Nicholas Stuart Grey

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Some time back, wicked machinations in the world of night resulted in the prince and heir-apparent being abandoned in our world. Named Muffler, and raised by simple goat herders, Muffler seems all set to lead a perfectly normal and peaceful life- except that he has the power to talk to animals. This leads him into a friendship with Grimbold, a black cat who knows a lot more than he lets on. Enemies in the world of night continue to conspire against Muffler and his long-lost family, and since cats are the only creatures, apart from poets, who can slip between the mundane and magical realms, Grimbold soon emerges as Muffler's ally in a struggle beyond his wildest dreams.

That's the basic premise of the only novel by Nicholas Stuart Grey that I've read - 'Grimbold's Other World'. I read the book when I was 10, and it was a favourite of mine for many years - I remember re-reading and enjoying it to boot when I was 16, too - but then I misplaced my copy. I'm sure I will eventually find a new one, and am constantly on the look-out.

Anyway, this was one of my favourite fantasy books as a young boy - it was beautfully written, the magical world really seemed magical, and not a little menacing at times, the characters were vivid, especially the arrogant, loyal Grimbold and even the illustrations and little poems at the end of each chapter were great.

Has anyone else read this? It's a good read for anyone from the age of 10 and older, and I suspect that I'd enjoy it even now, if I could find a copy.

 

[dwndrgn]

It sounds like something I'd relish reading. Thanks for pointing it out for us since I'd never heard of it or the author before.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I've read a few things by Nicholas Stuart Grey -- Grimbold's Other World; a collection of short stories, Mainly in Moonlight; and The Seventh Swan, which I especially liked.

Swan is aimed at slightly older readers than Grimbold and is somewhat darker in the tone. It tells what happens to the youngest brother in a well-known fairy tale after the enchantment is broken and he is left with a swan's wing instead of an arm.

(Not to be confused with a different book, by Ursula Synge, which is built around the same premise.)

I know he wrote a lot of other books, too, but they're out of print and hard to find.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Wow. I'd love to get a hold of his other books, too. It may just be the rose-tinted lenses with which we gaze at childhood memories, but I did re-read Grimbold in my teens, and still loved it.

 

[Alia]

Nicholas Stuart Gray
(1922 - 1981)

Novels
Marvellous Story of Puss in Boots
Other Cinderella
Princess and the Swineherd
Beauty and the Beast (1956)
Imperial Nightingale (1957)
Down in the Cellar (1961)
The Seventh Swan (1962)
The Stone Cage (1963)
Grimbold's Other World (1963)
Mainly in Moonlight (1965)
The Apple-Stone (1965)
New lamps for old (1968)
The Boys (1968) (with Robin Adler)
Over the Hills to Fabylon (1968)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A play (1969)
Further Adventures of Puss in Boots (1971)
The Edge of Evening (1976)
Killer's Cookbook (1976)
A Wind from Nowhere (1978)
The Wardens of the Weir (1978)
The Garland of Filigree (1979)
Hunters and the Henwife (1981)
The Tinder Box (1981)
The Sorcerer's Apprentices (1986)

Anthologies containing stories by Nicholas Stuart Grey
Fantasy Stories (1996)
The Young Oxford Book of Aliens (1998)


A few more books to add to the list that Kelpie put together. I actually have a few of these and read a few too. It's ashame that he has already passed on. I took this book list from Fantastic Fiction and it shows The Sorcerer's Apprentices was published in 1986 five years after his death. Could this be a mistake or does that happen with some authors?

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

If it was first published five years after his death it might be a previously unknown manuscript his heirs brought to light, but it's more likely to be a new collection of some of his stories, or something along those lines.

Fantastic Fiction has a habit of mislabeling short stories and/or collections as novels. They are an awesome resource for digging up the more obscure titles though.

He was quite the prolific author, wasn't he? I would love to get my hands on some of those -- if they really are YA novels and not short stories or picture books.

 

[Alia]

Fantastic Fiction has a habit of mislabeling short stories and/or collections as novels. They are an awesome resource for digging up the more obscure titles though.

This is why I mentioned the site. It seems that websites for Grey aren't as numerous as other authors. At this very second I'm not able to do research well, give me a few hours and I'll see what I can find.

He was quite the prolific author, wasn't he?

AAaahhh YES!!! Indeed he is. I often times remember the title of stories, but not the author's name. The Seventh Swan was one of those such books.