Product Description

THE NIGHT LAND -- William Hope Hodgson's brilliant but ultimately flawed masterpiece -- presents a view of the world billions of years in the future, after the death of the sun. Intro by HP Lovecraft

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #899318 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 390 pages

Customer Reviews

Don't be put off by these reviews
Well, here is a different view. The Night Land is not appallingly written, not horrendously sentimental, not maddeningly repetitive nor grossly overlong - but it IS one of the most amazing works of fantasy fiction in the English language. The language Hodgson uses is quite in keeping with the eerie, archaic nature of the whole work and adds to its power. There is nothing else like it in the English language and it is unlikely there will ever be again. Hodgson is a true one-off. A deeply brooding masterpiece that is part love story, part horror, part archaic fantasy, part allegory, part religious parable........just read it!

Wonderful and Appalling, Read it but beware...
The most important things to realise about the Nightland is when it was written- in the early part of the 20th century. This indicates the pheomenal amount of effort and imagination put into it by its author, William Hope Hodgson.

The book is huge and consists of almost nothing but fantastic imagery and ideas- it is a vast powerhouse of creative thought, action and adventure in a world where the sun is dead, and the `outer darkness' of many of Hodgson's stories is `outer' no more.

However, this book is also an incredibly painful book to read. Hodgson has written the whole piece in a pseudo-archaic style which is ponderous, tortuous and incredibly contrived. It is also riddled with the sentimentality which often mar's his otherwise excellent work.

Think carefully before buying or reading `The Nightland', it is a magnificent achievement, and a vast creation, but it is also one of the most heavy-going books you will ever read. Ironically the fact that the highly contrived writing-style is maintained throughout this monster tome is an impressive achievement in itself.

Worth a look, but perhaps `try before you buy'. That said all of Hodgson's other books are wholeheartedly recommended and incredibly easy to read (House on the Borderland, Boats of the Glen Carrig, Carnacki the Ghost Finder & The Ghost Pirates).

Essential reading for fans of fantasy fiction
THE NIGHT LAND is:

Appallingly written
Horrendously sentimental
Maddeningly repetitive
Grossly overlong

And still one of the most amazing works of fantasy fiction in the English language.

Impressive, sombre, imagery and the sense that the author's imagination is running in overdrive will keep you reading long after common sense tells you you should fling this book at the wall.