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29-479: The Grey King is a contemporary fantasy novel by Susan Cooper , published almost simultaneously by Chatto & Windus and Atheneum in 1975. It is the fourth of five books in her Arthurian fantasy series The Dark is Rising . The Grey King won the inaugural Tir na n-Og Award from the Welsh Books Council as the year's best English-language children's book with an "authentic Welsh background ". It

58-468: A new track "Dark Water Down", mixing poetry and music. They then appeared together at a gig at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Beagle's book The Last Unicorn was made into an animated film of the same name in 1982, based on a screenplay written by Beagle himself. In 1979, Beagle had a contract with ITC Entertainment , which entitled Beagle to 5% of the net profits in the animated property, and 5% of

87-436: A scholarship to University of Pittsburgh for a poem he submitted as a high school senior. He went on to graduate from the university with a degree in creative writing. Following a year overseas, Beagle held the graduate Stegner Fellowship in creative writing at Stanford University , where he overlapped with Ken Kesey , Gurney Norman , and Larry McMurtry . Beagle wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place , when he

116-584: A six-issue comic book adaptation of The Last Unicorn beginning in April 2010. The collected hardcover edition was released in January 2011, premiering at #2 on the New York Times Hardcover Graphic Novel bestseller list. Beagle's 2009 collection of short fiction, We Never Talk About My Brother , was nominated for a World Fantasy Award. In 2013, he collaborated with the musician Phildel on

145-430: Is an American novelist and screenwriter, especially of fantasy fiction. His best-known work is The Last Unicorn (1968) which Locus subscribers voted the number five "All-Time Best Fantasy Novel" in 1987. During the last twenty-five years he has won several literary awards, including a World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2011. He was named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by SFWA in 2018. Beagle

174-509: Is assisted in his quest for a golden harp by several people, including Bran, son of King Arthur, brought forward in time. Cooper continues her exploration of the many guises of evil and reiterates the theme that the Dark is a wily foe, capable of taking many forms." Mary Corran said that "in The Grey King , it is human emotions which are the danger—jealousy, anger and hate, which open mortal minds to

203-415: Is masterful in the meshing of the fantastic elements and their realistic matrix... It has the classic form of the quest, and its intricate yet cohesive plot is developed with a high sense of drama—and even a bit of the inevitability of a Greek tragedy. It is no small thing to make a character believable both as a mortal child and as an immortal and a powerful magician." Karen Patricia Smith has written, "Will

232-650: Is set in Wales and incorporates Welsh folklore as well as Arthurian material, especially that of the Brenin Llwyd (English: Grey King ). It also won the annual Newbery Medal recognizing the year's "most distinguished contribution to American children's literature". The geography described in the book is based very closely on the real geography in and around the Dysynni Valley in Gwynedd in north-west Wales. References include

261-718: The World Fantasy Award . Beagle also received a special Inkpot Award in 2006 for Outstanding Achievement in Science Fiction and Fantasy, and in 2007 the inaugural WSFA Small Press Award for "El Regalo", published in The Line Between ( Tachyon Publications ). He is also a winner of the Jack Trevor Story Cup, also known as the Prix du Goncourt , awarded to an outstanding humorous writer. IDW Publishing released

290-627: The Werewolf as a classic of the type. It also notes that in many contemporary fantasies, the fantastic "colonizes" the mundane home. Greg Bechtel agrees with the Encyclopedia , saying the sub-genre "explicitly depicts the collision of the contemporary world with a world of magic and spirits". He notes the distinction between this genre and magical realism, crediting Greer Watson, but says that there can be overlap. Grzegorz Trebicki describes "contemporary" fantasy works "set in our 'primary' world, in which

319-434: The cottages, castles, woodcutters and petty kings with which a fairy tale opens have become for us as remote as the witches and ogres to which it proceeds. But they were not remote at all to the men who first made and enjoyed the tales. The same is true for many later works in the genre, which often begin with a seemingly normal scene of modern daily life to then disclose supernatural and magical beings and events hidden behind

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348-420: The earlier works falling within this subgenre, C. S. Lewis explained why, when writing a tale about "magicians, devils, pantomime animals and planetary angels", he chose to start it with a detailed depiction of narrow-minded academic politics at a provincial English university and the schemes of crooked real estate developers: I am following the traditional fairy-tale. We do not always notice its method, because

377-418: The genre was less popular by the 1960s, considering it supplanted by New Wave and Celtic Twilight books. Bacon-Smith credits Terri Windling 's 1986 introduction of Borderland as a key event in improving interest in the genre, also noting the earlier influence of Anne Rice 's Interview With The Vampire which she says has a "contemporary background". In his preface to That Hideous Strength , one of

406-436: The gross revenues from any film-related merchandising. Since 1999 this film has been controlled by a British company, Granada Media International (a subsidiary of ITV plc ). From 2003 through 2011, Beagle was involved in a financial dispute with Granada over nonpayment of contractually due profit and merchandising shares. On July 29, 2011, Beagle announced at his Otakon appearance that he and ITV had reached an agreement that

435-463: The interstices of our world or leaking over from alternate worlds . Frances Sinclair, determining what to call fantasy set in our known world, contrasts contemporary fantasy with magical realism . She notes that in contemporary fantasy magical elements are often kept secret from most people, and notes the amount of young adult fantasy in the subgenre. In contrast, Sinclair points out that in magical realism "the impossible can occur without comment", and

