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Great Science-Fiction & Fantasy Works
Science-fiction & fantasy literature: a critical list with discussions.
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Lord Dunsany’s Speculative-Fiction Stories
“It is a long journey from London to World’s End”
Lord Dunsany
Dunsany’s Speculative-Fiction Stories
General Notes on Lord Dunsany’s Works
(For convenience, this section is repeated atop each of the pages tabulated below.)
Dunsany was a prolific writer of works both in and out of the speculative-fiction mode. Moreover, a great deal of his work was short stories, and large numbers of collections, some original, some reprints exist; worse, many of these collections have complete, near-complete, or partial overlap, making the task of the reader who would explore Dunsany’s output in full a taxing one. I have here attempted to bring some order to a bibliography of Dunsany’s published works, including his entire oeuvre but focussing especially on his speculative-fiction output. Such a bibliography has been done in print by S. T. Joshi and Darrell Schweitzer, but copies are expensive and it is not up to date (being from 1993). Also, the material here presents the data in several different forms, each of which, I hope, will have its utility for the reader.
The diligent may also find the Wikipedia bibliography of Dunsany of some interest (as a cross-check if nothing else), as well as the well-researched entries at the ISFDB.
The material here is presented in these different tabulations (one per page):
Tabulation:
Explanation:
All SpecFic Books
A simple list of all of Lord Dunsany’s fantasy and science-fiction books, showing publication year, type (novel/collection), and—for reprints—the amount of original material (if any).
All SpecFic, Listed
This is the above list, but greatly expanded to show the full list of stories in each book of collected stories.
SpecFic Stories
This is an alphabetical list of all of Lord Dunsany’s fantasy and science-fiction short stories, showing for each story all of the books in which it appears.
Unique SpecFic Stories
This is an alphabetical list of all of Lord Dunsany’s fantasy and science-fiction short stories that each appear in but a single book, plus a list of all of his books containing one or more stories unique to that book (with a count of unique stories in that book).
All Books
This list is similar to “All SpecFic Books” above, but also includes his non-speculative “mainstream” works (novels, stories, poems, essays, etc.); the speculative ones, however, are annotated as in the speculative-only list.
All Books, Listed
This is the above list, but greatly expanded to show the full list of stories in each book of collected stories, speculative and mainstream.
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Some few notes are in order. First, titles of both books and individual stories are my best attempt at “canonical”, but minor variants, notably in capitalization, are not uncommon in other lists (as, for example, between The Man Who Ate the Phoenix and The Man who Ate the Phoenix). Second, the canonical story titles are used even when the title as given in a particular reprint edition is quite different (that is almost entirely a matter of the Ballantine Dunsany collections edited by the well-meaning but sometimes-bumbling Lin Carter); in such cases, I have appended the title used with the notation (here titled Whatever). Third, the speculative-fiction listings omit anything but novels and stories (that is, no plays or poems, of which Dunsany produced not a few). Fourth, I have for internal sorting purposes labelled each of his speculative-fiction books as either Novel or Tales, but his non-speculative books are each either novel (lower-cased) or Stories (or, of course, whatever other form they may be, such as Poems or Plays or whatnot); there is no difference between the designations except whether the labelled works are speculative.
Note also that—as you might expect—most book titles, here and in the tabulation below, are click-on links each to a page that will show all editions of that book currently available for purchase new or used (through AbeBooks).
The reader wanting to acquire as much Dunsany as possible in as few volumes as possible will find listed in these pages all the “unique” speculative-fiction books—that is, those containing at least one story not appearing in any other published book. But, as that tabulation notes, that is scarcely all that one needs, because there are very many stories in none of those “unique” books, but repeated in many others. The bulk of Dunsany’s speculative fiction may be had in a collection comprising the volumes shown below (“apa” signifes “also published as”):
A Basic Lord Dunsany Speculative-Fiction Collection:
- The Tale Collections:
- The Novels:
The reader then wanting to “fill in the cracks” would need to add this to the collection:
There is also a set of—so far—six collections from the Pegana Press of “Lost Tales”; those have some slight overlap with some of the works in the books above, but seem to be mostly unique. I do not list them here as “Basic” because they are all extremely rare and three-digits expensive.
