Phantastes

By: George MacDonald

Narrated by: Nick Harper

Phantastes Audiobook by George MacDonald,

with musical interpretations of the poems and songs therein by Nick Harper

Written by George MacDonald in 1858, Phantastes is acknowledged as the first modern fantasy novel for adults, inspiring Lewis Carroll, C.S.Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and David Lindsay amongst others.

The book tells the story of a young man's quest for meaning in the forest of fairyland, who awakens a marble lady from sleep by singing to her and his adventures thereafter, as he pursues her.

I first read the book as a 17 year old, whilst living on the edge of a real ancient forest in the UK, learning to play the guitar, whilst pursuing a local beauty who lived on the other side of the forest..

Re-reading it now, I have been reminded how much of a profound effect this strange little book had on me all those years ago. The antiquarian, dense Victorian style only seems to heighten the esoteric nature of its allegories, mysteries and wonders. More surprising and moving is how much it seems to have resonated in my life and music down the years..

Love to you all. Nx

harperspace.com

Audiobook released January 1, 2021

All words written by George MacDonald Musical accompaniment to George MacDonald's poems and songs by Nick Harper ©all rights reserved

Public Domain (P)2021 Nick Harper

Take out the songs!

Thank you Nick for recording this George MacDonald book BUT I agree with another reviewer that I would cringe knowing a song was about to happen! 1st The reverb was up way too high! I think some of the songs might have been ok had you done them on acoustic guitar (and no reverb) but other songs sounded like you were having an acid trip!
You did a good job reading, but I wish you had just read the songs instead.

strange but intriguing

well I usually like older stories and ways of writing this one unfortunately escaped me More often than I could understand. The overall feel was interesting but the story itself was a bit confusing and disjointed feeling, as opposed it takes an older soul than me to understand such old literature but still pleasant enough.

Come for the GMD, Stay for the ... David Bowie?

Now, here's a wild-eyed miracle of an audiobook. I've waited forever for a Phantastes performance I could love (and tried and failed to convince myself I did love one). As soon as I heard the sample, I thought, hey, this could be it. The reader is quiet and unassuming, but intelligent and spellbinding. And then, the story's songs are performed in a folk rock style, near Bowie's sensibilities to my ear, and I was beside myself. Actually, many times it called Labyrinth to mind, if Labyrinth were full of goodness and hope instead of camp and repulsively grotesque funkiness (sorry, David, I still love you). The songs are fantasy-rock magic, and especially because the reading parts are so understated in comparison with the rock and roll interludes. Is it fully in the spirit of George Macdonald? I think your mileage may vary on that question. But as a concept, as an interpretation, I think it's wonderful. It's opened up the world of Phantastes for me anew, and I've only heard the first couple of hours so far. If you're brand new to Phantastes, be prepared for a tale so episodic some find it tedious, but be patient and you may be enchanted. If you're already initiated, give this a spin. You'll know soon if the music parts work for you.

Difficult listening

The singing voice made me cringe. I had to fast forward the songs and finally downloaded same book with a different narrator just to finish the book. Not to be unkind, may be someone’s style but just not mine.

Great story, audio book is good but music quite strange

i liked the story, but the music bordered on ridiculous considering the style of it (Jeff buckley indie rock) did not at all fit the story.