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The Eagle's Shadow
James Branch Cabell
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R859
Discovery Miles 8 590
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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_The Witch Woman_ collects three fantastic novellas set in
Poictesme, the imaginary medieval land featured in such Cabell
classics as _Jurgen_ and _Figures of Earth,_ all dealing with the
most central of Cabell themes, the elusive feminine ideal, here
personified in the seductive Ettarre la Beale, the third daughter
of Dom Manuel the Redeemer. Here we read how a poet, a king, and a
bishop (who also happens to be a werewolf) sought the unattainable
Ettarre, and what became of them.
Imprimis, as concerns the authenticity of these tales perhaps the
less debate may be the higher wisdom, if only because this Nicolas
de Caen, by common report, was never a Gradgrindian. And in this
volume in particular, writing it (as Nicolas is supposed to have
done) in 1470, as a dependant on the Duke of Burgundy, it were but
human nature should he, in dealing with the putative descendants of
Dom Manuel and Alianora of Provence, be niggardly in his ascription
of praiseworthy traits to any member of the house of Lancaster or
of Valois. Rather must one in common reason accept old Nicolas as
confessedly a partisan writer, who upon occasion will recolor an
event with such nuances as will be least inconvenient to a Yorkist
and Burgundian bias. The reteller of these stories needs in
addition to plead guilty of having abridged the tales with a free
hand. Item, these tales have been a trifle pulled about, most
notably in "The Story of the Satraps," where it seemed
advantageous, on reflection, to put into Gloucester's mouth a
history which in the original version was related ab ovo, and as a
sort of bungling prologue to the story proper.
James Branch Cabell (1879-1958) wrote many of the Twentieth
Century's finest fantasies, including the controversial Jurgen,
which was famously banned by the New York Society for the
Suppression of Vice. It was only after the furor died down that
readers and critics were fully able to appreciate that the author
was no mere sensationalist, but a literary artist of very high
calibre. Cabell was above all else, an elegant stylist, whose
gently caustic, beautifully fantasic comedies struck a chord in the
Jazz Age and still resonate today. He was an important influence on
subsequent writers as diverse as Fritz Leiber and Neil Gaiman. He]
is a delightful author ...I like the sheer audacity and the scope
of his work]. -- Neil Gaiman One of the all-time greats of fantasy,
whose cynical yet romantic view of the human comedy is
simultaneously hilarious, beautiful, and melancholy. A writer you
must read. -- Darrell Schweitzer From the Hidden Way collects
Cabell's poetry, which illustrates a mastery of of a wide range of
styles and forms, and is filled with sly allusions to Cabell's
other books. of Manuel, which Cabell considered to be the
centerpiece of his art.
An entry in Cabell's fantastic "Poictesme" series.
"His name was Jose Gasparilla, and he was the self-proclaimed King
of Pirates. He terrorized the waters around Florida, demanding
tribute from every merchant ship he encountered. Riches flowed into
his tiny island kingdom . . . and yet he longed for a life he could
never have, for he had left his beloved Isabel behind in Spain. One
day he would return to claim her for his bride, he knew, and she
had vowed to wait for him. When he captures a ship and discovers
Isabel and her elderly husband aboard, he strikes a deal with the
man who stole his bride. For Jose Gasparilla, it means a chance to
regain the lost years of his life . . . to live his childhood again
and pick a new path, in the Land Without Shadows... "There Were Two
Pirates" is a fantasy adventure in James Branch Cabell's best
style, and a terrific addition to the Wildside Fantasy Classics
line."
An entry in Cabell's fantastic "Poictesme" series.
"[Cabell's] most substantial post-Biography fantasy was "The
Nightmare Has Triplets," a sequence comprising Smirt: An Urban
Nightmare, Smith: A Sylvan Interlude, and Smire: An Acceptance in
the Third Person. This explicitly emulates the logic and geography
of dreams . . . successfully mistly and dreamlike . . ." --The
Encyclopedia of Fantasy
The Devil's Own Dear Son is Cabell's final philsophical comedy,
about a man who discovers that his father was a demon and goes to
Hell for a disquieting family reunion. James Branch Cabell
(1879-1958) wrote many of the Twentieth Century's finest fantasies,
including the controversial Jurgen, which was famously banned by
the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. It was only after
the furor died down that readers and critics were fully able to
appreciate that the author was no mere sensationalist, but a
literary artist of very high calibre. Cabell was above all else, an
elegant stylist, whose gently caustic, beautifully fantasic
comedies struck a chord in the Jazz Age and still resonate today.
He was an important influence on subsequent writers as diverse as
Fritz Leiber and Neil Gaiman. " He] is a delightful author . . . I
like the sheer audacity and the scope of his work]." -- Neil Gaiman
"One of the all-time greats of fantasy, whose cynical yet romantic
view of the human comedy is simultaneously hilarious, beautiful,
and melancholy. A writer you must read." -- Darrell Schweitzer
"[Cabell's] most substantial post-Biography fantasy was "The
Nightmare Has Triplets," a sequence comprising Smirt: An Urban
Nightmare, Smith: A Sylvan Interlude, and Smire: An Acceptance in
the Third Person. This explicitly emulates the logic and geography
of dreams . . . successfully mistly and dreamlike . . ." --The
Encyclopedia of Fantasy
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