

For those unfamiliar with Phantastes, like I was, it is a fantasy novel about a 21 year old man named Anodos. On his birthday, he received a set of keys to his deceased father's desk. Within this desk a small woman who claims to be Anodos' grandmother. She grants his wish to send him to Fairy Land, but his reasons for going are not revealed to the reader until the end of the story. Through his travels in Fairy Land, Anodos encounters a lot of strange people and places. He meets a woman and her daughter who try and help him with advice, but of course he quickly forgets it when he leaves their company. He meets and frees the White Lady, whom he falls in love with, and a Knight, whom he befriends. He also encounters many battles and hardships. All of these are important in helping Anodos mature and stop acting like a child and more like an adult, because that is apparently the only way he will ever return home. So what was his reasoning for wanting to go to Fairy Land, and will he ever be able to leave this place and go home? Buy the book to find out!

The book is a classic coming of age story with Anodos going on the somewhat epic tale to adulthood. There are times when the story drags and is bogged down with details, and I wouldn't consider this George MacDonald's best work. That privilege, in my mind, belongs to "The Princess and the Goblin." As for the quality of this particular edition, it is breathtaking. The book looks to be an average sized hardcover, but when you pick it up, it feels heavy in a good way. I attribute this to the quality of paper used. The book contains scanned and digitally colored versions of the original illustrations, which MacDonald's son approved of. This gives the book that old time feel it so desperately deserves. So if you are a MacDonald fan, or want to see some of the inspiration for the Inklings and their writings, I'd recommend this book to you.

This book was provided to me for free by Hendrickson Publishers in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click here and hit Yes!

The Blue Fairy Book (Hesperus Press)

With the introduction of Common Core, lack of God in public schools, and growing safety concerns, the homeschooling movement is growing stronger in the United States. I for one am thrilled as children are once again being taught Latin and Greek. It is also great because publishers are starting to re-print some classic works. However, they will only continue to print these works if we support them and buy their titles. Hesperus Press was generous enough to send me two works, The Blue Fairy Book and The Red Fairy Book to review.

If you're like me, you probably grew up on fairy tales. We live in a Disney society of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, etc. But have you ever taken the time to read the actual fairy tales? The Brothers Grimm? Hans Christian Andersen? There are some similarities between Disney and Grimm, but the differences is where the beauty is. In this reprint of a classic, Andrew Lang gathered fairy tales from around the world, edited, and compiled them into different fairy books.

For those who have not read these fairy tale books before, I will reference "Beauty and the Beast." Mr. Lang draws this tale from Mme de Villenvue, and it is quite different than the Disney version. For starters, Beast wasn't a bratty and spoiled prince, but cursed by an evil fairy. Beauty (not called Belle in this version) is not an only child, but has many brothers and sisters. She is the son of a merchant, who had Job-like misfortunes and lost everything. Ultimately Beauty and the Beast end up together (like Disney), but the story read better than Disney could have imagined.

For those familiar with Andrew Lang's work, you already know about the quality of the writing and probably want to know about the quality of the physical book. In a word, the book is superb. It's hardcover, with a vibrant blue dust jacket. The pages are of a nice thickness, and it contains original artwork from the original works. I've seen other editions of this work from other publishers, and I would pick the Hesperus Press one every time. It is built to stand the test of time and wear and will look beautiful on your shelf! I just hope they continue to print the rest of the series, but they can only do that if we buy the two that are already out. So if you are looking for a wonderful, quality book on fairy tales to read to your children, grab both The Blue Fairy Book and The Red Fairy Book from Hesperus Press.

I received this book for free from Hesperus Press in exchange for an honest review. If you found this review helpful, please click the link and hit Yes!