Phantastes

infobox Book |
name = Phantastes
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = George MacDonald
cover_artist =
country = United Kingdom
language = English
series =
genre = Fantasy novel
publisher = Smith, Elder & Co.
release_date = 1858
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = 323 pp
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by = Lilith

"Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women" is a fantasy novel written by George MacDonald, first published in London in 1858. Its importance was recognized in its later revival in paperback by Ballantine Books as the fourteenth volume of the celebrated "Ballantine Adult Fantasy series" in April 1970.

This was the first prose work published by MacDonald. Because of its limited financial success, MacDonald saw himself forced to turn to writing realistic novels. "Phantastes", however, exerted a strong influence on fantasy authors of later generations: for example, C. S. Lewis in his book "Suprised by Joy" claimed that his imagination had been "baptized" by reading it.Fact|date=May 2008

The story centers on the character Anodos ("pathless" or "ascent" in Greek) and takes its inspiration from German Romanticism, particularly "Novalis". The story concerns a young man who is pulled into a dreamlike world and there hunts for his ideal of female beauty, embodied by the "Marble Lady". Anodos lives through many adventures and temptations while in the other world, until he is finally ready to give up his ideals. In its themes and overall storyline, "Phantastes" is a kind of dry run for MacDonald's later novel "Lilith".

The book is illustrated by Pre-Raphaelite painter Arthur Hughes.

References

*cite book | last=Bleiler | first=Everett | authorlink=Everett F. Bleiler | title=The Checklist of Fantastic Literature | location=Chicago | publisher=Shasta Publishers | pages=187 | date=1948

External links

* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/MacPhan.html Phantastes Online]
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/325 Phantastes] on Project Gutenburg
* [http://www.asiaing.com/phantastes-a-faerie-romance-for-men-and-women.html Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women]