George MacDonald's classic fantasies, fairy tales, and supernatural stories are collected in three volumes. This volume includes The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, The Light Princess, and The History of Photogen and Nycteris. It also includes the short stories Cross Purposes, The Castle, The Cruel Painter, The Giant's Heart, The Shadows, The Wow O' Rivven, The Golden Key, Uncle Cornelius, His Story, and The Gray Wolf
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.
Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."
Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.
MacDonald grew up influenced by his Congregational Church, with an atmosphere of Calvinism. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend has it that when the doctrine of predestination was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and Lilith, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.
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