Screencap of Hookland account on Twitter

(18) HOOKLAND

Hookland is reminiscent of my top 10 entry for Night Vale, similarly an eldritch fantasy kitchen sink setting – but where Night Vale leans more to conspiracy theory and urban myth (as well as outright Lynchian surreal fantasy), Hookland leans more to English folklore, ghosts and the fair folk.

The key distinction – by which Hookland ranks as wild tier special mention rather than a top 10 entry as for Night Vale – is that where Night Vale has spread from its original podcast to books, Hookland remains in its original form as a ‘web original’ project on social media, primarily (at least for this reader) through the Hookland Guide Twitter profile (which dates back to 2014). Indeed – I yearn for books from Hookland, although it is perhaps apt that Hookland Guide is almost as elusive as Hookland itself, teased though gossamer strands and tantalizing threads on Twitter. I understand that it is a collaborative project, with its origin (and prime mover) in author David Southwell.

Another key distinction, albeit not to my fantasy rankings, is that where Night Vale is primarily narrated through the town’s community radio broadcaster, Hookland is narrated through a number of voices – dramatis personae teased out through threads across time, from witches to police detectives. Despite the consistency of narrator in Night Vale, Night Vale and Hookland – like the best fantasy or SF in general – doles out their mythos or world-building in doses, mostly hints and oblique references. For Hookland, however, these are in sore need – at least to this reader – of compilation in more formal reference, such as an encyclopedia or wiki, even as pages in Wikipedia or TV Tropes (from which it is sadly absent). The closest thing is the working map of Hookland posted

Despite Night Vale being an American desert town and Hookland an English county, both are similarly amorphous – not quite fixed in time and space, although remaining within the confines of their respective nations (albeit as quasi-independent entities), and dotted with distinctive landmarks.

As I said, Hookland leans more to English folklore, notably ghost and fair folk – but has many more elements in its fantasy kitchen sink setting, all the way to technofantasy or SF, such as the Hum, electricity pylons as latter day ley lines and mystic transcendence.

RATING:
X-TIER (WILD TIER)

This but we’re doing it to both of them – indeed, there’s even the pun that the Sun of Man rose up in Heaven when we nuke it. The Son casts the Rebels out of Heaven – 1885 illustration by Gustave Dore for Milton’s Paradise Lost (public domain image)

(17) SALVATION WAR

Yes – it’s cheesy and never evolved past its raw first draft as a playful tongue-in-cheek thread on an online forum (hence the wild-tier special mention) but I still have a soft spot for it. After all, what’s not to love about humanity taking on both sides of the apocalypse, heaven and hell? And winning!

Sadly, it remains unedited and unpublished as an actual book as it should have been – and also unresolved, as only the first two parts of a trilogy (although the war on heaven at least reached its conclusion), as the author firstly faced issues with its publication and then passed away as he was working on the third part. That author, Stuart Slade, did publish another series The Big One as self-published books – the title referring to its opening premise of the United States nuking the crap out of Nazi Germany in 1947 after Britain made peace in 1940).

The premise of The Salvation War is simple. What is humanity to do when God abandons Earth in the apocalypse, declaring it and everyone on it forfeit to the forces of Hell? Well, what else but declare war on both Heaven and Hell – and to kick ass doing it!

RATING:
X-TIER (WILD TIER)

Excerpt clip from the American Gods TV series adaptation

(16) NEVERWHERE & AMERICAN GODS

“So do you have mighty bacchanals in her honour? Do you drink blood wine under the full moon while scarlet candles burn in silver candle holders? Do you step naked into the sea foam chanting ecstatically to your nameless goddess while the waves lick at your legs like the tongues of a thousand leopards?”

I had quite the quandary with this entry, which I ultimately resolved by separating the art from the artist by effectively featuring the works anonymously, without reference to their author, as I can’t deny the enduring influence of these two works on me. Also, as I understand it, the author seems to have retired from writing, possibly due to the same reasons for which I separate the art and the artist. And in a sense, these two works exist independently of their author in other media. Indeed, a little like Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Neverwhere began as a BBC TV series, albeit also written by the author. Apart from the novelization of it, it has also been adapted to nine issue comics series (written by Mike Carey) as well as a radio play, although I anticipate it’s unlikely to see further adaptations. American Gods has seen an adaptation as a TV series – I liked the first season, although it went in some very different directions from the book. The second season apparently fizzled with the departure of the showrunners for the first season, although it may have bounced back in its third and final season. The book has also had a sequel novel (or more precisely a novel set in the same world with the same premise) and two sequel short stories (that are indeed sequels to the book), as well as an adaptation as a series of comics.

