Reception and Influence Contemporary reception praised the book’s imaginative power; some Victorian reviewers criticized its religious overtones and occasional moralizing. Over time it gained recognition as foundational to modern fantasy. C. S. Lewis cited MacDonald as a major influence—particularly in his use of myth and imagination to convey Christian truth. J. R. R. Tolkien’s evocations of layered worlds and subterranean antagonists also owe a debt to MacDonald’s mode, though Tolkien’s style and mythic scope diverge. Modern critics appreciate the novel’s psychological acuity and its subversive elevation of children’s moral perception.
Reception and Influence Contemporary reception praised the book’s imaginative power; some Victorian reviewers criticized its religious overtones and occasional moralizing. Over time it gained recognition as foundational to modern fantasy. C. S. Lewis cited MacDonald as a major influence—particularly in his use of myth and imagination to convey Christian truth. J. R. R. Tolkien’s evocations of layered worlds and subterranean antagonists also owe a debt to MacDonald’s mode, though Tolkien’s style and mythic scope diverge. Modern critics appreciate the novel’s psychological acuity and its subversive elevation of children’s moral perception.