The Dedalus Book of Greek Fantasy

The latest volume in the Dedalus European fantasy series, this anthology of short stories includes a wide range of texts covering the period from the birth of the modern Greek State in the early nineteenth century until today. The richness and diversity of the stories reflects the long tradition of fantasy in ancient and medieval Greek literature, ranging from Homer to Lucian and from the medieval romances to the popular folk song.

This is the first collection of Greek short stories of its kind and almost all are translated into English for the first time. Of particular interest are the stories by authors not normally associated with fantastic fiction. Included, for example, are prose works by major twentieth-century Greek poets (Cavafy, Lapathiotis, Leivaditis) and by representatives of the little known but highly influential Greek Surrealist movement (Embiricos, Valaoritis) alongside such established authors as Papadiamantis, Theotokas and Yatromanolakis.

Reviews:

Murrough O'Brien in The Independent on Sunday

"The myth of mediterranean jollity dies hard. It's still often assumed that anyone living in close proximity to the sun will, perforce, be sunny. But if this collection of stories show anything, it is that the modern Greek genius is as dark as anything, that might sprout from Siberia. The Greek spirit, however apparently jaunty, is ultimately introspective. It mistakes the state of the soul for the state of the world.

Connolly's introduction is a treat in itself. It defines fantasy as 'a poetic rationalisation of an irrational world.' The stories presented amply justify this thesis. From the 19th century, Achilleus Paraschos gives us a tale of midwife summoned by a vampire to speed the birth of what had better be his son. When the child dies, so does the midwife. Nanos Valaoritis tells of a man who loses his head - his wife wearily puts it in the fridge to stay fresh - and finds a pretty nurse to soothe him. He vows 'never again to put anything solid in his mouth before first finding his head'. The story ends on this dry, dark note: ' Such things always happen ''against our will''.' The poet Cavafy conjures up a story of a man cheated of a fortune because he did not keep an appointment made in a dream. The last word must go to Papadiamantis, whose tale ends with this unanswerable truth: mystery is seen by 'those as were pure in times gone by and those are fey in our days."

S. B. Kelly in Scotland on Sunday

"Dedalus's range of European anthologies is eminently collectable, and offers pleasant appetisers of less well known literary cultures. This Greek anthology is a treat: reworkings of classical myths from Andreas Embiricos, a Kafkaesque waking nightmare in Nanos Valaoritis's story about a man who literally loses his head, and a poignant Borgesian dystopia by Aris Marangopoulos, 'Nostalgic Clone'. Some of the work is fairly pulpy science-fiction, but part of the charm of these collections is the sheer diversity of styles."