I read this fine work when it was published in the Ballantine Fantasy series under Lin Carter. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it to all those who love fantasy and good writing. These days, especially, when the fantasy scene seems dominated by multi-volume monstrosities whose contents are to a large extent incomprehensible or disgusting, or both--and you know the authors I mean, I'm sure--this little treasure deserves the widest possible circulation.
I will stop now because other reviewers here have already said much that I will simply endorse. Get Lud-in-the-Mist and enjoy it!

You can tell this is an unusual fantasy just by checking out the main character. Most fantasy heroes are not round, stodgy, middle-aged men who are respected pillars of the community. But this enchanting romp, reminiscent of "The Hobbit" in some areas, stars just such a man, amid dozens of other nice ordinary boring people.

Fairy is forbidden in the town of Lud ' not just fairy creatures and their exquisite fruit, but the very mention of it. "Son of a Fairy" is one of the worst insults possible. Duke Aubrey, a half-real-half-mythic noble who vanished long ago, is said to have gone off with them. Fairyland is, to the rational mind, a fantasy world, not merely containing fairies but also the dead. And currently, the mayor Nathaniel Chanticleer, a seemingly rational and dull man, has a lingering longing for... what? He heard a strangely magical musical note long ago, and now fears it. Despite all this, life remains boring and rather pleasant ' there are a few loons, such as always-dancing Mother Tibbs, and Duke-Aubrey-obsessed Miss Primrose. But most aren't.

But then strange happenings begin. Chanticleer's son Ranulph begins acting strangely, screaming that his father can't kill the moon (a round white cheese) and claims that he's eaten fairy fruit. After Chanticleer sends his son off to a farm for a vacation, the teenage girls at Miss Primrose's Crabapple Academy suddenly seem to go pleasantly nuts, and then race off into the hills. Life seems to seep out of the old town ' and Nathaniel must connect the present crises to a past conspiracy, all of which hinges on Fairyland, fairy fruit, and the sinister doctor Endymion Leer...

The characterizations are charming. Though this book doesn't resemble Tolkien's at all, Chanticleer is reminiscent of Bilbo Baggins in his pleasant boring stodginess, that hides a brave, unconventional interior. He's not the person you would identify as a hero, but he is one anyway. In the same way, you wouldn't consider a place like Lud (reminiscent of Tolkien's Shire in some ways) to be the ideal place for a fairy adventure.

We have plenty of supporting characters, such as Chanticleer's childhood Ambrose, crabby old nurse, the quietly malevolent Endymion Leer, the various fairy-struck teens like Ranulph and Moonlove and Prunella, the snippy Dame Marigold, nutty Miss Crabapple, and the sinister Widow Gibberty. Though Mirrlees spends relatively little time on character development, it flows out believably anyway. And the suspenseful hunt through history and so forth is as intriguing as any Agatha Christie, yet doesn't take away from the fairy-fruit subplot. Her writing ranges from cozy to enchantingly lyrical.

Some might interpret the fairy fruit as being part of a drug-related message, but somehow I think it has more to do with love of life, and a bit of weirdness that is necessary for every healthy mind. This book is suitable for kids; there is a brief mention of past murders, and of a woman being found with her lover, but neither is really a problem and both are necessary to the plot.

Sadly, this book is out of print in the US. But you can get one of the beautiful Fantasy Masterworks copies from amazon UK, and I advise that you do so. This is a one of a kind book.

What a pleasure to have this superb novel in print once more! I can only echo the praise of the previous reviewers on this page, all of whom were obviously touched by this neglected classic as deeply as I was. While there's a glut of fantasy novels available these days, all too many are lacking in true Magic - a poetry both crisp and lyrical, an understated but rich symbolism, a sense of the Mysteries, that is the essence of "Lud-in-the-Mist." Add to that its subtle and delightful characterization, its often cheerfully earthy humor ("By My Great-Aunt's Rump!"), and the sheer beauty of its prose, and you have a book that belongs on any short list of fantasy masterpieces. A book to be read many times, one that takes the reader ever deeper with each reading. May it never be out of print again!