Of the two, my favorite is American Gods and its premise is also more straightforward to explain. Essentially its premise is that all myths are true, to the extent that people believe in them. However, that is not as good as it might sound for the myths in question. Yes, all the old gods of all the people that came to America still continue to exist but eke out that existence on the dregs of whatever belief in them that remains, even if half (or completely) forgotten and even if only as symbol or metaphor. And if that wasn’t bad enough, they’re squaring off against the new gods, such as the god of Media, who are very much coked up to the eyeballs on belief in them. It also has one of my favorite protagonists of fantasy, Shadow Moon – who wants nothing more than to return to his wife and a job with his best friend after release from prison, but the gods have other plans for him. Literally.

Neverwhere has a similar premise, not quite all myths are true but that there is a magic – not unlike megapolisomancy in Fritz Leiber’s literal urban fantasy novel Our Lady of Darkness – formed from large cities and that takes shape in their magical underground equivalents, such as London Below. I particularly like how each city has its mystical Beast at its heart.

RATING:
X-TIER (WILD-TIER)

Cover 2012 Harper Collins (media tie-in) edition

(17) E.B. WHITE –

CHARLOTTE’S WEB (1952)

“Some pig”.

I mean, what else do you need to know than that message written in a spider’s web, which effectively states the premise of this classic children’s fantasy that has been heartwarming American audiences since publication.

I suppose I can expand on that a little more – it tells the story of a farm livestock pig Wilbur and his friendship with a barn spider Charlotte, who saves him from the usual fate of farm livestock pigs by writing messages about him in her web.

Ah, Charlotte – the only spider this arachnophobe may ever like or even love (but not in the sense of the twisted parody that the animated series Drawn Together did of it, now sadly forever etched in my mind).

This is of course a book that could never have been written in Australia.

Also, I’m sorry, Wilbur, but you’d just be too delicious as bacon.

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

Promotional art used for The Jungle Book film on the Disney channel (fair use)

(16) RUDYARD KIPLING –

JUNGLE BOOKS & JUST SO STORIES (1894-1895 & 1902)

Kipling was incredibly prolific, such that he won the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature and was considered for British Poet Laureate – and yet he is best known for his children’s fantasy in The Jungle Book and its sequel, The Second Jungle Book.

In part that may be because they are less tainted by the political controversy that attaches to his works these days, given that Kipling was the quintessential poet of the British Empire, the Victorian Virgil as it were.

However, mostly I think it comes from the sheer mythic resonance of the Jungle Books that has endured for children and adults since their publication, reflecting Kipling’s undoubted literary skill as well as “a versatile and luminous narrative gift”.

It helps that it pre-empted Tarzan as jungle hero, except with its protagonist Mowgli as a feral child raised by wolves rather than apes – invoking mythic characters who were similarly raised by wolves, most notably the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

It also helps that it was adapted by Disney in both animated and live action versions, although it is disappointing that the latter didn’t take the opportunity to restore the python Kaa as heroic savior of Mowgli rather than villainous antagonist. Still, I can perhaps forgive the live-action version as it had Kaa voiced by Scarlet Johansson. I’d be hypnotized by her too – she could slither her coils around me anytime.

But for the iconic popularity of The Jungle Book, I’d be almost tempted to substitute his anthology Just So Stories, akin to myths with the flavor of fairy tales or beast fables explaining such things as how the elephant got its trunk (usually the cover art of the collection) or how the kangaroo got its legs.

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

Cover 2000 Puffin paperback edition

(15) RICHARD HARLAND –

HEAVEN & EARTH TRILOGY (2000 – 2003)

Australian post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy that combines two of my favorite fantasy tropes – a post-apocalyptic setting, particularly in its rarer fantasy version as opposed to the more common science fiction version, as well as the rage against the heavens or war on heaven trope. The latter is the source of the apocalypse.

The premise is straightforward. It turned out that space wasn’t the final frontier, but heaven was – as human technology turned to the exploration of the afterlife. So, like all frontiers, exploration led to invasion, as humanity’s celestial astronauts – psychonauts – trampled the sacred fields of Heaven.

Of course you know, that meant war – and it didn’t go too well for us. Eurasia is still burning – the Burning Continents – from the portions of Heavenly ether that fell on it from the Great Collapse, while much of north America is frozen under an angelic ice sheet.

And we’re still fighting the war against Heaven – except that by we, I only loosely mean humanity. Most of actual humanity that has survived the war, at least in Australia, have been reduced to so-called Residuals living in tribes. The war is waged by the possibly posthuman and certainly inhuman Humen, led by the technocratic Doctors, although they seem to use that title in the same sense supervillains do – or Doctor Josef Mengele, who seems to be invoked by the name of two Doctors who led the war against Heaven from South America.

