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editor_b's review
"Urban fantasy" set partly in cyberspace. Sounds interesting, but there are problems.
A contemporary net-driven narrative will perforce age quickly. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it could in fact be charming if the author nails the details. Unfortunately, de Lint seems to neither understand nor care about the architecture and structure of the web. The aesthetics of technology are exploited at the most superficial level possible. Otherworldly realms are decorated with circuit boards and crackling electricity. It's all very cinematic but not particularly compelling.
The deficiencies of this novel highlight the distinct differences between fantasy and science fiction. A science fictional approach would have taken the technology and its implications somewhat more seriously. Don't let the presence of modems and HTML mislead you. These are technological trappings in a purely fantastical narrative.
It's all quite cheerfully insensible. The otherworldly realms are imagined as places "where everything's magical, where anything can happen." There is, probably, some logic at work here, but it is the logic of de Lint's peculiar milieu, built up over time in his other works. The book does not hold up well on its own, fairly drowning in allusions that are not developed within these covers. One gets the sense that author truly cares for his characters, which is refreshing. There sure are a lot of them. This may be great fun for fans, but it's not a good place to start for the uninitiated.
A contemporary net-driven narrative will perforce age quickly. This is not necessarily a bad thing; it could in fact be charming if the author nails the details. Unfortunately, de Lint seems to neither understand nor care about the architecture and structure of the web. The aesthetics of technology are exploited at the most superficial level possible. Otherworldly realms are decorated with circuit boards and crackling electricity. It's all very cinematic but not particularly compelling.
The deficiencies of this novel highlight the distinct differences between fantasy and science fiction. A science fictional approach would have taken the technology and its implications somewhat more seriously. Don't let the presence of modems and HTML mislead you. These are technological trappings in a purely fantastical narrative.
“Wait a minute,” Suzi says to us. “Are you trying to tell me that you actually believe that people have disappeared into the Internet?”
“I know what I saw,” I tell her.
“And if pixies can come out of the Internet,” Holly adds, “I'm not surprised that people can get trapped in it.”
It's all quite cheerfully insensible. The otherworldly realms are imagined as places "where everything's magical, where anything can happen." There is, probably, some logic at work here, but it is the logic of de Lint's peculiar milieu, built up over time in his other works. The book does not hold up well on its own, fairly drowning in allusions that are not developed within these covers. One gets the sense that author truly cares for his characters, which is refreshing. There sure are a lot of them. This may be great fun for fans, but it's not a good place to start for the uninitiated.
angelsaves's review
5.0
reread. some of the references are hilariously dated 12 years later (zip disks! pay phones!), but it's still a good story.
panxa's review
2.0
As soon as he thought about writing it, the technology was out dated. And the story in general didn't hold my attention.
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