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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
A bit disturbing as fantasy and issues such as child abuse and sexual assault collide. Very well written though.
I've read this book before, but so long ago hat I barely remembered, but as I read I began to recognize the hazy ghosts that have been haunting my memories that were so dreamlike that I couldn't be sure if they were stories that I've read or just old faded dreams. Reading the stories anew were like meeting old friends, but the stories never fully lost the half dreamlike feeling.
Some interesting twists on old stories along with some new creative new tales. A very enjoyable read.
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Oh, my gosh, I finally finished this. Short story collections can be a struggle for me.
This whole collection evokes a different time, with characters that can comfortably amble about and witness magic and go, "oh, wow! Anyway" and that's a lot of the stories. I found some of the stories more compelling than others. Charles de Lint is special in that these are all in his fictional town of Newford, and so the characters and settings reappear and time passes, like an ongoing narrative that you pick up here and there, like catching up with an acquaintance over coffee. There's a sort of comfort in that.
But not all of these are bangers. Some of the narrative focus can feel outdated now. Often the most fantastical thing is an artist living in a nice studio working a part-time job as a server, and the underground goblins feel totally normal and expected.
However, this is the kind of urban fantasy I enjoy - magic in our world, in modern times, sneaking in through various means. No overdramatic romances with werewolves. Just finding an old kind of magic in the everyday.
This whole collection evokes a different time, with characters that can comfortably amble about and witness magic and go, "oh, wow! Anyway" and that's a lot of the stories. I found some of the stories more compelling than others. Charles de Lint is special in that these are all in his fictional town of Newford, and so the characters and settings reappear and time passes, like an ongoing narrative that you pick up here and there, like catching up with an acquaintance over coffee. There's a sort of comfort in that.
But not all of these are bangers. Some of the narrative focus can feel outdated now. Often the most fantastical thing is an artist living in a nice studio working a part-time job as a server, and the underground goblins feel totally normal and expected.
However, this is the kind of urban fantasy I enjoy - magic in our world, in modern times, sneaking in through various means. No overdramatic romances with werewolves. Just finding an old kind of magic in the everyday.
A haunting novel/collection. I wasn't swept up in this book, but more swept under or seduced by it. I think ideas and portions of it will stay with me for a long time. I will probably get the next in the series, but I may want to wait a while to savor these.
The people of Newford, described by the blurb as "fey folk, magicians, hustlers, painters, fiddlers, and ordinary people" in a series of loosely connected stories. Each story can stand alone, but characters recur, popping up in one and then another, and they're presented in what seems to be chronological order. The stories are dreams in the truest sense--with hidden strangeness and magic rising to the light, and sometimes that magic is beautiful. Other times, it is terrifying, the same way a dream can become a nightmare.
Stories include a woman with a strange history pining after a musician whose only love is his music; a man whose love sees a repeating loop of a ghost, and despite warnings, tries to help the ghost; various kind strangers who try to help down-on-their luck runaways; a writer who collects strange stories which sometimes intersect with the book's reality; and a variety of magical creatures from the absurd to the horrifying.
Many of the stories have a hint of danger in them--be careful what you wish for, they warn--because a glimpse of the strange lives running along the pedestrian world has consequences. Once you know that there's really fairies in the trees or boogieman under the bed, you can't unknow that truth. Some characters experience triumph over the danger in the night, others a bittersweet acceptance of the way the world is, and others are swallowed up by that dark.
Here be monsters. And wonders. You won't know which you get until you turn the pages.
Stories include a woman with a strange history pining after a musician whose only love is his music; a man whose love sees a repeating loop of a ghost, and despite warnings, tries to help the ghost; various kind strangers who try to help down-on-their luck runaways; a writer who collects strange stories which sometimes intersect with the book's reality; and a variety of magical creatures from the absurd to the horrifying.
Many of the stories have a hint of danger in them--be careful what you wish for, they warn--because a glimpse of the strange lives running along the pedestrian world has consequences. Once you know that there's really fairies in the trees or boogieman under the bed, you can't unknow that truth. Some characters experience triumph over the danger in the night, others a bittersweet acceptance of the way the world is, and others are swallowed up by that dark.
Here be monsters. And wonders. You won't know which you get until you turn the pages.