The Residuals are nominally allies with the Humen against Heaven and its angels but are used more as cannon fodder – in perhaps the most literal way possible. All this changes when the titular young male Residual happens across a stray angel left behind after being wounded in battle…

As I said, it’s Australian post-apocalyptic fantasy – both in its setting, and perhaps not surprisingly given that setting, fantasy written by an Australian author (albeit originally from Britain). Forget Harry Potter – with Garth Nix in my top ten and Richard Harland in my special mentions, it seems all the best young adult fantasy is from Australia.

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

Amazon 2017 Kindle edition

(15) W W JACOBS –

“THE MONKEY’S PAW” (1902)

To the extent that he is known, W.W. Jacobs is best known for this story but I’d venture that more people know of the story than they do of its author, as the story has acquired a life of its own, not unlike the titular object and the wishes it grants – which “come with an enormous price for interfering with fate”.

Such is the life the story has acquired for itself, that there are a surprisingly prolific number of adaptations of it – and even more variations of its central theme of being careful what you wish for – whether played straight, as in Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, or parody, as in one of The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episodes.

“By the end of the 20th century, the story’s plot had become something of a stock parody trope, used whenever “be careful what you wish for” was needed as a punchline. ‘The monkey’s paw curls’ is a standard reaction phrase these days meaning ‘sure, you’ll get what you wish, but something else much more horrible will happen because of it.'”

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

Cover Prometheus 2009 paperback edition

(14) MARK CHADBOURN –

THE AGE OF MISRULE (1999 – 2009)

The magic goes away…and the magic comes back.

Those two tropes – two of my favorites in fantasy – pretty much sum up the premise of this trilogy, or more precisely trilogy of trilogies with The Age of Misrule as the first trilogy (followed by The Dark Age as second trilogy and The Kingdom of the Serpent as third trilogy).

It’s not an analogy used by the books but the magic struck me as like the Ice Age we are still in, with the magic going away corresponding to the interglacial period on which the rise of human civilization depended – and precariously rests. Just as the return of Ice Age glaciation would threaten to overwhelm our civilization, so too with the return of magic in these books – except less threatening to do so than actually doing so.

Give or take just a little, the series matches up with the trope description for The Magic Comes Back in TV Tropes:

“The past was an exciting time to live in: Magic was real, mythological creatures roamed the Earth, and humans lived side by side with elves, dwarves, hobbits and the rest. Such a shame that it didn’t last and we’re stuck with plain, old boring mundane life. But wait, reports are coming in that something strange is happening all over the planet: Mysterious creatures thought only to exist in storybooks have been sighted in isolated areas and their numbers are increasing with each passing day. Some humans are starting to exhibit fantastical powers that science can’t explain…What’s going on? Why, the exact opposite of The Magic Goes Away. Maybe it completely disappeared at one point or maybe it didn’t exist at all. Regardless of the past situation, however, magic is back and, as a result, can often pave the way for an urban fantasy setting. If magic and science are inherently opposed then certain areas of civilization may revert to a primitive form.”

Yeah – you can check off almost all those points in Age of Misrule. In this case, the titular magic apocalypse is a fairy apocalypse. No, not fairies as in cute little gossamer-winged pixies like Tinkerbell. We’re talking the older fairies of British and Irish folklore – most aptly styled as the Fair Folk, itself a euphemism for things that would flay you and walk around in your skin. In fairness (heh), only one of the two warring groups of fairies – the Fomorians – is so extreme as to literally flay you and walk around in your skin. The other group, the Golden Ones or Tuatha de Danaan, aren’t as extreme – or least more indifferent to wanting to flay you and walk around in your skin.

Fortunately, one effect of the magic coming back is that there are humans who can use it to save the day – the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons.

“You can’t bring back the gods and demons of Celtic mythology without a few side-effects, though. Cue rolling blackouts, alien abductions, lycanthropes, spooky visitations, psychopathic goblins…”

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)

Cover 2021 paperback edition using promotional art from the 2009 film Dorian Gray

(14) OSCAR WILDE –

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1890)

Essentially Jekyll and Hyde but with Hyde in a portrait rather than a serum – the titular character remains young and handsome while his magical portrait ages and shows all the signs of his corruption and depravity. And we all know what that ‘corruption and depravity’ was, don’t we, Oscar?  Which makes it all seem somewhat coy and quaint today – so that the modern reader might want to imagine something more evil than gallivanting around gay London.

In fairness, Dorian does murder his friend and the painter of the portrait, before blackmailing another friend into destroying the body. (He is also responsible for other deaths, but more through callousness and melodrama). Ultimately, he stabs the portrait, fatally transposing the wound to himself while swapping their appearances (so that the portrait is now young and innocent while he is aged and corrupt).

Dorian woefully wasted his supervillain potential – one of the few good adaptations in the film of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, where he is practically invulnerable, as any injury is transferred to his portrait.

RATING:

B-TIER (HIGH TIER)