The Roots of the Mountains: The Epic High Fantasy Classic of Heroic Romance and Ancient Goths

Before the age of modern fantasy, there was Burgsdale.This giftable edition of William Morris’s seminal heroic romance features a newly designed collectible cover, professional formatting, and an original afterword exploring how this book laid the foundation for the entire High Fantasy genre.A sweeping saga of love, war, and the defense of home, written by the father of modern fantasy.Key Features:Original Afterword: A deep dive into the history of the genre, revealing how Morris’s vision of ancient tribes and deep forests inspired generations of writers to come.Enhanced Readability: Professionally formatted with optimized spacing to assist modern readers with Morris’s beautiful, archaic prose.Elegant Layout: Designed with care to honor the Arts & Crafts aesthetic of the original editions.Evocative Cover Design: A lush, tapestry-inspired cover reflecting the forests, mountains, and medieval beauty of the setting.The Perfect Gift: A must-have for fantasy historians, D&D players, and lovers of myth and legend.In the deep valleys beneath the great mountains, the Men of Burgsdale live in peace. They are a free people, master craftsmen and warriors, living in harmony with the land. But a shadow is lengthening. The "Dusky Men"—hordes of ruthless invaders—are creeping through the woods, enslaving the tribes and encroaching on the valley.Face-of-god, a young warrior of the Burgdalers, feels the stirrings of destiny. After a chance encounter with the mysterious Sun-beam, a sorceress from the "Sons of the Wolf," he realizes that his people cannot stand alone. To survive, the tribes must unite.What follows is an epic tale of alliance, romance, and battle. It is a story where the landscape is as important as the characters, described with the painterly eye of a pre-Raphaelite artist.The Roots of the Mountains is not just a novel; it is a piece of history. It established the tropes of the "heroic romance"—epic battles, poetic language, and a deep love for the natural world—that define fantasy literature today.Experience the high romance and "archaic beauty" that launched a genre. Read more