Nobody really "wrote" most of the stories. People told them in all parts of the world long before Egyptian hieroglyphics or Cretan signs or Cyprian syllabaries, or alphabets were invented. They are older than reading and writing, and arose like wild flowers before men had any education to quarrel over. The grannies told them to the grandchildren, and when the grandchildren became grannies they repeated the same old tales to the new generation. Homer knew the stories and made up the 'Odyssey' out of half a dozen of them. All the history of Greece till about 800 B.C. is a string of the fairy tales, all about Theseus and Heracles and Oedipus and Minos and Perseus is a "Cabinet des F es," a collection of fairy tales. Shakespeare took them and put bits of them into 'King Lear' and other plays; he could not have made them up himself, great as he was. Let ladies and gentlemen think of this when they sit down to write fairy tales, and have them nicely typed, and send them to Messrs. Longman & Co. to be published. They think that to write a new fairy tale is easy work. They are mistaken: the thing is impossible. Nobody can write a "new" fairy tale; you can only mix up and dress up the old, old stories, and put the characters into new dresses, as Miss Thackeray did so well in 'Five Old Friends.' If any big girl of fourteen reads this preface, let her insist on being presented with "Five Old Friends."

In our Fairy Cabinet we have aimed at pleasing children, not 'grown-ups, ' at whom the old French writers directed their romances, but have hunted for fairy tales in all quarters, not in Europe alone. In this volume we open, thanks to Dr. Ignaz Knnos, with a story from the Turks. 'Little King Loc' is an original invention by M. Anatole France, which he very kindly permitted Mrs. Lang to adapt from "L'Abeille." -- from Andrew Lang's Preface to this volume.

Emory and Tostan had every right to believe that the defeat of the sorcerer Tolrak had restored peace to their homeland. Yet as they celebrated, the Mishwa Empire and Delta Kingdom were locked in a death struggle in a land far to their west. This ancient conflict had already reached out and touched their lives at the gates of Sea City. All too soon, it would draw them into its fire. Join Emory and Tostan as they face challenges that will either enhance their skills as wizard and warrior-or strike them dead. Travel with them as they encounter the slave traders of Fortun, stride through the gates of Tarbu Fortress, and descend into the dungeons of Zalgar. Bryunzet gives you a glimpse of the time that preceded Wizardmont, introducing you to the mad sorcerer Mellette and Grand Wizard Tarawak, and then propels you into a world where arrows scream, daimen roam the land, the Dark Cloud blocks the sun, and the Promise of the Stones lures one and all.

Fairy stories, especially from the fertile landscape of Ireland where the supernatural grew from the legends of the Celts, are the magic stories of everyday folk seeking solutions to the challenges of the day. This spritely new collection brings together the fables and stories of banshees, kings, trembling farmers, tricksters and beloved princesses. 'Smallhead and the King's Sons' (a Cinderella story) and 'The Haughty Princess' (recalling Grimm's 'Kings Thrushbeard') are amongst the many delightful tales of hope and reckless determination. Flame Tree Collector's Editions present the foundations of speculative fiction, authors, myths and tales without which the imaginative literature of the twentieth century would not exist, bringing the best, most influential and most fascinating works into a striking and collectable library. Each book features a new introduction and a Glossary of Terms.

Adolescence hasn't been fun for Liss Lawrence. And after a year in Vancouver, when she's finally adjusted to her new situation, a freak car accident sends her life spinning out of control and crashing into the world of the malions, a hidden race silently helping humanity from secret enclaves underground. Liss's knowledge of the malions endangers her family when Jaredsons Securities takes an interest in her accident. Few know the men of Jaredsons Securities, an international intelligence company specializing in missing persons cases, are actually the Vykhars, ancient malion enemies whose true purpose is the eradication of the malion race. The Vykhars will stop at nothing to discover if Liss is connected with the malions, and if they do, they will exploit her. Perhaps more dangerous still are Liss's growing feelings for Rion, a strong-willed malion scarred by his encounters with Vykhars and carrying a secret that could destroy their relationship. But Liss has a secret and scars of her own, and Rion's fiercely protective nature threatens to tear them back open. Can this pair of unlikely lovers survive the dangers of the Vykhars? And can their love survive their own misconceptions?

"The irony of Lang's life and work is that although he wrote for a profession-literary criticism; fiction; poems; books and articles on anthropology, mythology, history, and travel ... he is best recognized for the works he did "not" write." -- Anita Silvey, "Children's Books and Their Creators"

Oh, that we all could become prosperous and famous for things we did not have to write And still, the collecting of these tales is quite a deed. They're wonderful stuff -- many of them went on to become famous. And they're all wonderful reading Many of them, in fact, are famously good. Included in this volume are "The Bronze Ring," "Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess," "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," "The Yellow Dwarf," "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood," "Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper," "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp," "The Tale of a Youth Who Set Out to Learn What Fear Was," "Rumpelstiltzkin," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Master-Maid," "Why the Sea Is Salt," "The Master Cat," "Felicia and the Pot of Pinks," "The White Cat," "The Water-Lily," "The Terrible Head," "The Story of Pretty Goldilocks," "The History of Whittington," "The Wonderful Sheep," "Little Thumb," "The Forty Thieves," "Hansel and Grettel," "Snow-White and Rose-Red," "The Goose-Girl," "Toads and Diamonds," "Prince Darling," "Blue Beard," "Trusty John," "The Brave Little Tailor," "A Voyage to Lilliput," "The Princess on the Glass Hill," "The Story of Prince Ahmed and the Fairy Paribanou," "The History of Jack the Giant-Killer," "The Black Bull of Norroway," and "The Red Etin."