The listings above do not include the 2006 omnibus titled Tales of God and Men for the simple reason that it never existed past a few early review copies; it was scheduled for release in November of 2006, but was cancelled by the publisher in September of that year (I have been unable to determine why, but I’d guess copyright difficulties). It would have been an 8-volume omnibus, and the preferred main source for Dunsany, but what is, is (or, in this case, what isn’t, isn’t).
Some books wanting special comment: The Little Tales of Smethers, though thoroughly Dunsanian, is not speculative fiction save for (perhaps) one tale, and so is not included in the specfic lists. The half dozen “Jorkens” books of stories are of the classic form of the British “club tale”, told round the fireplace in a gentlemen’s club, but a substantial fraction of the tales are fantastic (or, occasionally, science-fictional), and even those that are not have that style and air one might call “far-awayness”; in any event it would be silly, very difficult, and ultimately pointless (as they are all collected together) to try to segregate individual Jorkens tales as to “speculative” or not.
Finally, even with all the recent “re-discovered” tales, there remains a body of yet-uncollected work, speculative and other. Jeff Wyonch has presented a list of uncollected Dunsany to which it would be supererogation to attempt to add (though, being from 2009, it may by now be dated).
Return to the page top. ↑
Lord Dunsany’s Fantasy and Science-Fiction Stories, Listed
The Table below shows each of Dunsany’s speculative-fiction short stories ever published in a book collection (with the possible exception of those in The Little Tales of Smethers, though I think but one tale in that book would be classed a fantasy). The list shows, for each story, all the books in which it has appeared, in chronological order, with such book annotations as seem significant. Most of the book titles are click-on links that will take one to a page where one will find such editions and copies of the book as are currently for sale, new or used, through ABEBooks.
All Speculative-Fiction Tales Published in Books:
(The dates shown are of first publication; many of these have had numerous reprints, especially since they fell out of copyright and print-on-demand came along.)
Note also that I do not yet have the contents list for The Ghost in the Corner and Other Stories nor for Lost Tales, Volume 5; each purportedly is wholly previously uncollected material, but there might be overlaps.
- Absentminded Professor, An
- Absurd
- Across the Colour Bar
- Advance Regulations
- African Magic
- After-Dinner Speech, The
- After Many a Summer
- After the Fire
- Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet
- Alone the Immortals
- Among the Neutrals
- Angelic Shepherd, The
- Archive of the Older Mysteries, An
- Ardor Canis
- As It Seems to the Blackbird
- Assignation, The
- At Channel Rescue
- At Midnight
- At the End of the Universe
- At the Inn of the Two Adventurers
- At the Scene of the Crime
- August in the Red Sea, An
- Autumn Cricket
- Avenger of Perdóndaris, The
- Awakening, The
- Awful Dream, The
- Bad Old Woman in Black, The
- Bare Truth, The
- Beggars, The
- Bethmoora
- Big Bang, A
- Bird of Doom and the End, The
- Bird of the Difficult Eye, The
- Bit of Counter-Espionage, A
- Black Mamba, The
- Blagdaross
- Blundering Curate, The
- Book of Flowery Tales, The
- Breeze at Rest, A
- Bride of the Man-Horse, The
- Bringing Things Up to Date
- Bureau d’Echange de Maux, The
- Burrahoola, The
- By Command of Pharaoh
- By Night in the Forest
- Carcassonne
- Cause, The
- Cave of Kai, The
- Chambermaid of the Splendide, The
- Charm Against Thirst, The
- Charon
- Chaunt, The
- Chaunt of the Gods, The
- Chaunt of the Priests, The
- Chess-Player, the Financier, and Another, The
- Choice, The
- Chu-Bu and Sheemish
- City, The
- City on Mallington Moor, The
- Cleverness of Dr. Caber, The
