The general style and tone of this novel is reminiscent of William Morris's medieval-style romances, though it was written a little later. The knight Ywain gives up his lordship to go wandering and comes to the city of Paladore, contested by two rival bands of warriors. He meets the enchantress Aithene and goes with her into Aladore, an idealized counterpart of Paladore, but finally they return to Paladore. ( )

Couldn't finish. It read like one of those old didactic Christian parables, although it's supposed to be more adventurous. Stilted/ awkward style - almost every sentence, even those opening chapters, starts with and" or "then."
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[Aladore] by Sir Henry John Newbolt
"Then the hermit came out from within, and when he saw him Ywain kept close to watch what he would do, for he knew not the manner of hermits, nor how they live all their life-days, seeing that they have time before them like new-fallen snow, without fence or foot-mark."

A medieval fantasy novel published in 1914, which has been largely forgotten. I searched in vain to see if it featured in any of the best 100 fantasy novels lists (it probably would not make a list of the best 500 fantasy novels; if one was in existence). There is a wiki page about the book which labels it an allegorical novel and maybe when people see a novel listed as allegorical they run a mile (all that difficult allegory that nobody understands). Well I did not see much allegory and little evidence of the religious connotations that some readers have seen.

It is a novel full of magic and fantasy with some deft touches and some 'feel good" writing. I soon became enchanted by the magical worlds of Aladore and Paladore that our hero Yvain flits between. There is a simple love story and there is nothing here to frighten the children. A world of innocence published at the start of the first world war. It is written in a style of old English prose which makes it sing to its own kind of music. Henry Newbolt was a published poet when this novel appeared and there is some delightful prose that obscures and adds to the fantasy feel that he engenders.

Sir Yvain Lord of Sulney is holding court when the novel starts. A 7 year old boy has been found wearing strange clothes and speaking in an unintelligible language. When Yvain addresses the problem his tired, world weariness slips away and he becomes enchanted by the boy. He renounces his Lordship and follows the boy into the woods and the magic has begun. Yvain is searching for what he desires and the hermit whom he meets in the woods reminds him that "Desire is a child: yet he will take a man by the hand and lead him away."

Short chapters with the story moving along at a brisk pace. The style of writing will put some people off as will a lack of any tension or suspense, but I enjoyed my read and so 3.5 stars

The book is free here on the internet https://archive.org/stream/aladoren00newbuoft#page/n417/mode/2up ( )

Awesome!