References to history and geography
The novel alludes to several historical events and figures in early 1970s U.S. history, including the Vietnam War and Nixon. Carter mentions the US Supreme Court ruling allowing legal abortions in the U.S. (see Roe v. Wade ).
The history of the United States from 1964 through 1980 includes the climax and victory of the Civil Rights Movement; the escalation and ending of the Vietnam War; the drama of a generational revolt with its sexual freedoms and use of drugs; and the continuation of the Cold War, with its Space Race to put a man on the Moon. The economy was prosperous and expanding until the recession of 1969–70, then faltered under new foreign competition and the 1973 oil crisis. American society was polarized by the ultimately futile war and by antiwar and antidraft protests, as well as by the shocking Watergate affair, which revealed corruption and gross misconduct at the highest level of government. By 1980 and the seizure of the American Embassy in Iran, including a failed rescue attempt by U.S. armed forces, there was a growing sense of national malaise.
The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America or simply the American War, was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. North Vietnam was supported by the Soviet Union, China, and other communist allies; South Vietnam was supported by the United States, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, Thailand and other anti-communist allies. The war, considered a Cold War-era proxy war by some, lasted 19 years, with direct U.S. involvement ending in 1973, and included the Laotian Civil War and the Cambodian Civil War, which ended with all three countries becoming communist in 1975.
Richard Milhous Nixon was an American politician who served as the 37th president of the United States from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. The only president to resign from the office, he previously served as the nation's 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961, and as a representative and senator from California.
Blackstock College is partially based on Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, which the author attended as an undergraduate (1971–1975). In the "Author's Note", Dean states:
Readers acquainted with Carleton College will find much that is familiar to them in the architecture, landscape, classes, terminology, and general atmosphere of Blackstock. They are earnestly advised that it would be unwise to refine too much upon this. Blackstock is not Carleton. [4]
In the novel, a key revelation is that two of the Classics majors, Robin and Nick, are in fact the same Robert Armin and Nicholas Tooley who performed with The King's Men during the time when William Shakespeare was writing plays for the troupe. The story even alludes to a theory that the historical Armin's singing ability influenced some of Shakespeare's plays (as it gave the Bard a new form to work with). It is implied that they had been mortals who had joined Medeous' faerie band in the early 17th century, which is why they are alive at Blackstock in the 1970s.
Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career in the 1940s and continued to write into the 21st century. Anderson authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and short stories. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.
Diana Wynne Jones was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults.
Carleton College is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, the college enrolled 2,105 undergraduate students and employed 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is located between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowling Arboretum, which became part of the campus in the 1920s.
Robert Armin was an English actor, a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men. He became the leading comedy actor with the troupe associated with William Shakespeare following the departure of Will Kempe around 1600. Also a popular comic author, he wrote a comedy, The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke, as well as Foole upon Foole, A Nest of Ninnies (1608) and The Italian Taylor and his Boy.
Katharine Kerr is an American science fiction and fantasy novelist, best known for her series of Celtic-influenced high fantasy novels set in the fictional land of Deverry.
John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction. He has also written essays. Crowley studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer.
Linwood Vrooman Carter was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft and Grail Undwin. He is best known for his work in the 1970s as editor of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, which introduced readers to many overlooked classics of the fantasy genre.
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fantasy literature may be directed at both children and adults.
Terri Windling is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. Windling has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and her collection The Armless Maiden appeared on the short-list for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. She received the Solstice Award in 2010, which honors "individuals with a significant impact on the speculative fiction field." Windling's work has been translated into French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.
Victor LaValle is an American author. He is the author of a short-story collection, Slapboxing with Jesus and four novels, The Ecstatic,Big Machine,The Devil in Silver, and The Changeling. LaValle writes fiction primarily, though he has also written essays and book reviews for GQ, Essence Magazine, The Fader, and The Washington Post, among others.
Evangeline Walton was the pen name of Evangeline Wilna Ensley, an American author of fantasy fiction. She remains popular in North America and Europe because of her “ability to humanize historical and mythological subjects with eloquence, humor and compassion”.
Ursula Vernon is an American freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She is best known for her Hugo Award-winning graphic novel Digger (2003–2011) and for the children's books series Hamster Princess and Dragonbreath. Vernon is the creator of The Biting Pear of Salamanca, a digital work of art which became an internet meme in the form of the LOL WUT pear. Under the name T. Kingfisher, she is also the author of several books for older audiences. She also writes short fiction under both names. She has won awards, including the Hugo Award, Nebula Award and the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, for her work in various mediums.
Lady of Quality is the last Regency romance novel written by Georgette Heyer. It was first published in 1972 and was the last of her novels to be published during her lifetime.
In English folklore, Puck is a mythological fairy or mischievous nature sprite. Puck is also a generalized personification of land spirits. In more recent times, the figure of Robin Goodfellow is identified as a puck. The Old English "puca" is a kind of half-tamed woodland sprite, leading folk astray with echoes and lights in nighttime woodlands, or coming into the farmstead and souring milk in the churn. Puck has appeared many times in popular culture.
Greer Ilene Gilman is an American author of fantasy stories.
The Fairy Queen or Queen of the Fairies is a figure from Irish and British folklore, believed to rule the fairies. Based on Shakespeare's influence, in English-speaking cultures she is often named Titania or Mab.
Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary is a 1998 fantasy novel by Pamela Dean. It is published by Tor Books, and based on Dean's 1989 short story of the same name, which appeared in the anthology Things That Go Bump in the Night edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg. It is a retelling of the ballad Riddles Wisely Expounded.
