The Disappearing Dwarf

The Elfin Ship, and its equally enchanting sequel The Disappearing Dwarf, were easily James Blaylock's finest hour. Set in a parallel land of everyday magic, both of them center around Jonathan Bing, Master Cheesemaker of Twombly Town. Or just "Cheeser," for short. Blaylock's special gift is to write tales of apparently goofy characters who seem at first glance to be out of touch with reality, but then slowly reveal their essential shrewdness. And by the time the books come to their end, all the seemingly disconnected plot and character threads come together magnificently, like the climax of a well-written symphony, displaying their underlying logic in an impressive way. Sadly, after these two auspicious beginnings, Blaylock began to stray farther and farther from "pure" fantasy, appearing to prefer contemporary fantasies that are hard on the "contemporary" part and increasingly lighter on the "fantasy." He returned to the Twombly Town setting of the first two books for The Stone Giant (1989), but that was actually a sort of "prequel," giving us the background of the eccentric pirate Theophile Escargot. Three steampunk novels followed -- The Digging Leviathan, Homunculus and Lord Kelvin's Machine. All worthy books, but not up to the high standards set by The Disappearing Dwarf and The Elfin Ship. His latter novels, from All The Bells On Earth to The Rainy Season, grow largely devoid of fantasy elements altogether. It's as though Blaylock has turned away from his fantastic roots, consciously or otherwise, to concentrate on contemporary fiction. If so, this is a real shame, since his Twombly Town books were fantasies like nothing before or since. If you can find copies of The Elfin Ship and The Disappearing Dwarf, buy them. Better still, buy several copies, since they've been out of print for some years and were inexplicably never issued in hardcover. These two books represent a master fantasist at his best, before he turned his attentions to other -- and in my opinion, much lesser -- fields. You'll be reading them for years to come.

Jonathon Bing, the Master Cheeser is at it again. Making cheese is important business but so is saving the world. Full of adventure, mystery, and humor, this sequal to the "Elfin Ship" is a must. You think of your children and future children when you read this. It can be hard enough to find, that I bought extra copies of the 2 books to save for my son at 5 years old. He will thank me for them someday. This book has true flavor and charm, very unlike the factory mass made fantasy that is available now. This book had me grinning from ear to ear while reading it.

One of my all time favorites... It's out of print, I'm afraid, but well worth the hunt for a used copy! Blaylock seems to subscribe to Hitchcock's philosophy of: There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it. A search for lost treasure in the land of Balumnia... A mad dwarf seeking revenge... Pocket watches ground to dust... Magical coffee that makes one talk to stuffed toads... Headless boatmen rowing about the tweet river... What more could you ask for? Are you a fish?

The only thing that kept me from giving this wonderful book a five-star rating is that it is a bit more disturbing than the first book, The Elfin Ship. As a result, reading this book to my son will have to wait until he is older. However, the return of old favorites (Johnathan, Ahab, Buffo, and Gump) and the introduction of new favorites (the more fleshed-out Miles, for example) makes the whole thing worthwhile.

The Disappearing Dwarf is the fantastic sequel of Blaylock's "The Elfin Ship" and while it stands out as one of my favorite books of all time, you must understand the Blaylockian mindset to know why. Again the characters Jonathan Bing, Ahab, Professor Wurzle, and now Gump and Bufo, take us on a trip through Balumnia where Sikorsky/Selznak the Dwarf is up to his old tricks. If you ever wondered about how coffee would taste if made from river water, or why a haberdasher should never swim in his clothes, or even why Zippo the magician shouts, "Hocus Pocus Mooliocus" before smashing pocket watches during his performance, this book is for you.This is another book my son will hear when he is a little older. If you can find a copy, it would be well worth your while.