Imaginary Lands

Imaginary Lands is a 1985 fantasy anthology, edited by fantasy writer Robin McKinley, who also contributes one of the volume’s nine short stories. The stories are linked by imaginary settings and a strong sense of place. Imaginary Worlds won the 1985 World Fantasy Award for Best Collection or Anthology and was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Anthology in the same year. However, most mainstream reviewers declared it only for “fantasy buffs” (Kirkus Reviews). McKinley, a prolific fantasy author, is best known for her 1984 Newbery Medal-winning The Hero and the Crown (set, like her entry in Imaginary Worlds, in Damar). The anthology also includes stories by Peter Dickinson (The Flight of Dragons), P.C. Hodgell (God Stalker Chronicles), Jane Yolen (The Devil’s Arithmetic), Robert Westall (The Machine Gunners), James Blaylock (Homunculus), Michael de Larrabeiti (The Borrible Trilogy), Patricia McKillip (The Harpist in the Wind), and Joan de Vinze.

McKinley’s story is entitled “The Stone Fey.” Set in Damar, the dragon-plagued fantasy kingdom of her novel The Hero and the Crown, “The Stone Fey” concerns itself with the travails of Maddy, a teenage girl who spends most of her time on the mountainside watching her family’s sheep. After Maddy encounters a mountain spirit (the “stone fey” of the title), she becomes increasingly withdrawn from her family and her ordinary life, spending longer and longer in communion with the magical entity. It is gradually revealed that the fey cares little for Maddy, viewing humans much as humans view their sheep. It is down to Maddy’s family and her would-be boyfriend to draw her back to everyday reality. Maddy ultimately chooses the joys and hardships of real life over magical adventures.

Peter Dickinson, author of the speculative evolutionary history The Flight of Dragons, offers another work of fantastical scholarship. His story “Flight” poses as a dry academic essay, tracing the history of conflict between an imaginary empire and a single unyielding tribe over many centuries. Set in a world parallel to our own, the Empire passes through its own version of the Industrial Revolution and the Nuclear Age as well as a mythological past and eras of revolutionary internal politics. The story holds a mirror up to the history of imperialism in our own world, emphasizing the injustice and gore.



Jane Yolen, who has authored or edited more than 350 books, offers a feminist take on the Arthurian stories of ancient England in “Evian Steel.” Under Merlin’s instruction, a band of women undertakes to forge the magic sword Excalibur. A key ingredient is the menstrual blood of a virgin: when the chosen virgin deviates from the prescribed ritual, Merlin prophesies that she will be barren.

In “Tam Lin,” Joan de Vinze offers a retelling of a traditional tale from the Scottish Borderlands, about a young woman (named Jennet in de Vinze’s version) who rescues a once-mortal man from his imprisonment by the faery queen. De Vinze considers the conflict between Christianity and the older fairy beliefs of northern Britain.

Winner of the 1975 Carnegie Medal, Robert Westall’s story, “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” follows a wealthy American family as they set out on a tour of Europe. Striking out to the north of Scotland, the family finds themselves in an eerie “salt town,” built over ancient salt mines so that the town itself is gradually sinking with the subsidence of the ground underneath.



James Blaylock’s entry is the anthology’s only steam-punk universe. Set in a parallel California, “Paper Dragons” follows a man living in a curious neighborhood. His neighbor on one side is trying to build a working mechanical dragon in his garage. Meanwhile, his other neighbor is a careful observer of the local sea life, including gargantuan crabs. As he observes these investigations, the man becomes curious about a famous historical vivisector who split the difference between his two neighbors by combining mechanical and animal parts to create fantastic creatures.

In “The Cure of Igamor,” Michael de Larrabeiti offers a dark(er) retelling of the story of the Pied Piper. A malevolent local leader and his underlings exploit their people’s superstitions to take advantage of them until a wandering one-man-band decides to put a stop to it.

Locus Award-winner and Hugo nominee Patricia McKillip offers “The Old Woman and the Storm.” Set in a mythical prehistory, the story follows a man who meets the personification of storms and has to try to find a way to love her. Inspired by Native American myth, the story is an allegory of man’s relationship with nature and a lesson in the importance of seeing the good in everything.



P.C. Hodgell’s “Stranger Blood” follows Jame, the hero of the author’s Kencyr series. Narrated by a boy named Arie, “Stranger Blood” follows Jame as she uses cunning and force to track down a “Changer,” a shape-shifting creature that is murdering the inhabitants of a remote fortress.