- Club Secretary, The
- Coming of the Sea, The
- Compromise
- Concerning Sish (The Destroyer of Hours)
- Concerning Sish
- Conversation in Bond Street, A
- Cook of Santamaria, The
- Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap, The
- Correcting Nature
- Correct Kit, The
- Cricket Problem, A
- Cup, The
- Curse of the Witch, The
- Cut, The
- Dance at Weirdmoor Castle, The
- Daughter of Rameses, A
- Day at the Edge of the World, A
- Day of the Poll, The
- Day on the Bog, A
- Deal, The
- Deal with a Witch, A
- Deal with the Devil, A
- Death and Odysseus
- Death and the Orange
- Death and the Poet
- Death of Pan, The
- Deed of Mercy, A
- Deeds of Mung (Lord of All Deaths Between Pegāna and the Rim), The
- Deeds of Mung, The
- Demagogue and the Demi-Monde, The
- Descent of the Sultan of Khash, The
- Desperado in Surrey, A
- Development of the Rillswood Estate, The
- Devil Among the Willows, The
- Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him, The
- Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, The
- Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller
- Doom of La Traviata, The
- Doubtful Story, A
- Down among the Kingcups
- Dreamer, The
- Dream of King Karna-Vootra, The
- Dreams of a Prophet, The
- Dreams of the Prophet, The
- Drink at a Running Stream, A
- Dwarf Holóobolos and the Sword Hogbiter, The
- Earth’s Secret
- East and West
- Eccentricity of Genius, An
- Eight Wishes, The
- Electric King, The
- Elephant Shooting
- Emperor’s Crystal, The
- England
- English Magnifico, The
- English Spirit, The
- Erlathdronion
- Escape from the Valley, The
- Exchange No Robbery
- Exile’s Club, The
- Exiles’ Club, The
- Exiles Club, The
- Experiment, The
- Explanation, The
- Expulsion, The
- Eye in the Waste, The
- Fable for Moderns, A
- Fairy Gold
- Fall of Babbulkund, The
- False Gods, The
- Fancy Man, The
- Fatal Mistake, A
- Field, The
- Field Where the Satyrs Danced, The
- Fight in the Drawing-Room, The
- Fight with Knives, A
- Finding of Mr. Jupkens, The
- First Watch-Dog, The
- Fishing Story, A
- Food of Death, The
- For the Honour of the Gods
- Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth, The
- Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth, The
- Forty Years On
- Friend of the Family, A
- Fuel
- Furrow-Maker
- German Spy, The
- Ghost in the Corner, The
- Ghost in the Old Corridor, The
- Ghost of the Valley, The
- Ghosts, The
- Ghosts of the Heaviside Layer, The
- Giant Poppy, The
- Gifts of the Gods, The
- Go-Ahead Planet, A
- Goat in Trousers, A
- Gods of Clay, The
- Gods of Pegāna, The
- Golden Gods, The
- Gondolas
- Gratitude of the Devil, The
- Greatest Invention, The
- Greatest Painter in the World, The
- Great Scoop, The
- Grecian Singer, The
- Greek Meets Greek
- Greek Slave, The
- Guest, The
- Hard Horses
- Hashish Man, The
- Haunting of Halahanstown, The
- Haunting of Whitebeams, The
- Heart of Earth, The
- Helping the Fairies
- Hen, The
- Highwayman, The
- His Lone Interest
- Hoard of the Gibbelins, The
- Home of Herr Schnitzelhaaser, The
- Honorary Member, The
- House Called Life, The
- House of the Idol Carvers, The
- House of the Sphinx, The
- House with Two Storeys, The
- How Abdul Din Saved Justice
- How Ali Came to the Black Country
- How Care Would Have Dealt with the Nomads
- How Jembu Played for Cambridge
- How Mickey Paid His Debt
- How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art Upon the Gnoles
- How One Came, as Was Foretold, to the City of Never
- How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None’s Desire
- How Ryan Got Out of Russia
- How Slid Made War Against the Gods
- How the Dwarfs Rose Up in War
- How the Enemy Came to Thlūnrāna
- How the Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning
- How the Lost Causes Were Removed from Valhalla
- How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant in Otford-under-the-Wold
- How the Tinker Came to Skavangur
- Hunting the Unicorn
- Hurricane, The
- Idle City, The
