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''Land of Unreason'' is a
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
novel by American writers
Fletcher Pratt Murray Fletcher Pratt (25 April 1897 – 10 June 1956) was an American people, American List of science fiction authors, writer of history, science fiction, and fantasy. He is best known for his works on naval history and the American Civil War an ...
and
L. Sprague de Camp Lyon Sprague de Camp (; November 27, 1907 – November 6, 2000) was an American author of science fiction, Fantasy literature, fantasy and non-fiction literature. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, both novels and works of ...
. It was first published in the fantasy magazine '' Unknown Worlds'' for October, 1941 as "The Land of Unreason". Revised and expanded, it was first published in book form by
Henry Holt and Company Henry Holt and Company is an American book-publishing company based in New York City. One of the oldest publishers in the United States, it was founded in 1866 by Henry Holt (publisher), Henry Holt and Frederick Leypoldt. The company publishes in ...
in 1942. It has been reprinted numerous times since by various publishers, including by
Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major American book publisher that is a subsidiary of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. Ballantine was founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. Ballantine was acquired by Random House in ...
in January 1970 as the tenth volume of the
Ballantine Adult Fantasy series The Ballantine Adult Fantasy series was an imprint of American publisher Ballantine Books. Launched in 1969 (presumably in response to the growing popularity of Tolkien's works), the series reissued a number of works of fantasy literature which ...
. An
E-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
edition was published by Gollancz's
SF Gateway Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...
imprint on September 29, 2011, as part of a general release of de Camp's works in electronic form.


Plot

Fred Barber, an American staying as a guest in an English country home during World War II, consumes a bowl of milk left as an offering for the fairies, substituting liquor in its place. The rightful recipient of the offering, drunk and offended at the substitution, takes vengeance by kidnapping Barber off to the Land of Faerie as a changeling, a fate normally reserved for infants. He finds Faerie beset by a menace echoing the war in his own world. Trapped in a magical realm where rationality as he knows it is turned upside-down and failure to follow the rules can have dire consequences, Barber undertakes a quest in the service of
Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...
, the fairy king, in order to be returned to his own world. The outcome, befitting a realm in which nothing is as expected, is one that neither he nor the reader anticipates, for Fred Barber is not quite the man he thinks he is.


Reception

Orville Prescott of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' found the novel "much less successful" than ''
The Incomplete Enchanter ''The Incomplete Enchanter'' is a collection of two fantasy novellas by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt, the first volume in their Harold Shea series. The pieces were originally published in the magazine ''Unknown (magazine ...
'', saying that "Successful fantasy requires a deft delicacy of touch quite lacking in the heavy-handed technique" used here. Another ''Times'' reviewer, Beatrice Sherman, however, praised ''Land'' for its "piquant style that combines the medieval phrasing of the fairy-folk's conversation, the very modern talk and turns of thought of the changeling hero, and descriptions practical and poetical of the eerie magic scenery". '' New Worlds'' reviewer James Cawthorn declared the novel a "witty exploration of the world of Shakespeare's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
''".
Ron Goulart Ronald Joseph Goulart (; January 13, 1933 – January 14, 2022) was an American popular culture historian and mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. He worked on novels and novelizations (and other works) being published under various ps ...
described ''Land'' as "a screwball comedy . . . an affable novel, and for all its preoccupation with drinking and jumping into bed, a gentle one."
Baird Searles William Baird Searles (1934–1993) was a science fiction author and critic. He was best known for his long-running review columns for the magazines ''Asimov's'' (reviewing books), '' Amazing'', and ''Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (reviewing films, ...
noted the novel's "Alice-in-Wonderland surrealism, particularly when the inhabitants of Fairyland get going on logic-chopping and semantics. But the logic of this novel is illogic; the reason for it unreason; somehow it all hangs together triumphantly nonetheless"."On Books", ''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...
'', May 1979, p.15.
E. F. Bleiler found it "one of the better semihumorous heroic fantasies, a good child of '' Phantastes'', with clever integration of incident and theme".E. F. Bleiler, ''The Guide to Supernatural Fiction'', Kent State University Press, 1983 (p.416)


References


Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Land Of Unreason 1942 American novels 1942 fantasy novels American fantasy novels Collaborative novels Novels by L. Sprague de Camp Novels by Fletcher Pratt Works originally published in Unknown (magazine) Henry Holt and Company books