_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