The Elfin Ship
Encyclopedia
The Elfin Ship was James Blaylock’s
first published book. It is the first of three fantasies by Blaylock about a world peopled by elves, dwarves, goblins, and normal people, as well as a smattering of wizards, witches, and other fanciful beings. The world has magic well as pseudo-science. Scientific explanation depends on such tongue-in-cheek concepts as The Five Standard Shapes, The Three Major Urges, and The Six Links of Bestial Sciences. Many of the characters use hyper-polite, conciliatory language. ("This is pretty wet!" "A good deduction—worthy of a man of science," shouted the Professor.)
Professor Wurzle provides somewhat misguided explanations and histories for events as they arise. The youngest character, Dooly, is given to wild fantasies and stories. This frequently leaves the inexperienced adventurer, cheesemaker Jonathan Bing, with competing and implausible explanations as to what is actually going on. (As the story progresses, it becomes evident that many of Dooly’s apparently wilder statements are true.)
Downstream, they encounter Miles the Magician, the carefree link men, and the elves at Seaside running the mysterious elfin ship, which is seen at rare, inexplicable moments. These friends are needed to thwart Selznak’s plans, which are entwined in their own in ways that only slowly become evident. Dooly’s piratical grandfather is hunted down at his fantastic submarine, and forced to reveal his role in assisting Selznak. They decide how to deal with the various threats, Bing, Wurzle, Dooly and Dooly’s grandfather heading back upriver to confront Selznak in his castle lair.
about 1978, it was rewritten, and the second half expanded following the comments accompanying the rejection by editor Lester Del Rey
. Del Rey published the reworked version as The Elfin Ship, in 1982. (The Man in the Moon was Blaylock’s first novel written to completion.) According to Blaylock, The Man in the Moon was influenced almost entirely by Kenneth Grahame
’s Wind in the Willows, along with Mark Twain
's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
, The Brownies and the Goblins, and illustrations by Arthur Rakham
.
in limited editions signed by Blaylock and Tim Powers
. The Man in the Moon has about 60 pages of material not incorporated in The Elfin Ship. On the other hand, the The Elfin Ship novel deletes nearly all the events in The Man in the Moons concluding 60 pages, replacing them with 200 pages taking the plot in a different direction. (Some sentences from the original appear in a reworked context in The Elfin Ship.)
The plot diverges where the heroes approach the ocean. In The Man in the Moon, they are taken by elfin airship to the Moon, and discover a treasure. There is no confrontation with Selznak. Blaylock intended The Man in the Moon to have a sequel, as the story reads, "What happened in the following months to the people of the high valley and to the elves and dwarves and link men is another tale and deserves, I think, a story of its own."
James Blaylock
James Paul Blaylock is an American fantasy author.He is noted for a distinctive, humorous style, as well as being one of the pioneers of the steampunk genre of science fiction....
first published book. It is the first of three fantasies by Blaylock about a world peopled by elves, dwarves, goblins, and normal people, as well as a smattering of wizards, witches, and other fanciful beings. The world has magic well as pseudo-science. Scientific explanation depends on such tongue-in-cheek concepts as The Five Standard Shapes, The Three Major Urges, and The Six Links of Bestial Sciences. Many of the characters use hyper-polite, conciliatory language. ("This is pretty wet!" "A good deduction—worthy of a man of science," shouted the Professor.)
Plot summary
The story centers on a river trip organized when trading ships with Christmas items inexplicably fail to arrive. Unknown to the heroes, their route downriver to a seaside trading center will take them through areas under siege from evil forces including crazed goblins, malevolent witches, and the sinister dwarf Selznak.Professor Wurzle provides somewhat misguided explanations and histories for events as they arise. The youngest character, Dooly, is given to wild fantasies and stories. This frequently leaves the inexperienced adventurer, cheesemaker Jonathan Bing, with competing and implausible explanations as to what is actually going on. (As the story progresses, it becomes evident that many of Dooly’s apparently wilder statements are true.)
Downstream, they encounter Miles the Magician, the carefree link men, and the elves at Seaside running the mysterious elfin ship, which is seen at rare, inexplicable moments. These friends are needed to thwart Selznak’s plans, which are entwined in their own in ways that only slowly become evident. Dooly’s piratical grandfather is hunted down at his fantastic submarine, and forced to reveal his role in assisting Selznak. They decide how to deal with the various threats, Bing, Wurzle, Dooly and Dooly’s grandfather heading back upriver to confront Selznak in his castle lair.
Literary precedents
Written and submitted as The Man in the MoonThe Man in the Moon (book)
The Man in the Moon was James Blaylock’s first completed novel, however it remained unpublished for decades...
about 1978, it was rewritten, and the second half expanded following the comments accompanying the rejection by editor Lester Del Rey
Lester del Rey
Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. Del Rey was the author of many of the Winston Science Fiction juvenile SF series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction branch of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.-Birth...
. Del Rey published the reworked version as The Elfin Ship, in 1982. (The Man in the Moon was Blaylock’s first novel written to completion.) According to Blaylock, The Man in the Moon was influenced almost entirely by Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame
Kenneth Grahame was a Scottish writer, most famous for The Wind in the Willows , one of the classics of children's literature. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon; both books were later adapted into Disney films....
’s Wind in the Willows, along with Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a novel by Mark Twain, first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by...
, The Brownies and the Goblins, and illustrations by Arthur Rakham
Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham was an English book illustrator.-Biography:Rackham was born in London as one of 12 children. At the age of 18, he worked as a clerk at the Westminster Fire Office and began studying part-time at the Lambeth School of Art.In 1892 he left his job and started working for The...
.
Contrasts with the original version
The manuscript text for The Man in the Moon, with additional commentaries, was published in 2002 at the suggestion of Subterranean PressSubterranean Press
Subterranean Press is a small press publisher in Michigan. Subterranean is best known for publishing genre fiction, primarily horror, suspense and dark mystery, fantasy, and science fiction...
in limited editions signed by Blaylock and Tim Powers
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas "Tim" Powers is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels Last Call and Declare...
. The Man in the Moon has about 60 pages of material not incorporated in The Elfin Ship. On the other hand, the The Elfin Ship novel deletes nearly all the events in The Man in the Moons concluding 60 pages, replacing them with 200 pages taking the plot in a different direction. (Some sentences from the original appear in a reworked context in The Elfin Ship.)
The plot diverges where the heroes approach the ocean. In The Man in the Moon, they are taken by elfin airship to the Moon, and discover a treasure. There is no confrontation with Selznak. Blaylock intended The Man in the Moon to have a sequel, as the story reads, "What happened in the following months to the people of the high valley and to the elves and dwarves and link men is another tale and deserves, I think, a story of its own."