William Morris (1) (1834–1896)

I picked this book because i read that this book inspired Narnia and The Lord of The Rings series.

The first thing I notice about this book is the language. The author uses old-english like style that are somewhat challenging to read, especially for new readers. But in my case, I became used to it and after read the book, i understood that it is needed to compliment the themes and settings of this book.

This book has 3 part. And follow the story of a young Prince that seeking for adventures, and how he overcome the obstacles.

The story itself is slow at the start. The beginning of the book reads like a sort of fairytale or children story, but then at the later part, it become more mature plot-wise. The boring part is in the second half of the first part and I almost abandon this book out of boredeom, but I'm glad i didn't. Starting from Part 2, the plot and the main character become more interesting. For some people the prose and the story's structure can be a drag compared to a modern fantasy stories. But I personally didn't have a problem.

The characters count are plenty but not overwhelming. And some of them are well-written especially the main character, as this book tells how he grown to become a man over the course of the story.

Overall, i didn't expect this book to become one of my favorites. I recommend it anyone who love fantasy books, bonus point if you also like old-english prose.… (more)

A book that describes a socialist/communist Utopia in England - whats not to like? - Answer, William Morris' book published in 1890. The hero William Guest (yes very witty) falls asleep after a meeting of the socialist league - he might well have fallen asleep during the meeting of the socialist league, and dreams that he has woken up in some sort of future socialist utopia. To keep the reader guessing, for a short time Guest does not know where he is, but the sun is shinning and everybody that he meets acts kindly and considerately. He then embarks on a journey up the river Thames with his new friends learning from them the joys brought about by common ownership and the ditching of machines.

I found the book weakly thought through with it golden glow version of socialism based on handicrafts and the love of nature. Guest learns from an elderly boffin the history of the previous two hundred years as he continues his journey of discovery following the river Thames through sleepy villages that were once commuter hubs for the cockneys. Its all so facile and even worse than that; it is boring. This did not work for me on any level, probably it will be the worst read of the year - 2 stars.… (more)