Author | Darrell Schweitzer |
---|---|
Illustrator | Stephen Fabian |
Cover artist | Stephen Fabian |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Fantasy |
Publisher | Borgo Press |
Publication date | 1989 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 148 pages |
ISBN | 1-58715-114-6 |
The White Isle is a fantasy novel by Darrell Schweitzer, illustrated by Stephen Fabian.
Originally published as a 10,000-word novelette in Weirdbook no. 9, July 1975, the author later expanded it into a 55,000-word novel. [1] [2] In its expanded form, it was first published in Fantastic Science Fiction magazine in two parts, as "The White Isle" and "The Magician's Daughter," in v. 27, no. 9-10, April-July 1980. It was subsequently published in book form in trade paperback by Borgo Press in December 1989, with a hardcover edition following from Owlswick Press in February 1990 and later trade paperback and ebook editions from Wildside Press in April 2007 and January 2011. It was also reprinted, together with Alan Rodgers's Bone Music , in Weird Tales Library, v. 1, no. 1, Winter 1999. [3]
The novel takes the form of a tragic epic, following the protagonist, Prince Evnos of Iankoros, from his youth to old age. His early life is typical for an aristocrat of his class; he is educated to his role in life, married, and sent to war.
Losing his wife in childbirth, the prince studies magic and heroically undertakes a descent into the underworld to reclaim her from the god of death. He finds it a strange and terrible place, and the afterlife a thing of unremitting horror, with every human being condemned to everlasting torment regardless of their conduct in life.
Maddened and embittered by the failure of his quest, Evnos retires to a rocky island with his daughter to eke out his declining years.
Schweitzer has identified his sources for the story as the Orpheus myth, Clark Ashton Smith's story "The Isle of the Torturers," and William Shakespeare's The Tempest (describing the second half of the novel as "the story of Prospero gone bad."). [2]
Richard E. Geis praised the novel in Science Fiction Review; [4] [2] other reviews were mixed. [2]
G. W. Thomas has described the book as "a pretty dark story. Everybody dies under an oppressive god and the main character smashes himself into oblivion in defiance." By comparison, he rates Schweitzer's "other fantasy tales [as] more poetically optimistic." [2]
Kat Hooper, on fantasyliterature.com, finds the story "bleak and depressing." She notes that the "misery is somewhat alleviated by some wonderful imagery, especially when Prince Evnos is in the underworld," reminding her "of Tanith Lee's FLAT EARTH books." She contrasts Schweiter's "archaic sounding style," which she finds "dull and detached," to Lee's "gorgeous prose," and finds in it the book's "downfall." She concludes that with "misery heaped upon misery, it needed something more to life it up" and concludes "I can’t heartily recommend The White Isle. [5]
The book was also reviewed by Don D'Ammassa in Science Fiction Chronicle no. 130, July 1990, Janice M. Eisen in Aboriginal Science Fiction July-August 1990, Wendy Bradley in Interzone no. 38, August 1990, and Tom Easton in Analog Science Fiction and Fact , October 1990. [1]
Jesus on Mars is a 1979 science fiction novel by American writer Philip José Farmer, set on Mars and involving an alien civilization. It makes social commentary on a just society and on religious belief.
Jonathan Samuel Carroll is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974.
Tanith Lee was a British science fiction and fantasy writer. She wrote more than 90 novels and 300 short stories, and was the winner of multiple World Fantasy Society Derleth Awards, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Horror. She also wrote a children's picture book, and many poems. Additionally, she wrote two episodes of the BBC science fiction series Blake's 7. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award best novel award, for her book Death's Master (1980).
John F. Moore is an American engineer and a writer of fantasy and science fiction primarily under the short name John Moore.
Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. Etchison referred to his own work as "rather dark, depressing, almost pathologically inward fiction about the individual in relation to the world". Stephen King has called Dennis Etchison "one hell of a fiction writer" and he has been called "the most original living horror writer in America".
Darrell Charles Schweitzer is an American writer, editor, and critic in the field of speculative fiction. Much of his focus has been on dark fantasy and horror, although he does also work in science fiction and fantasy. Schweitzer is also a prolific writer of literary criticism and editor of collections of essays on various writers within his preferred genres.
Gregory Frost is an American author of science fiction and fantasy, and directs a fiction writing workshop at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. He received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa. A graduate of the Clarion Workshop, he has been invited back as instructor several times, including the first session following its move to the University of California at San Diego in 2007. He is also active in the Interstitial Arts Foundation.
The Black Wolf is a horror novel by Galad Elflandsson. It was first published in hardcover by Donald M. Grant, Publisher, Inc. in 1979, in an edition of 1,020 copies. The novel was reprinted in paperback by Centaur Books in 1980.
Keith John Taylor is an Australian science fiction and fantasy writer.
The Robert E. Howard Reader is a collection of essays on fantasy writer Robert E. Howard and his works, edited by Darrell Schweitzer. Originally scheduled for publication in 2007, it was ultimately published in September 2010 by Wildside Press.
Sekenre: The Book of the Sorcerer is a collection of fantasy short stories by American writer Darrell Schweitzer featuring his dark fantasy protagonist, the child sorcerer Sekenre, a sequel to the novel The Mask of the Sorcerer (1995). The book was illustrated by Stephen Fabian. It was first published as a trade paperback by Wildside Press in 2004.
Tom O'Bedlam's Night Out and Other Strange Excursions is a collection of dark fantasy short stories written by Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by W. Paul Ganley in November 1985. An electronic edition was published by Necon E-Books in December 2012 as no. 20 of its Necon Classic Horror series. The copyright statement of the Necon edition states that it "incorporates the author's final revisions and should be regarded as definitive."
Nightscapes: Tales of the Ominous and Magical is a collection of dark fantasy short stories by American writer Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in hardcover and trade paperback by Wildside Press in April 2000.
Tales from the Spaceport Bar is an anthology of science fiction club tales edited by George H. Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in paperback by Avon Books in January 1987. The first British edition was issued in paperback by New English Library in 1988.
Another Round at the Spaceport Bar is an anthology of science fiction club tales edited by George H. Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in paperback by Avon Books in April 1989. The first British edition was issued in paperback by New English Library in January 1992.
Bibliography of dark fantasy, horror, science fiction and nonfiction writer Darrell Schweitzer:
The Mask of the Sorcerer is a fantasy novel by Darrell Schweitzer.
The Shattered Goddess is a fantasy novel by Darrell Schweitzer, illustrated by Stephen Fabian.
Fool's Run is a science fiction novel by Patricia A. McKillip. It was first published in hardcover by Warner Books in April 1987, with a paperback edition issued by Questar/Popular Library in February 1988. The first British edition was published in paperback by Orbit in June 1987, with a hardcover edition following from Macdonald in August of the same year. The novel has also been translated into Italian.
The Last Heretic: The Best Short Fiction of Darrell Schweitzer Volume II is a collection of fantasy short stories by American author Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in hardcover by PS Publishing in April 2020 as the second of its two volume set The Best Short Fiction of Darrell Schweiter. An ebook edition followed from the same publisher in September of the same year.