Rating: 
Summary: A superb working out of Christian Universal Salvation
Review: MacDonald's fantasy novel is actually the best modern treatment of what St. Gregory of Nyssa's theology of Apocatastasis (Universal Salvation) would be like, worked out in reality. I have recommended this novel to several students & colleagues for just such a purpose. This book, together with the writings of St. Gregory of Nyssa and of the Russian Philosopher Nicholas Berdyaev make the best case for how such a concept could be integrated into orthodox Christian thought, preserving both the free will of the creature and the loving universal salvific will of the Creator.
Rating:
Summary: a tale rich in paradox
Review: Rich in symbolism, steeped in paradox, this is a tale of a man's journey and his coming to terms with the frailty of humanity when it is seen in the light of God. MacDonald never hides the basis of his paradigm--that there is a God who loves us, who knows better than we do what is best for us--rather, he weaves it into a rich tapestry of adventure wherein key characters make known the paradox that is at the heart of Chrisitianity: he who would be first must be last. This is not an easy read. And, truly, anyone who is not willing to accept that an author may expound his faith through the words and deeds of his characters--indeed, through the fatherly nature of the narative itself--will little likely enjoy reading this tale. But to those who are ready to dive in to the heart of a realm of paradox in an attempt to better know the God that MacDonald worshiped, this may very well be a life-changing story. I am not a man given to favorites. But no other work has colored my life so beautifully as MacDonald's LILITH. And no other story is more dear to my heart.
Rating:
Summary: A bridge between worlds
Review: The arena of twentieth century British Christian fiction, which includes authors from Chesterton to Auden to C.S. Lewis, appears to owe a great deal to George MacDonald, whose Victorian fantasy as demonstrated in "Lilith" has a primitive and dark undercurrent. Nightmarish yet optimistic, "Lilith" is possibly the most vivid life-after-death parable since Dante's Divine Comedy. The protagonist and first-person narrator is an excitable man named Mr. Vane who lives in an old house that has been in his family for generations. One day he notices an odd creature making its way through the library; this turns out to be the birdlike Mr. Raven, who introduces him to a mysterious world beyond a magic mirror stored in the garret of the house. A more modern author might be tempted to give this world a name to distinguish it from the real one, but to MacDonald it is merely an extension of Mr. Vane's conscience. Mr. Vane is understandably frightened of but fascinated by this world. Part of it appears to be a realm of the Dead where skeletal apparitions dance and fight as though they were still living; part a forest where stupid, brutal giants and innocent, benevolent "little ones" share their habitats; part a murky moor where leopardesses roam in search of babies to eat and enchanting women are to be found. At the center of this world, embodying its evil, commanded by an entity known as the "Shadow," is the demon princess Lilith, a direct allusion to the Assyrian goddess and to the legend of Adam's first wife. As a guide to this netherworld, Mr. Raven acts as a kind of Virgil to Mr. Vane's Dante; the structure of the story has a vague analogy to the sequence of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Mr. Vane's role is less clear; he could be considered a crusader against evil or an emissary of the living in the land of the dead. However, I wouldn't want to restrict my interpretation to a religious allegory because the novel works as pure mythology, although supplementary to Judeo-Christian theology. For all his antiquated, overly formal prose, MacDonald displays a very poetic sensibility for symbolism; for example, he personifies the sun as "he" and the moon as "she," as if they were a married pair of celestial luminaries. There is also an implied notion of a library as a gateway to the imaginations of the innumerable deceased, which is a comforting thought that connotes potential immortality through the written word. If nothing else, "Lilith" functions as a bridge between two enduring traditions -- imaginative classic literature and twentieth century fantasy.
