George MacDonald

A little princess is protected by her friend Curdie and her newly-discovered great-great-grandmother from the goblin miners who live in caves beneath the royal castle.

Since printing throughout the title Orts, a doubt has arisen in my mind as to its fitting the nature of the volume. It could hardly, however, be imagined that I associate the idea of worthlessness with the work contained in it. No one would insult his readers by offering them what he counted valueless scraps, and telling them they were such. These papers, those two even which were caught in the net of the ready-writer from extempore utterance, whatever...

Phantastes tells the story of Anodos and his magical journey through a Fairy Land that hints at but always eludes allegory. Anodos discovers that "self will come to life even in the slaying of self, but there is ever something deeper and stronger than it, which will emerge from the unknown abysses of the soul." Published in 1858, this is the earliest novel by George MacDonald, who is generally considered the grandfather of modern fantasy. Our rejuvenated...

In the dusk of the old-fashioned best room of a farm-house, in the faint glow of the buried sun through the sods of his July grave, sat two elderly persons, dimly visible, breathing the odor which roses unseen sent through the twilight and open window. One of the two was scarcely conscious of the odor, for she did not believe in roses; she believed mainly in mahogany, linen, and hams; to the other it brought too much sadness to be welcomed, for it...

In this 1873 short novel for children--by an author who influenced Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and many other fantasy writers--young Willie's wise father, a doctor, lets his son learn by himself how to first work with his hands, then his mind. His resulting benefit Willie, his family, and the world at large.

Set in the rugged Scottish highlands in the mid-19th century, What's Mine's Mine captures in print a crucial and life-changing era in the history of Scotland. For centuries, the hardy Scotsmen had clung to their land, working at the stubborn soil and keeping in close-knit clans. Then rich landowners from the south took notice of the region and of the wealth it could bring them. Impoverished clansmen and farmers were often expelled from their homes...

The second volume of a collection of poems by George MacDonald (1824 – 1905), a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons. (Source: Wikipedia)

Because she is not invited to the christening of the princess, the King's sister casts a spell depriving the child of gravity and the ability to weep tears.

A miner's son is entrusted with the weighty task of saving the king, the princess, and consequently the kingdom. He is directed in his efforts by a mysterious fairy queen who provides monstrous but gentle creatures to aid him.

"Lilith is equal if not superior to the best of Poe," raved poet W. H. Auden about this classic Victorian novel. Known as the father of fantasy literature, George MacDonald was a Scottish minister who later turned to writing poetry and novels, gaining acclaim for his children's books and influencing J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lilith is considered to be one of the most important visionary novels of the nineteenth century. Written in 1895, Lilith...