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The fantasy stories of George MacDonald (1824-1905) served as a source of inspiration to Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine l'Engle. Lewis said that MacDonald did allegorical/mythopoeic fantasy 'better than any man', and that quote alone was enough to arouse my interest. I'm glad it did, because I would have missed out on something good if I had not discovered MacDonald. While I'm not sure I'd call him the greatest fantasy author ever, he definitely was a master of allegory. He had a wonderfully vivid imagination, a beautifully fluid writing style, a gentle sense of humour, and a keen eye for protagonists with whom readers will sympathise (in this volume, mostly lonely children). He also came up with some wonderful quests and journeys into dreamscapes, so it's easy to see why other fantasy authors would be impressed and inspired by his work.

The four stories collected in this volume are all very different. The title story, 'The Golden Key', is a tremendously symbolic fairy tale about a boy who finds a golden key at the end of the rainbow and, together with a neglected girl, sets out on a journey to the country whence the shadows fall, meeting a fairy, the Old Man of the Sea, the Old Man of the Earth and the Old Man of the Fire on the way there. Like The Hobbit, it feels rather episodic at times, and I'm sure half of the imagery went over my head, but I loved the tone and otherworldliness of the story, as well as the archaic writing style. I only wish MacDonald had taken slightly more time to flesh out his tale; at times it felt like a jumble of ideas not properly worked out or joined together. On the other hand, the author's refusal to explain or go into detail definitely adds to the otherworldly feeling, so I suppose there's something to be said for it. Anyhow, 'The Golden Key' is a beautiful piece of work with a lovely old-fashioned and mythical quality.

The second story, 'The History of Photogen and Nycteris', focuses on an evil science experiment whereby a wicked witch deprives a young girl of light and keeps a young boy from ever experiencing darkness. Needless to say, the boy and the girl meet up eventually and learn to love and complement each other in all the right ways. The story is rather baffling in that you never find out why the witch embarks on her cruel experiment (the only explanation MacDonald provides is that she 'had a wolf in her mind', which is intriguing but ultimately a little unsatisfying), but that's pretty much the only complaint I have about 'Photogen and Nycteris'. In all other regards, it's a beautifully crafted, lyrical and romantic story which will teach you to look at light and dark differently and raise a glass to complementary love. I wish I had read it as a child; I would have loved it.

The third story, 'The Shadows', is an intriguing little tale about a man who meets the enigmatic Shadows and finds out how they affect our lives. A large part of the story consists of Shadows telling other Shadows what they have done to change people's lives. Part of me wanted these stories to be told another way (i.e. to be shown rather than described in dialogue), but I'm not sure how MacDonald should have gone about that; I can't come up with a better way myself. In any case, it's an imaginative tale which will have you look at shadows in a different way and curse the unromantic, Shadow-unfriendly electric light we have these days. After reading the story, I felt like lighting candles all over the house and waiting for the Shadows to show up. I can't think of a better tribute than that.

The final story, 'The Gifts of the Child Christ', is a beautiful, extremely Victorian family drama about yet another neglected child who finds love. It's a bit too mawkish and Christian for my taste (MacDonald was a minister, and it shows here), but it's well told and must have been popular with Victorian readers.

In summary, I really liked the book, and definitely look forward to checking out MacDonald's longer works now!