Chance, luck & destiny

by Peter Dickinson

A collection of anecdotes, stories, facts, and activities relating to chance, luck, magic, witchcraft, and fortune-telling.

Genres: Nonfiction

254 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1975

About the author

Peter Dickinson was an English author and poet widely respected for his children's fiction, detective novels, and imaginative speculative writing. Raised partly in southern Africa before continuing his education in England, he developed an early fascination with adventure stories and classic literature, influences that later shaped his narrative style. He attended Eton College and later studied at King's College, Cambridge, before beginning a long association with the magazine Punch, where he worked for many years as assistant editor, reviewer, and resident poet. Dickinson eventually left journalism to pursue writing full time, publishing works for both adult and younger audiences. His crime novels featuring detective James Pibble earned critical praise, while his fiction for children established him as one of Britain's most distinguished authors in the field. Over the course of his career he produced nearly fifty books that combined historical imagination, fantasy, and thoughtful reflections on human behavior. He achieved rare distinction by winning the Carnegie Medal twice, for Tulku and City of Gold, recognition that placed him among the most celebrated children's writers in Britain. Dickinson also received numerous other literary honors and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In addition to fiction, he wrote poetry and essays, and his work continued to influence generations of readers and writers in the field of children's literature.

Reviews

[Gretchen Rubin]

I love thinking about chance, luck, and destiny so couldn't wait to read this book. It's a non-fiction collection of interesting observations of these subjects.

[Elizabeth Donovan]

I borrowed this from my public library when I was younger than 10 years old. It was my first reading into the land of lore and magick. I've been studying the craft ever since. After buying it a few years back to have my own copy, I was so nostalgic about. After flipping through it, all the stories and thoughts came flooding back and I still pick it up.

It's not particularly informative on starting out in magick, but as a first introduction, perfect to me.

[Fraser Sherman]

Luck and Chance interest me so I was curious what Dickinson had to say about them. While he has some interesting thoughts about them, I've seen much better discussions on the subject, and when he gets to the topic of "magic" he doesn't tell me anything I didn't know. So not for me, but possibly for someone else.