Lord Dunsany mixes reality with fantasy in this forgotten collection of modern detective stories. Some are macabre, others have a lighter and more amusing touch, but every story stimulates the imagination and reveals the acknowledged master of the short story at his very best. SMETHERS is a travelling salesman for Numnumo, who make a relish for meats and savouries. He shares a flat with an Oxford graduate called Linley, who fancies himself as a detective and to whom Scotland Yard is inclined to turn if they encounter a particularly challenging mystery. When a pretty young girl disappears and her lodger is suspected of murdering her, two bottles of Numnumo relish are the only clues, and Smethers is sent to gather more information . . . Amongst the hundreds of fantasy stories for which the Irish dramatist, poet and writer Lord Dunsany became deservedly famous there was one solitary little book of detective stories. Selected by Ellery Queen as an ‘unequivocal keystone’ in the history of crime writing, this quirky collection is a mixture of the masterful and the macabre, a book that lovers of detective stories and tales of the unexpected will want to savour.

The lord of Erl is told by the parliament of his people that they want to be ruled by a magic lord. Obeying the immemorial custom, the lord sends his son Alveric to fetch the King of Elfland's daughter, Lirazel, to be his bride. He makes his way to Elfland, where time passes at a rate far slower than the real world, and wins her. They return to Erl and have a son, but in the manner of fairy brides of folklore, she fits uneasily with his people. She returns to the waiting arms of her father in Elfland, and her lovesick husband goes searching for her, abandoning the kingdom of Erl and wandering in a now-hopeless quest. The poetic style and sweeping grandeur of The King of Elfland's Daughter has made it one of the most beloved fantasy novels of our time, a masterpiece that influenced some of the greatest contemporary fantasists. The heartbreaking story of a marriage between a mortal man and an elf princess is a masterful tapestry of the fairy tale following the "happily ever after."

The Gods of Pegana (1905) is a short story collection by Lord Dunsany. Published at the beginning of his career, The Gods of Pegana would influence such writers as J. R. R. Tolkein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and H. P. Lovecraft. Recognized as a pioneering author of fantasy and science fiction, Dunsany is a man whose work, in the words of Lovecraft, remains "unexcelled in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of incandescently exotic vision." "Whether the season be winter or whether it be summer, whether it be morning among the worlds or whether it be night, Skarl still beateth his drum, for the purposes of the gods are not yet fulfilled." The Gods of Pegana, Dunsany's debut collection of stories, contains some of his finest tales of fantasy and adventure. The Mana-Yood-Sushai created the gods of Pegana before falling asleep in the middle of Time. The only thing keeping him from creating new gods and worlds is the drummer Skarl, who can never cease his playing. In their creator's absence, dozens of small gods and a thousand local deities have free reign to create the worlds and realities they want. As they compete to outdo one another, the order and peace of Pegana hangs in the balance. Humorous and inventive, Dunsany's tales of high fantasy continue to delight over a century after they first appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Dunsany's The Gods of Pegana is a classic of Irish fantasy fiction reimagined for modern readers.

The Book of Wonder (1912) is a short story collection by Lord Dunsany. Published at the height of his career, The Book of Wonder would influence such writers as J. R. R. Tolkein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and H. P. Lovecraft. Recognized as a pioneering author of fantasy and science fiction, Dunsany is a man whose work, in the words of Lovecraft, remains "unexcelled in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of incandescently exotic vision." The Book of Wonder, Dunsany's fifth collection of stories, contains fourteen of his finest tales of fantasy and adventure. In "The Hoard of the Gibbelins," originally published in London weekly The Sketch, is the story of Alderic, a Knight of the Order of the City. Courageous and strong, he ventures to the island realm of the Gibbelins, where a horde of treasure is rumored to be held at the base of a treacherous castle. In "Chu-Bu and Sheemish," two idols held in the same ancient temple compete for the adoration of their worshippers. As Chu-Bu and Sheemish attempt more and more astounding miracles, they risk striking fear in the hearts of their superstitious people. Humorous and inventive, Dunsany's tales of high fantasy continue to delight over a century after they first appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Dunsany's The Book of Wonder is a classic of Irish fantasy fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Time and the Gods (1906) is a short story collection by Lord Dunsany. Published at the beginning of his career, Time and the Gods, a sequel to The Gods of Pegana (1905), would influence such writers as J. R. R. Tolkein, Ursula K. Le Guin, and H. P. Lovecraft. Recognized as a pioneering author of fantasy and science fiction, Dunsany is a man whose work, in the words of Lovecraft, remains "unexcelled in the sorcery of crystalline singing prose, and supreme in the creation of a gorgeous and languorous world of incandescently exotic vision." "Once when the gods were young and only Their swarthy servant Time was without age, the gods lay sleeping by a broad river upon earth. There in a valley that from all the earth the gods had set apart for Their repose the gods dreamed marble dreams." Time and the Gods, Dunsany's second collection of stories, contains some of his finest tales of fantasy and adventure. From their "marble dreams" arose a city fit for the gods, a sweeping expanse of towers, terraces, lawns, and fountains known as Sardathrion. Protected by mountains and a vast desert, safe in the heart of a fertile valley, the city of the gods is a place to which few humans go, and from which none can return. Dunsany's tales of high fantasy continue to delight over a century after they first appeared in print. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lord Dunsany's Time and the Gods is a classic of Irish fantasy fiction reimagined for modern readers.

There be islands in the Central Sea, whose waters are bounded by no shore and where no ships come -- this is the faith of their people.

*

In the mists before the Beginning, Fate and Chance cast lots to decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: "Now make gods for Me, for I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine." Who it was that won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went through the mists before the Beginning to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI -- none knoweth.

From "The Last Dream of Bwona Khubla":

From steaming lowlands down by the equator, where monstrous orchids blow, where beetles big as mice sit on the tent-ropes, and fireflies glide about by night like little moving stars, the travelers went three days through forests of cactus till they came to the open plains where the oryx are.

When Bwona Khubla had gone there three years ago, what with malaria with which he was shaking all over, and what with disgust at finding the water-hole dry, he had decided to die there, and in that part of the world such decisions are always fatal. In any case he was overdue to die, but hitherto his amazing resolution, and that terrible strength of character that so astounded his porters, had kept him alive and moved his safari on.

There is not doubt that he was a fearful man. . . .

*

Dunsany had a weird, "weird" imagination, but unlike most folks who think weird thoughts, he had a powerful ability to write (as you can see from the above). This peculiar collection is a very real treat: we envy you the reading of it. Among the treasures in this volume are "The Last Dream of Bwona Khubla," "How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant in Offord-Under-the-Wold," "The Prayer of Boob Aheera," "East and West," "A Pretty Quarrel," "How the Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning," "The Gift of the Gods," "The Sack of Emeralds," "The Old Brown Coat," "An Archive of the Older Mysteries," and "A City of Wonder," and a section he called Beyond the Fields We Know, which included "Publisher's Note," "Idle Days on the Yann," "A Shop in Go-By Street," and "The Avenger of Perdndaris."