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Summary: One of the few fantasy masterpieces
Review: The real _masterpieces_ of fantasy, as opposed to the "entertaining reads," are not numerous. This is one of the masterpieces. It is not a perfect book, but it belongs in the company of the greatest, such as The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion (Tolkien); Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength, and Till We Have Faces (Lewis); The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesterton); A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin); The Owl Service (Garner); Titus Groan and Gormenghast (Peake)... books of that caliber. Don't miss MacDonald's magnificent tales such as "The Day Boy and the Night Girl" and "The Golden Key." Read MacDonald's Lilith. If you are so moved, read it in conjunction with the detailed, free study guide available at the MacDonald "Golden Key" website:
Rating:
Summary: One of the few fantasy masterpieces
Review: The real _masterpieces_ of fantasy, as opposed to the "entertaining reads," are not numerous. This is one of the masterpieces. It is not a perfect book, but it belongs in the company of the greatest, such as The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion (Tolkien); Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength, and Till We Have Faces (Lewis); The Man Who Was Thursday (Chesterton); A Wizard of Earthsea (Le Guin); The Owl Service (Garner); Titus Groan and Gormenghast (Peake)... books of that caliber. Don't miss MacDonald's magnificent tales such as "The Day Boy and the Night Girl" and "The Golden Key." Read MacDonald's Lilith. If you are so moved, read it in conjunction with the detailed, free study guide available at the MacDonald "Golden Key" website:
Rating: 
Summary: Completely Crazy and Unrealistic
Review: This book is insane. He follows a Raven through a mirror into another world. There is also a lot of reference to the Bible and if you don't know about the Bible you will get lost. The end is also very confusing. The end makes little sense and there is a sense of being unfinished to it. Some parts were ok but the overall book was weird and confusing. My overall feeling towards the book was that it was weird. Broken up though, parts were ok. The begining was weird and confusing. The middle was pretty good. Escpecially when he is with the Little Ones. The end, however, is horrible. There actually is no end. No one is really sure how it ends because of the abrupt and mysterious ending. If fairy tales are your thing you might like this book, but if you want to read about something that has any chance of happening this book is not for you.
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Summary: The most awe-inspiring book I have ever read.
Review: This book is like a dream; it makes you see things in your imagination so vividly, that you can easily give in and accept its unpredictability as normal, and it is able, in a way NO other book can do (except for Phantastes), to make you forget you are reading words. Each reader creates this work in a particularly unique and personal way in his/her own mind, for him/her only. I have even used this book to decide if I would ever be able to develop a long lasting friendship with someone, simply by getting them to read this book and ask what they thought. If they do not respond to it, then we probably don't have much in common. As you will have noticed from other reviews, virtually no one reads this book without a strong opinion one way or the other about it. Sadly, those that have a deep response to it know that you cannot communicate to another what it says, because its message is unique and deeply personal. I have a degree in English Lit, and I have about seven thousand volumes in my personal library. Lilith and Phantastes are by far my favorite books. I want them buried with me. Read it. You'll hate it or you'll love it. If you love it, you will never be able not to have a copy at your disposal.
Rating:
Summary: A Unique and Rewarding Adventure
Review: This is a fantasy for adults. The beginning, middle, and end all seem quite unlike one another to me, with the end worth whatever effort it takes to get through the middle. The book could be quite a vocabulary enhancer, as this excerpt may exemplify: "For centuries I dreamed -- or was it chiliads? or only one long night? -- But why ask? for time had nothing to do with me; I was in the land of thought -- farther in, higher up than the seven dimensions, the ten senses: ... I dreamed cycles, I say, but, for aught I knew or can tell, they were the solemn, aeonian march of a second, pregnant with eternity." (The book provided my first encounters with "glode" and with "crown" -- rhymes with "grown".) Indeed the book can be interpreted as a series of dreams, at times perhaps confusing. Perhaps the best that can be said of any book is that it is rereadable, and I certainly plan to reread this one some day. This edition contains a worthwhile introduction by C.S. Lewis. The punctuation in this edition is nearly invisible.
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Summary: Big Mac at his Best
Review: This is a must read for any christian sci-fy fans. The plot is original and dynamic. There is a referal to this book in one of the "Cronicles of Narnia" series by C.S. Lewis. I will let you find which one. (hint: It has the lion in it)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is an allegory. I could not understand it when I was 12 years old, but I kept on re-reading it at different times in my life, and finally at age 22 I understood it. A light of beautiful truth exploded! This and "Phanteses" are good for thinkers who are searching for truth about God and life.
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