- Paperback: 656 pages
- Publisher: Gollancz (10 Oct 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0575073721
- ISBN-13: 978-0575073722
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 4.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 281,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The House on the Borderland and the other novels by William Hope Hodgson are among the indispensable works of gloomy cosmic fantasy--this is in spite of the utter mawkishness of his writing about the emotions and his occasional ill-judged experiments with an archaic style. The hero of The House on the Borderland finds himself besieged in his remote house by monstrous pig-like humanoids and carried forward, dizzyingly, to unimaginably distant eras when dying stars are drawn in on each other and dead gods hideously walk. The world of "The Night Land" is one of chivalric adventure in which the hero quests after the girl of his dreams across a literally sunless landscape full of monsters described through hints and indirection but nonetheless impressively deadly. Similar monsters beset the sailors of "The Boats of the Glen Carreg" and "The Ghost Pirates"--a case can be made that Hodgson is even more terrifying when he makes a concession to standard realism, but the two maritime adventure stories lack the sheer sense of Time's Abyss that he does so well. Despite the occasional longeurs of "The Night Land"--well characterised by China Mieville in his introduction as ones which would make any less important book unreadable--this is an impressive collection of fantastic classics. --Roz Kaveney
Product Description
From the chilling adventure tale of the sea, The Boats of the 'Glen Carrig', and the power and horror of The Ghost Pirates, to the strange and haunting vision of the House on the Borderland and the bizarre and wonderfully imaginative The Night Land, the four great novels of William Hope Hodgson are universally recognized as one of the landmarks in the literature of the weird and fantastic. Strange and compelling, these are powerful works that exercise the same fascination today as they did on Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, and all four are collected here.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
William Hope Hodgson was one of the most influential writers of the weird horror fantasy alongside Algernon Blackwood and Lord Dunsany, which HP Lovecraft was to later make famous during the 20s and 30s. Being a massive fan of Lovecraft's work I wanted to naturally see where he claimed inspiration from. Where Dunsany was eloquent and dreamlike, where Blackwood was a master of hinted suggestions of horror, WH Hodgson was very much a supreme visionist of the horrific and magnificent.
Each of the four stories in this book are really excellent examples of the type I call 'cosmic horror', essentially highly literate prose describing awesome visions of otherwordly creatures beseiging small groups of scared humans often through means as diverse as dreams, physical manifestations and psychological horror. Time and again our protagonists are attacked both mentally, physically and even spiritually by malevolent powers beyond their comprehension, and its often not such a sure thing that they'll escape alive. It is here in my opinion that Hodgson is unparalleled in conjuring in the reader feelings of dread and tingling horror. The House on the Borderland and the Night Land have some of the greatest scenes of monstrous horror and looming threats, while the Boats of the Glen Carrig and the Ghost Pirates maintain an exceedingly high level of tension and fear throughout.
As much as I'd love to recommend these stories to everyone I feel I must warn people that Hodgson's style is an acquired taste and might not be to everyone's liking. I'd say it's most similar to Lovecraft's work, so if you like that as I do, then you'll have little problems.
Incidentally I found the font size for this particular print of the book to be a little hard to read due to its small size.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Hodgson has taken a lot of stick for his writing style, but in my opinion most of the criticism is unjustified. I am a writer myself and also I do quite a bit of editing, but I don't think my blue pencil would have been very busy with this book. The Night Land is written in an admittedly highly artificial style, but the point is that it suits the book, and I didn't find myself at all put off by it. The first half is the better: the romance passages in the second half did get a bit tedious, but against that Hodgson calls the book a love story, so really one cannot complain. As to the power and grandeur of his imagination, one is staggered, while his creations and scenes are so thoroughly described that one can almost see them: the author obviously had a strong visual sense.
The House on the Borderland has the same cosmic sweep, and again the images are both awe-inspiring and yet almost credible.
The Ghost Pirates I like least: it is very doom-laden, but the phantom ship under the water is something that will stay in my mind's eye.
The Boats of Glen Carrig is the nearest of the four to a straightforward adventure story, though even here, when Hodgson was attempting to make his writing more popular, he comes up with some weitd creations, while their efforts to escape are truly gripping.
I have rarely read works so powerful and so totally fascinating: ar the price they are a fantastic bargain, and if you don't know the author's work this book represents a cheap way to try it. If you aren't then hooked, I shan't trust your taste.
The House on the Borderland has the same cosmic sweep, and again the images are both awe-inspiring and yet almost credible.
The Ghost Pirates I like least: it is very doom-laden, but the phantom ship under the water is something that will stay in my mind's eye.
The Boats of Glen Carrig is the nearest of the four to a straightforward adventure story, though even here, when Hodgson was attempting to make his writing more popular, he comes up with some weitd creations, while their efforts to escape are truly gripping.
I have rarely read works so powerful and so totally fascinating: ar the price they are a fantastic bargain, and if you don't know the author's work this book represents a cheap way to try it. If you aren't then hooked, I shan't trust your taste.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Of the four novels in this volume 'The Night Land' stands apart as an example of sheer imaginative power thrown into a story of a dying civilisation. The scope and majesty throws it a bit into the Dune league of sci-fi but remember this was written in the earlier 20th centuey. I find this sci-fi written from a viewpoint technologically inferior to ours can have a very powerful effect upon the reader that impresses greatly. This novel seems to be a blend of steampunk and religious overtones (though note religion as we know it) leaves the reader of Hodgson at times overawed by the visions he is presenting. I often found myself putting the book down to digest what he was giving the me.
The other three novels are of a more traditional standpoint, especially the maritime based 'Boats of Glen Carrig' and 'The Ghost Pirates'. These are fairly predictable but nonetheless well crafted and intriguing stories. The third novel in this book is 'The House on The Borderland' and is more Lovecraftian in its scope. The crumbling house and a narrator who can only half be trusted give a deep sense of unease in the earlier part of this story. The hog faced humanoids who attack the narrators house provide a frightening, otherwordly opponent but towards the end of the book a huge section of text deals with the narrator as he is in his study and time around him accelerates to an unbelievable rate. As he watches the sun flame across the sky day and night cease to be and only a beshadowed daylight exists. We read as the end of the suns life, and universe is reached. Although this section of the book becomes quite muddled the description of time speading through eternity is an awesome piece of prose that is staggering in its scale and power of vision.
I am a huge Lovecraft and Poe fan and reccommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in these two authors.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A spinechilling collection for the connoisseur
The late W.H Hodgson was never a master of prose in the league of James, Poe, or Lovecraft, nor has his name endured like these brilliant exponents of hinted fear and suggested,... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2004 by james gardiner
Interesting - yet dated
William Hope Hodgson is one of the grandfathers of modern fantasy and horror. Such people as Lovecraft, King et al have endlessly copied the stories in this book. Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2003 by Richard Kelly
Ponderous and largely disappointing
It's always good to see a book by one of the creators of fantasy, someone who wrote before Tolkein, before Conan, even before Eddison, as Hodgson did. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2002 by S. Flaherty
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