- Idle Days on the Yann
- Idle Tears
- Idyll of the Sahara, An
- Imperial Monument, An
- In a Dim Room
- In an English Wood
- Influenza
- Ingratiating Smile, The
- Injudicious Prayers of Pombo the Idolater, The
- In the Garden of Memories
- In the Governor’s Palace
- In the Hotel Lounge
- In the Land of Time
- In the Mojave
- In the Twilight
- Invention of Dr. Caber, The
- Invention of the Age, The
- Investigation into the Causes and Origin of the War, An
- In Zaccarath
- Iron Door, The
- Ivory Poacher, The
- Jarton’s Disease
- Je-ne-sais-quoi, The
- Jest of the Gods, The
- Jetsam
- Jorkens’ Dilemma
- Jorkens’ Regret
- Jorkens’ Revenge
- Jorkens’ Ride
- Jorkens’s Problem
- Jorkens Among the Ghosts
- Jorkens Consults a Prophet
- Jorkens Family Emeralds, The
- Jorkens Handles a Big Property
- Jorkens in High Finance
- Jorkens in Witch Wood
- Jorkens Leaves Prison
- Jorkens Looks Forward
- Jorkens Practices Medicine and Magic
- Jorkens Retires from Business
- Journey of the King, The
- Kabok the Prophet
- Khamseen, The
- Kind Pagan Lights
- King of Sarahb, The
- King That Was Not, The
- Kith of the Elf-Folk, The
- Land of Time, The
- Lapse of Memory, A
- Large Diamond, A
- Last Bull, The
- Last Dream of Bwona Khubla, The
- Last Scene of All
- Latest Thing, The
- Legend of the Dawn, A
- Letting Bygones Be Bygones
- Life’s Work, A
- Lion and the Unicorn, The
- Little City, The
- Little Doings of Demos, The
- Little Light, The
- Little Snow White Up to Date
- Little Tim Brannehan
- Lobster Salad
- Lonely Idol, The
- Long Memory, A
- Long Porter’s Tale, The
- Loot of Bombasharna, The
- Loot of Loma, The
- Lord of Cities, The
- Losing Game, A
- Lost
- Lost Charm, The
- Lost Invention, The
- Lost Lyrics
- Lost Romance, The
- Lucky Escape, The
- Mad Ghost, The
- Madness of Andelsprutz, The
- Making Fine Weather
- Man Who Ate the Phoenix, The
- Man with the Golden Ear-rings, The
- Master of No Man’s Land, The
- Masterpiece of Creation League, The
- Matter of Business, A
- Meeting of Spirits, A
- Men of Yarnith, The
- Messengers, The
- Mgamu
- Mid Snow and Ice
- Misadventure
- Miss Cubbidge and the Dragon of Romance
- Mist, The
- Mistaken Identity, A
- Mlideen
- Modern Conqueror, A
- Modern Portrait, A
- Moral Little Tale, A
- Motive, The
- Movement, The
- Mrs. Jorkens
- Mrs Mulger
- Mystery of the East, A
- Mystery of the Invisible Letters, The
- Narrow Escape, A
- Nature and Time
- Neapolitan Ice, The
- Near Thing, A
- New Look, The
- New Moon, The
- Nice Lot of Diamonds, A
- Night and Morning
- Not Guilty
- Of Dorozhand
- Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of All the Gods Save One
- Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec
- Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
- Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
- Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
- Of Ood
- Of Roon, the God of Going, and the Thousand Home Gods
- Of Roon, the God of Going
- Of Skarl the Drummer
- Of the Calamity That Befell Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
- Of the Calamity that Befel Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea by the Sea, and of the Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
- Of the Calamity That Befel Yūn-Ilāra by the Sea
- Of the Game of the Gods
- Of the Gods of Averon
- Of the Making of the Worlds
- Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast
- Of Yoharneth-Lahai
- Old Brown Coat, The
- Old Detective's Story, The
- Old Emma
- Old England
- Old Man’s Tale, An
- One August in the Red Sea
- One More Tale
- One Night in Eldorado
- One Summer’s Evening
- On Other Paths
- On the Dry Land
- On the Other Side of the Sun
- On Wings of Song
- Opal Arrow-Head, The
- Opulence of Yahn, The
- Our Distant Cousins
- Our Laurels
- Out West
- Ozymandias
- Pale-Green Image, The
- Partner, The
- Pearly Beach, The
- Pegāna
- Pens
- Persian Spell, The
- Plaything of Our Betters, A
- Poet Speaks with Earth, The
- Policeman’s Prophecy, The
- Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean
- Poor Old Bill
- Poseidon
- Possibility of Life on the Third Planet, The
- Poulet à la Richelieu
- Prayer of Boob Aheera, The
- Prayer of the Flowers, The
- Prayer of the Men of Daleswood, The
- Pretty Quarrel, A
- Price of the World, The
- Prince of Stamboul, The
- Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men, The
- Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men
- Progress
- Prophet Without Honour, A
- Pundleton’s Audience
- Punishment, The
- Queer Island, A
- Quest of the Queen’s Tears, The
- Quiet Laugh, The
- Raft-Builders, The
- Rash Remark, A
- Rations of Murdoch Finucan, The
- Rebuff, The
- Relenting of Sarnidac, The
- Return, The
- Return of Ibrahim, The
- Return of Song, The
- Return of the Exiles, The
- Revelation to Mr. Periple, The
- Revolt of the Home Gods, The
- Reward (I), The
- Reward (II), The
- River, The
- Road, The
- Romance
- Romance of His Life, The
- Rose By-pass, The
- Roses
- Rose Tibbets
- Royal Dinner, A
- Royal Swan, A
- Sack of Emeralds, The
- Sacred City of Krakovlitz, The
- Sayings of Imbaun, The
- Sayings of Kib, The
- Sayings of Limpang-Tung, The
- Sayings of Slid, The
- Secret of the Gods, The
- Secret of the Sea, The
- Secret of the Sphinx, The
- Secret Order, The
- Shop in Go-By Street, A
- Showman, The
- Sign, The
- Sleuthing of Lily Bostum, The
- Slugly Beast, The
- Snake Story, A
- Snow Water
- Songless Country, The
- Song of the Blackbird, The
- Sorrow of Search, The
- Sources of Information
- South Wind, The
- Spanish Castle, A
- Sphinx at Gizeh, The
- Sphinx in Thebes (Massachusetts), The
- Splendid Traveller, The
- Spring in Town
- Stolen Power, The
- Storm, The
- Story of Jorkens’ Watch, The
- Story of Land and Sea, A
- Story of Tse Gah, The
- Strange Drug of Dr. Caber, The
- Stranger Than Fiction
- Strategy at the Billiards Club
- Street of the Knaves, The
- Sultan’s Pet, The
- Sultan, the Monkey and the Banana, The
- Sword and the Idol, The
- Sword of Welleran, The
- Taking Up Piccadilly
- Tale of Bad Luck, A
- Tale of London, A
- Tale of Roscommon, A
- Tale of the Abu Laheeb, The
- Tale of the Equator, A
- Tale of the Irish Countryside, A
- Tale of the Men of Baldfolk, The
- Tales for the Dark Continent
- Talk in the Dark, A
- Talk With a Spirit, A
- Taste For Strategy, A
- Theory of Evolution, A
- Thirteen at Table
- Three Infernal Jokes, The
- Three Sailors’ Gambit, The
- Three Tall Sons, The
- Time and the Gods
- Time and the Tradesman
- Told Under Oath
- Tomb of Pan, The
- Track Through the Wood, The
- Traveller to Thundercliff, The
- Treasure of India, A
- Trouble in Leafy Green Street, The
- True Gods, The
- True History of the Hare and the Tortoise, The
- Two Degrees of Envy
- Two Jenets, The
- Two Scientists, The
- Two Songs
- Two Way War, The
- Two Young Officers
- Ultimate Goal, The
- Unforgiveable Choice, The
- Unhappy Body, The
- Unknown and the Earth-Gods, The
- Unpasturable Fields, The
- Unrecorded Test Match, The
- Use of Man, The
- Usury
- Vengeance of Men, The
- Vengeance of Thor, The
- Verdict, The
- Very Secret
- Vision, A
- Vision, The
- Visitor, The
- Walk in the Night, A
- Walk in the Wastes of Time, A
- Walk to Lingham, The
- Warning, The
- Watch-Tower, The
- Way of the World, The
- Weeds and Wire
- Welcome, The
- What Happened on the Night of the Twenty-Seventh
- What Jorkens Has to Put Up With
- What We Have Come To
- When Mrs. Flynn Was Young
- When the Gods Slept
- Where Everyone’s Business Is Known
- Where the Tides Ebb and Flow
- Which Way?
- Whirlpool, The
- Why the Milkman Shudders When He Perceives the Dawn
- Widow Flynn’s Apple Tree, The
- Wind and Fog
- Wind in the Wood, The
- Wisdom of Ord, The
- Witch in the Balkans, A
- Witch of the Fells, A
- Witch of the Willows, The
- Wonderful Day, A
- Wonderful Window, The
- Workman, The
- Worm and the Angel, The
- Yonath the Prophet
- Yug the Prophet
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