I have been searching in vain for four books or series of books I faintly remember from my youth. Google has failed me; TOMT has failed me. Monsters & Manuals blog readers - I believe in you!
The four books/series I am searching for are as follows:
1) A novel about a teenage school boy who is always day dreaming about a fantasy land he invented. One day, he discovers it is real and goes there. The people in the fantasy land speak a strange pig-latin-type language. He meets a girl (naturally). I think the front cover was a picture of a boy in school uniform carrying a ruler as though it was a sword?
2) A series of children's books which were something to do with a boy exploring strange places on a flying carpet with a cat called Timothy (?); I think a 13-hour clock was also involved. I may have dreamed elements of this.
3) A book about gnomes and/or other folkloric spirits, like elves, goblins and so on. It had a vaguely environmentalist message - something about how human beings are wrecking the planet and disappointing said beings. The main thing I remember was that one of the characters in it was a creepy gnome organist, with horribly long fingers, lank hair, and a vast underground pipe organ. I don't think it was the Wil Huygen book.
4) A fantasy series which I think was for adults (or teenagers). As I recall it, there were two volumes. The story involved a barbarian invasion of more settled lands, and the defence against it. I mainly remember the villain, who was an extremely tall, thin devil-creature disguised as a man, who also at one point I am convinced also disguised himself as a flea (though again, I may have dreamed this).
If you know what any of these things are, please comment accordingly. You will earn my undying gratitude, and lots of karma for the next life.
Just flipped through my copy of Secrets Of The Gnomes and I didn't spot any Pipe Organ illustrations. I did see several pieces with mechanical devices for widening tunnels, decompression chambers, etc. There is however a hugely prominent environmental message towards the end.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid the others aren't immediately ringing any bells.
Yeah, it's definitely not that one - although it does look quite nice though.
Deletehttps://scifi.stackexchange.com/ is here for exactly this sort of thing. If you haven't encountered stack exchange yet, you should. It's awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks - might chance my arm there.
DeleteNumber two *might* be a distorted memory of the 'Tim and the Hidden People' series from the 1970s, although if so it was the boy and not the cat who was called Timothy - the cat was called Tobias - and it was a witch's broom rather than a flying carpet. It was very dreamlike and surprisingly dark for a series aimed at 5-year-olds. The sinister rock-men in 'The Hill of the Stone Prisons' stayed with me for years.
ReplyDeleteYep, that's it! Thanks. Not sure how the witch's broom morphed into a flying carpet in my head...
DeleteI was going to say that was Tim and The Hidden People! noisms - We had that book series at primary school, and I can remember parts of it vividly thirty years later. Every now and then I try to track down a set but they're not cheap...
DeleteI believe 2 is Tim and Tobias
ReplyDeleteYep - thanks!
DeleteLong shots, but could 3 have been The Troll Book by Michael Berenstain?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Troll-Book-Michael-Berenstain/dp/0394842952
I seem to remember a vaguely environmental theme, and it had a section on other folkloric creatures besides trolls.
And could 4 have been The Sword of Knowledge? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sword_of_Knowledge)
Nope, not the Troll Book - though, again, that does look kind of cool.
Delete#4 may be Wrath of Ashar by Angus Wells. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/372087.Wrath_of_Ashar
ReplyDeleteYES! I am 99% sure that's the one. Thanks for that. Googling around would never have uncovered it. I remember it being surprisingly well done.
DeleteMight #2 be something by Edith Nesbit - The Phoenix and the Carpet, Five Children and It, the Children & the Amulet?
ReplyDeleteGood guess, but it was Tim & Tobias - see above.
DeleteStill think 3) is will huygen. He wrote several books about gnomes and in one of them detailed living quarters and tools etc
ReplyDeleteNo, it definitely isn't. The art style I remember in the book I had was really different - lurid, psychedelic 1970s style, and much more sinister looking.
Delete#3: Brian Froud?
ReplyDeleteNo. I can see why, but see my comment to Anders H above. The book I am thinking of was more in the vein of the art for the Yellow Submarine animated film in style.
DeleteI still think 3 is the Wil Huygen book. The gnome who spoke to the narrator, at the end of it, takes him on a magical walk through the woods, and expresses disappointment in humans for wrecking the planet. And earlier in the book is the illustration of a troll -- a lanky, long-haired, greasy thing, with a meat-grinder for making gnome sausage...
ReplyDeleteIt really, definitely isn't. The style of the art is completely different to the book I'm thinking of, and I've seen the illustration of the troll in the Will Huygen one - it isn't the guy I'm thinking of. This gnome organist was thin, wiry, wearing a suit (possibly a cravat?) and very flamboyant. Nothing against the Will Huygen book but it's not the one!
Delete/r/tipofmytongue on Reddit will find this immediately.
ReplyDeleteI already tried it - I mentioned it in the blog entry. No dice.
DeleteYou might have good luck finding answers on the SF&F Stack Exchange board, using the 'story-identification' tag.
ReplyDeletehttps://scifi.stackexchange.com/
Is 1 ‘Slambash Wangs of a Compo Gormer’?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297040.Slambash_Wangs_of_a_Compo_Gormer
Might have double posted this by mistake, but 1 sounds like Slambash Wangs of a Compo Gormer.. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2297040.Slambash_Wangs_of_a_Compo_Gormer
ReplyDeleteChrist! Yes it is. Thanks. As soon as I saw the title it came flooding back. Amazing.
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