When an influx of fairy fruit creates havoc in Lud-in-the-Mist, a merchant village situated where the rivers the Dawl and the Dapple meet in the Free State of Dorimare, the conventional, rule-abiding citizens must grapple with a previously unthinkable solution. The Dapple springs from the bordering land of Faerie-a country of fantastic inhabitants viewed by the tradition-bound people of Lud-in-the-Mist with fear and suspicion. When the effects of fairy fruit and the creatures of Faerie can no longer be ignored, the stolid mayor of Lud-in-the-Mist, Nathaniel Chanticleer, undergoes radical rethinking and emerges as an unlikely leader of change. A classic of fantasy fiction, Lud-in-the-Mist has had a diffuse but indelible influence on the genre and has inspired such authors as Neil Gaiman, Mary Gentle, Elizabeth Hand, Johanna Russ, and Tim Powers. This Warbler Classics edition includes a detailed biographical timeline.