Puck of Pook's Hill (version 2)

'Puck of Pook's Hill' is a fantasy book by Rudyard Kipling, published in 1906, containing a series of short stories set in different periods of English history. It can count both as historical fantasy – since some of the stories told of the past have clear magical elements, and as contemporary fantasy – since it depicts a magical being active and practising his magic in the England of the early 1900s when the book was written.

The stories are all narrated to two children living near Burwash, in the area of Kipling's own house Bateman's, by people magically plucked out of history by the elf Puck, or told by Puck himself. (Puck, who refers to himself as "the oldest Old Thing in England", is better known as a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream.) The genres of particular stories range from authentic historical novella (A Centurion of the Thirtieth, On the Great Wall) to children's fantasy (Dymchurch Flit). Each story is bracketed by a poem which relates in some manner to the theme or subject of the story. - Summary by Wikipedia (7 hr 11 min)

Chapters

Weland's Sword	44:53	Read by Nick Whitley
Young Men at the Manor	41:59	Read by Nick Whitley
The Knights of the Joyous Venture	53:57	Read by Nick Whitley
Old Men at Pevensey	51:06	Read by Nick Whitley
A Centurion of the Thirtieth	36:28	Read by Nick Whitley
On the Great Wall	43:25	Read by Nick Whitley
The Winged Hats	44:32	Read by Nick Whitley
Hal o' the Draft	38:38	Read by Nick Whitley
'Dymchurch Flit'	35:59	Read by Nick Whitley
The Treasure and the Law	40:44	Read by Nick Whitley

Reviews

interesting set of short stories

(4 stars)

Scott S. Lawton

An enjoyable set of mini adventures that also convey some history. Personally I would skip the poems that introduce each chapter, but that probably says more about me than about the book... Also: much to my disappointment, Kipling's "sequel" (Rewards and Fairies) didn't measure up at all. I originally listened to the earlier LibriVox recording, but I very much like Nick Whitley's reading too. See also: The Children of the New Forest (version 2).

young ears approve

(5 stars)

Mama Clinch

Our sons really enjoy this narrator, & love retelling the stories of Weland's Sword & the Knights of Joyous Venture. We began listening after our first Shakespeare performance, Midsummer Night's Dream, when they asked if there were any more stories about Puck.

(5 stars)

Stephen

Excellent book and excellent reading. Occasionally one may hear a word emphasized out of keeping with the meaning of the sentence, but it is more than made up for by the rich character voicing.

A Wonderful Story

(5 stars)

Teichert

A very fun and imaginative story. I liked it a lot. The narration was good too, although it could have been a bit louder.