George MacdonaldGeorge MacDonald (1824-1905) was a Scottish novelist, poet, minister, and pioneering writer of fantasy literature. Born in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, MacDonald became one of the nineteenth century's most influential creators of imaginative fiction, blendng fairy tale, Christian thought, mythic symbolism, spiritual searching, and psychological transformation. His works include Phantastes, Lilith, The Princess and the Goblin, At the Back of the North Wind, and numerous novels, sermons, poems, and stories for children.MacDonald's fiction helped define the possibilities of modern fantasy before the genre had a settled name. His treatment of Faerie as a realm of inward testing and moral awakening deeply affected later writers, including C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, G. K. Chesterton, and others who recognised in his work a powerful model for serious imaginative literature. Today he is widely regarded as one of the grandfathers of modern fantasy and one of the most important Victorian authors in the development of symbolic, spiritual, and mythic fiction. Read More Read Less