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csarakas's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of my favorites. I absolutely love how Windling describes the desert and the creatures that inhabit it. This is the kind of writing I aspire to.
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderful, imaginative and evocative fantasy. Set mostly in Tucson, it combines many mythologies and characters along with poetry and art into a beautiful, cohesive story. The novel starts with Maggie Black inheriting the property in the desert of her friend, the poet Davis Cooper although they have never met face to face. Straightaway the landscape becomes a character, the plants, the animals, the rocks and other formations. There is some mystery to how Cooper has died and Maggie sets about going through his papers and also those of his wife, Anna, a painter in a Mexican surrealist style. Then Maggie becomes aware of the “spirits of the mountains” or faeries or angels; I really liked the idea that the creatures take on an image that the viewer gives them. Shapeshifters, mages and tricksters; they aren’t human and behave differently. This is a truly special book, and a pleasure to read.
mollyringle's review against another edition
4.0
Such a weird and wonderful mix of magical things! Never expected to see a book that mentioned both Henry Miller and Brian Froud, nor one that interpreted Tucson desert spirits as more or less the same thing as English faeries, but I am very much there for that kind of thing.
I'd just visited Tucson for the first time before reading this book, and it is fabulous at bringing the mountainous, saguaro-studded desert to life. The writing is gorgeous and evocative. Maybe because it was written in the '90s, it also had a Northern Exposure feel to me, in the way that magical realism was mixed into ordinary life and social/political issues. Except very Tucson instead of very Alaska. :)
I'm still a tad confused about what exactly happened and why, in the tangle of enchantments, but I may just have to think about it longer. I did like the parts I made sense of, and was especially fond of trickster Crow. I love tricksters. It was a delight to exist in this world while I read it, and to let the mysterious magic and the desert air and the poetry wash over me.
I'd just visited Tucson for the first time before reading this book, and it is fabulous at bringing the mountainous, saguaro-studded desert to life. The writing is gorgeous and evocative. Maybe because it was written in the '90s, it also had a Northern Exposure feel to me, in the way that magical realism was mixed into ordinary life and social/political issues. Except very Tucson instead of very Alaska. :)
I'm still a tad confused about what exactly happened and why, in the tangle of enchantments, but I may just have to think about it longer. I did like the parts I made sense of, and was especially fond of trickster Crow. I love tricksters. It was a delight to exist in this world while I read it, and to let the mysterious magic and the desert air and the poetry wash over me.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
3.0
Terri Windling is one of the editors of the very cool Fairy Tale series of books and of the Bordertown series. I really like all of those books and when I saw she had a full-length novel I grabbed it up. I love this kind of fantastical reworking of old stories.
For me this book was just okay. Honestly, I think Charles de Lint has done a much better job with this kind of story (Forests of the Heart, for instance, and big chunks of Someplace to Be Flying). Ultimately he's a better writer than Windling.
I really like the desert setting, although I'm partial to New Mexico over Arizona, and Windling gives you a good sense of the feel of the place. Where I have quibbles are with the characters - they're all just a little bit too perfectly groovy for me to care and seem sort of surface magazine cover glossy with not much underneath. Even the fairies or pixies or spirits of the land or whatnot are sort of all surface shine, but not a lot of there there.
An okay read, just not the best ever.
For me this book was just okay. Honestly, I think Charles de Lint has done a much better job with this kind of story (Forests of the Heart, for instance, and big chunks of Someplace to Be Flying). Ultimately he's a better writer than Windling.
I really like the desert setting, although I'm partial to New Mexico over Arizona, and Windling gives you a good sense of the feel of the place. Where I have quibbles are with the characters - they're all just a little bit too perfectly groovy for me to care and seem sort of surface magazine cover glossy with not much underneath. Even the fairies or pixies or spirits of the land or whatnot are sort of all surface shine, but not a lot of there there.
An okay read, just not the best ever.
mad_frisbeterian's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
robyotter's review against another edition
5.0
This book is like comfort food for me, and I suspect I'll be reading it for years to come.
moneypenny96's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kenchingfox's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
A little spooked by this one, considering today's date and especially since it found me close to home.