464-560: The invasion of the Dark. The fourth book is strongly Arthurian in content ... Cooper deals with the innate antagonism between mortals and immortals impressively, and in The Grey King reaches great heights as she mingles the worlds and peoples of legend and the present day." Contemporary fantasy The term is used to describe stories set in the putative real world (often referred to as consensus reality ) in contemporary times, in which magic and magical creatures exist but are not commonly seen or understood as such, either living in

493-509: The libretto for an opera, The Midnight Angel , which premiered at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 1993. In 2005, Beagle published a coda to The Last Unicorn , a novelette entitled " Two Hearts ", and began work on a full-novel sequel. Two Hearts won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 2006 and the parallel Nebula Award in 2007. It was also nominated as a short fiction finalist for

522-418: The magical action takes place there (except for the portal required to transport them), are not considered contemporary fantasy. Also, contemporary fantasy is generally distinguished from horror fiction that mixes contemporary settings and fantastic elements by the overall tone, emphasizing joy or wonder rather than fear or dread. The contemporary fantasy and low fantasy genres can overlap as both are set in

551-540: The real world. There are differences, however. Low fantasies are set in the real world but not necessarily in the modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy. There is a considerable overlap between contemporary fantasy and urban fantasy . Examples are grouped by author, ordered by initial publication year in the genre. Peter S. Beagle Nebula Award 2007 World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement 2011 Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939)

580-406: The relationship between reader and narrator may be stronger. Brian Stableford attempts to narrowly define the genre, excluding portal fantasy and fantasy "in which the magical entity is a blatant anomaly". He arrives at a definition of fantasy set in the mundane world, often including an "elaborate secret history". He notes that much contemporary fantasy is set in rural settings, but also notes

609-710: The scenes. In an analysis of religion in modern fantasy, Sylvia Kelso notes a "market shift" from high fantasy toward contemporary fantasy, also explaining that "paranormal" subgenres have branched from contemporary fantasy, especially ones centered on vampires and werewolves. Kelso notes that contemporary fantasy is more willing to draw on religious themes than high fantasy. This has been influenced by its openness to vampires and other traditionally evil supernatural beings, which encourages writers to use Christianity to create villains such as demons. However, other books and series draw on other religions and traditions. Novels in which modern characters travel into other worlds, and all

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638-430: The subgenre of urban fantasy , and that both children's fiction and literary fiction often fall within this genre. The Encyclopedia of Fantasy similarly suggests that the mundane and fantastic are contrasted within the genre. The Encyclopedia ' s definition includes "portal fantasy in which transition between the two realms occurs regularly", as well as several other subgenres; it cites Peter S. Beagle 's Lila

667-507: The term to describe fantasy stories set in the time they were written, and provides H.P. Lovecraft and Fritz Leiber 's novel Conjure Wife as examples. She states that "contemporary fantasy belongs to the Gothic tradition of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Poe's ' The Fall of the House of Usher '", noting also that "contemporary fantasy has been a part of the genre since its beginning". She notes that

696-426: The textual reality has been enriched by various fantastical elements, usually borrowed from particular mythologies or folk traditions". He says that such works are usually driven by genre conventions other than mythical archetypes. The term has also been equated with "Paranormal Fantasy", due to the frequency of "paranormal characters ( werewolves , vampires , wizards , fairies , etc.)" Camille Bacon-Smith uses

725-652: The town of Tywyn , Cader Idris and Bird Rock ( Craig yr Aderyn ). At the time of the book's publication, Kirkus Reviews said, "Cooper is clearly building towards a thumping conclusion in the fifth and next volume and even those of us who have doubts about the significance of all this thunderous moral absolutism will want to get in on the action." In a retrospective essay about the Newbery Medal-winning books from 1976 to 1985, literary critic Zena Sutherland wrote, "While The Grey King can be read profitably on its own, it gains stature when read in sequence, and it

754-451: The trial was due to begin. Beagle was unable to collect the money Cochran owed, and the rights to Beagle's work were left in legal limbo. In February 2021, Beagle regained the intellectual property rights. These five audiobooks are unabridged readings by Beagle, except the first, which is abridged. Giant Bones is a collection of short fiction; the others are novels. Source: The Locus Index to SF Awards These are annual "best of

783-548: Was 19 years old, following it with a memoir, I See by My Outfit , in 1965. He wrote an introduction for an American print edition of The Lord of the Rings . He and Chris Conkling co-wrote the screenplay for the 1978 Ralph Bakshi -animated version of The Lord of the Rings . Two decades later he wrote the teleplay for " Sarek ", episode 71 of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation . With David Carlson as composer Beagle adapted his story "Come, Lady Death" into

812-573: Was beneficial to all parties, and should please fans of The Last Unicorn . On October 14, 2011, at his New York Comic Con appearance, he announced the first results of the deal. Beagle sued his former manager Connor Cochran in 2015 for $ 52 million. The Alameda County Superior Court judge Michael M. Markman found Cochran liable for financial elder abuse, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty, awarding Beagle $ 325,000, as well as an additional $ 7500 for defamation, and an undetermined amount in attorney's fees. Cochran declared bankruptcy sixteen hours before

841-724: Was born in Manhattan on April 20, 1939, the son of Simon Beagle and Rebecca Soyer. Three of his uncles were noted painters: Moses , Raphael , and Isaac Soyer . Beagle has said that The Wind in the Willows , a classic of children's literature by Kenneth Grahame , originally attracted him to the genre of fantasy. Beagle was raised in Bronx, New York , and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1955. He garnered early recognition from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards , winning

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