There is, perhaps, no reading matter so flagrantly devoted to pure pleasure as adult fantasy.

It has appeared in written form now for at least several hundred years, but the tradition of joy in the tales of man’s more impossible adventures and endeavors goes back far beyond written history. No country in the world is without its myths, its magic, its epic legends, its gods and heros of monumental stature.

Lin Carter writes with infectious enthusiasm about the origins and sources of the glittering array of fantasies he has collected in this volume—indeed, his joy in the discoveries he has made is at least as much fun to follow as the reading of each selection itself. And this joy is perhaps why these stories live, and have lived for centuries—in every age there have been those who loved the tales of the past and had the ability to share their love and to perpetuate the grand and glorious history of fantasy.

MAGICKS AND WONDERS

Being a compendium of various magicks and wonders, whereof one not having been encountered in these lands heretofore, and divers others being rare and unknown, it is earnestly hoped that this fourth arrangement of marvels will provide a merrie entertainment, and thereby prepossess the reader to the enjoyment of a fuller repast to be provided each himself by the magicians and wizards herein…

OR, TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY

The fourth of Lin Carter’s anthologies of fantasy designed to bring to readers new names or little known works by famous writers. Included in this volume are unexpected delights from Oscar Wilde, George Sterling, Robert Howard and many others, together with a previously unpublished work of Mervyn Peake.

LIN CARTER WRITES:

“Of all the worlds of fantasy literature,

I seem most deeply fascinated by the lost lands of legend—by t hose far and mysterious realms and continents presumed by dreamers to have flourished in remote, prehistoric ages.

“I think it is the unsolved mystery of these ’evening isles fantastical’ that teases my curiosity and captivates my imagination. Did the oceans drink down the shining cities of Atlantis?

Did mighty Mu founder beneath the waves before history began? Was there ever a lost polar paradise of Hyperborea? Did the Seven Isles of Antiilia ever exist…?

“Since we cannot look to science or history or archeology for the age-lost annals of Atlantis or Ultima Thule or Lemuria, we must turn to fantasy fiction to satisfy our thirst for their marvels…

As in the notable companion volume to this work, dragons, elves, and heroes,these are tales of fantasy, of wonder, myth, glory—heroic chronicles in the tradition of the ancient legends. These are the tales by contemporary writers that prove magic has not left the world, that mysterious powers and epic deeds still hold the fascination for mankind that they did when stories were told by word-of-mouth. So the young magicians of the tide carry on the tradition in tales that charm, terrify, enchant, embolden and reassure.

For it it is true that the reading world is turning more and more to fantasy to escape the awesome realities of our world, it is equally true that man models himself on that larger-than-life figure, that Cod, or gods, that heroic knight or seductive enchantress, that being with the extra power to dare what mere mortals cannot—but whose courage is very mortal indeed. And always there is the reinforcing knowledge that it is men who weave these tales…

So here are magnificent works by Morris, Eddison, Cabell, Merritt, Dunsany, Lovecraft, Smith, Carter, Howard, de Camp, Kuttner, Vance, Lewis and finally, new poems by that magician without whom no anthology of contemporary fantasy would be complete—J. R. R. Tolkien.

From all over the world, from all periods of ancient time, the great myths and heroic tales thunder down through the ages. Each country, each region has its legends. Somewhere, sometime, somehow, some often unknown scribe has set the tales down in permanent form.

In this volume Lin Carter has gathered together samplings from this richest of all sources of adult fantasy and although their original names may sometimes be anonymous, there surely has never been such a pride of taletellers together at one time as we have in DRAGONS, ELVES, AND HEROES

ntasy writing. Indeed, it would be difficult to group such a widely disparate pride of authors as Pratt, de Camp, Anatole France, Robert Chambers and William Morris, except in the worlds of the fantastic.

For here the minds of many men dwell together, each contributing his unique gift of imagination. Here is writing talent displayed —indeed, joyously showing off—in the playground of minds that revel in unfettered flights of marvels and wonders and magicks.

That is what makes adult fantasy so rich and so rewarding—both to its creators and to its appreciators.

Here is the eagerly awaited companion volume to Lin Carter’s previous anthology of adult fantasy,Kingdoms of Sorcery.

Some of the sixteen stories are well-known, vintage pieces; some are rarities that have not been reprinted in any form since their original publication, but which nevertheless stand as stunning examples of the genre.

Among the writers included are Lord Dunsany, perhaps the most influential single writer in the history of modern fantasy, who harked back to the roots of old romances for his stories; Richard Garnett and James Branch Cabell, who thrilled readers with their satirical fantasies; H. Rider Haggard, who introduced the fantasies of “lost race” romance; Robert E. Howard who combined the adventure story with fantasy to produce heroic swashbuckling at its best; and Michael Moorcock, the dean of British fantasy writers, who continues to probe new realms of the fantastic.

Each story is introduced with the wonderful ruminations of Lin Carter and biographical sketches of each author. Included too is an extensive bibliography of further readings to lead readers yet deeper into…the realms of wizardry.

THE GREEN HILL OF NEW ENGLAND……

would seem to be a most unlikely spot for a visitation of horror. Yet, through the creative fertility of H. P. Lovecraft, an area of this lovely section has become known to thousands—indeed, possibly hundreds of thousands—as the scene of the regeneration of ghastly beings, the revival of a whole fluidly connected mythos spanning time, space, and most particularly, the depths of the Earth.

So compelling and realistic is this creation that other writers have felt impelled to add their contributions to the arcane and macabre possibilities of the Cthulhu Mythos—hence this remarkable volume of stories and poems generated by the nightmare worlds of H. P. Lovecraft, a musty and mystic collection in which the master, one cannot help but believe, would have reveled.

From Voltaire’s archly satiric Far Eastern realms to Richard Adams’ rabbitlike characters in distinctly unexotic British countryside, some of our greatest writers have been challenged to unleash their wit and imagination and draw upon the best storytelling craft for this the most ancient and respectable of the fiction genre:fantasy.

Gathered here is an incredible anthology of fantasy writing, selections ranging from the world-adored J. R. R. Tolkien to the grand masters like Eddison, Pratt, White, Lewis, and De Camp, with glimpses into some of the little publicized forays into fantasy by such masters as Edgar Allan Poe and William Morris. All are introduced by a brief biographical commentary. And together with the soon-to-be-published companion volume (Realms of Wizardry), they make up a magnificent introduction to a rapidly expanding field of literature.

Four “lost worlds”…

the worlds created by four remarkable writers, of which we here present what can be only a small sample of the richness, color, wit and excitement contained in the superlative writings of four highly imaginative gentlemen of letters.,

For fantasy is truly the playground of some of the finest writers and most fertile minds of all time, from Homer (and before) to the present. Except that in the old days, the mythmakers were dealing with the realities of their time, the monsters and magicks that made up their worlds were recognised as part of a real cosmos—and who knows, maybe they were right…