Dickinson, Peter (1927– )
Throughout his writing career Peter Dickinson has
largely ignored genre classifications. His mystery
novels occasionally include science fiction or su-
pernatural elements, he writes with equal ease for
both adult and young adult audiences, and his
tone can be humorous, adventurous, or suspense-
ful. Dickinson’s first fantasy consisted of a very
highly regarded young adult trilogy about Merlin,
The Weathermonger(1968), Heartsease(1969), and
The Devil’s Children(1970), in which the slumber-
ing wizard Merlin is wakened in modern England,
and his advent triggers an overnight transforma-
tion of the British Isles from technology to magic.
A handful of children interact with him and with a
fugitive outsider who is sent to find out what is
happening. Eventually, they convince Merlin to re-
turn to his age-long rest so that modern civiliza-
tion can be restored.
The Gift (1974) was the closest Dickinson
came to writing an outright horror novel, pitting a
young clairvoyant boy against a ruthless killer. The
Blue Hawk(1976) is a historical fantasy set in an-
cient Egypt. The young protagonist steals a sacred
bird, precipitating a crisis, and flees into a wilder-
ness that is still home to ancient forms of magic,
although their power is fading from the world.
Tulku(1979) is a fantasy set in ancient China, a
story of a young man’s sudden maturity, and Healer
(1983) chronicles the troubles a young girl experi-
ences when powerful interests discover that she
can heal people with a simple touch.
Dickinson’s next few fantasies were for much
younger readers, although Merlin Dreams(1988),
a collection of linked tales of Merlin the magician,
is of some interest to adult readers. The Lion
Tamer’s Daughter and Other Supernatural Stories
(1997) also contains a few good tales, although his
first really excellent short stories appeared only in
Water(2002), a collection of stories written by
himself and by Robin MCKINLEY, to whom he is
married. His two most recent young adult fantasy
novels are both among his best work. The Rope-
maker(2001) is a quest story in which a young girl
tries to find out why the magical forest that pro-
tects her village is losing its power, and Tears of the
Salamander(2003), set in 18th-century Italy, is a
story of alchemy. None of Dickinson’s fantasy nov-
els were written primarily for adult audiences, but
his lucid, intelligent prose gives them an appeal
beyond the young adult market to which they are
aimed.The Discworld SeriesTerry Pratchett
(1983–2005)
Although humorous fantasy has had its brief peri-
ods of popularity in the United States, genre read-
ers apparently prefer a more serious tone, and only
a handful of such novels appear each year. The
form is considerably more popular in England,
where writers such as Andrew Harman and Tom
HOLThave built careers writing tales of the absurd.
The most popular British fantasy humorist, Terry
PRATCHETT, has also proven to be the most suc-
cessful on this side of the Atlantic, and the Disc-
world series, which makes up the vast majority of
his work, has produced a steady line of best-selling
novels.
It all started with The Colour of Magic(1983),
which established the peculiar nature of that world
and the first of its recurring characters, Rincewind
the inept wizard. The Discworld is a fantasy realm
that consists of an enormous, disc-shaped landscape
held on the back of gigantic elephants, who in turn
are standing on the back of an enormous turtle, an
unlikely setting for an unlikely but often hilarious
series of adventures that have gradually evolved
into several subsets, of which the Rincewind stories
are one. The first volume specifically parodied other
works of fantasy, but Pratchett quickly expanded his
approach to include a variety of aspects of modern
culture and humanity’s bewildering unreasonable-
ness. Much of the familiar background is introduced
or enhanced in The Light Fantastic(1986), wherein
Rincewind possesses a spell vital to the future of the
world but does not know how to use it. Rincewind’s
adventures continue in Sourcery (1988), Eric
(1990), Interesting Times(1994), and The Last Conti-
nent(1997). Equal Rites(1987) introduces a second
set of recurring characters, including Granny
Weatherwax, a good witch, whose further adven-
tures in Wyrd Sisters (1988) elaborate her back-
ground and set the tone for further volumes. The
witches’ exploits continue in Maskerade(1995) and
The Fifth Element(2000).The Discworld Series 89