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A review by qalminator
Dreams Underfoot: The Newford Collection by Charles de Lint
4.0
As these are becoming available on Audible, I'm revisiting them, and it's like catching up with old friends... More when I've finished.
Ah, that was a breath of fresh air, especially read by Kate Reading. It's been so long that I only remembered bits and pieces here and there, so it was very much like discovering them for the first time, again. The first time I read these, I was not as familiar with horror tropes, and some of the darker stories are definitely borderline horror, if not outright horror. I'd also forgotten that there were a few stories with semi-explicit sex scenes (tasteful, but surprisingly detailed for the nature of the stories, imo).
A lot of the tales have bittersweet endings, so be warned if you're looking for a pick-me-up. I enjoyed all of them, but my least favorite was "Pity the Monsters", as it really felt out of place among the rest. My favorites are the ones that connect to each other more overtly (mostly through shared characters), and that's probably about half of them.
Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair - Odd in a way that's both inspiring and depressing, tbh.
The Stone Drum - On the dangers of claiming artifacts without understanding their provenance.
Timeskip - Interesting ghost story, with, now that I think about it, some resemblance to a certain Dr. Who plot (which came years after this story was out)
Freewheeling - Sad tale, when the bikes only want to be free.
That Explains Poland - Bigfoot hunt goes weird.
Romano Drom - Bigfoot tale becomes something else.
The Sacred Fire - Dark tale of creatures that feed on the light of others.
Winter Was Hard - How sometimes you find what you need, and sometimes it finds you.
Pity the Monsters - Really oddball tale of an old woman and her monster, which doesn't quite seem to fit with the rest of this collection very well, and makes me wonder if it was an entry for a very specific contest/anthology to start (still set in Newford, but that's the only obvious connection I saw).
Ghosts of Wind and Shadow - Runaway gets into trouble, gets rescued by fairies, more or less.
The Conjure Man - Tale of stories and trees.
Small Deaths - Creepy tale but with a surprisingly happy ending.
The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep - The dream quest of the Moon's Daughter.
In the House of My Enemy - Heartbreaking tale that includes Jilly's history (which was reprinted in the Onion Girl).
But for the Grace Go I - Mistaken identity leads to change.
Bridges - Be careful about your mental state when crossing a bridge...
Our Lady of the Harbour - Modernized version of The Little Mermaid
Paperjack - Continuation of Timeskip, with a very satisfying resolution, helped along by an origami master called Paperjack.
Tallulah - Story about Christie, referenced in many of the earlier stories as Geordie's writer brother, and his relationship with Newford and/or Talullah.
Ah, that was a breath of fresh air, especially read by Kate Reading. It's been so long that I only remembered bits and pieces here and there, so it was very much like discovering them for the first time, again. The first time I read these, I was not as familiar with horror tropes, and some of the darker stories are definitely borderline horror, if not outright horror. I'd also forgotten that there were a few stories with semi-explicit sex scenes (tasteful, but surprisingly detailed for the nature of the stories, imo).
A lot of the tales have bittersweet endings, so be warned if you're looking for a pick-me-up. I enjoyed all of them, but my least favorite was "Pity the Monsters", as it really felt out of place among the rest. My favorites are the ones that connect to each other more overtly (mostly through shared characters), and that's probably about half of them.
Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair - Odd in a way that's both inspiring and depressing, tbh.
The Stone Drum - On the dangers of claiming artifacts without understanding their provenance.
Timeskip - Interesting ghost story, with, now that I think about it, some resemblance to a certain Dr. Who plot (which came years after this story was out)
Freewheeling - Sad tale, when the bikes only want to be free.
That Explains Poland - Bigfoot hunt goes weird.
Romano Drom - Bigfoot tale becomes something else.
The Sacred Fire - Dark tale of creatures that feed on the light of others.
Winter Was Hard - How sometimes you find what you need, and sometimes it finds you.
Pity the Monsters - Really oddball tale of an old woman and her monster, which doesn't quite seem to fit with the rest of this collection very well, and makes me wonder if it was an entry for a very specific contest/anthology to start (still set in Newford, but that's the only obvious connection I saw).
Ghosts of Wind and Shadow - Runaway gets into trouble, gets rescued by fairies, more or less.
The Conjure Man - Tale of stories and trees.
Small Deaths - Creepy tale but with a surprisingly happy ending.
The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep - The dream quest of the Moon's Daughter.
In the House of My Enemy - Heartbreaking tale that includes Jilly's history (which was reprinted in the Onion Girl).
But for the Grace Go I - Mistaken identity leads to change.
Bridges - Be careful about your mental state when crossing a bridge...
Our Lady of the Harbour - Modernized version of The Little Mermaid
Paperjack - Continuation of Timeskip, with a very satisfying resolution, helped along by an origami master called Paperjack.
Tallulah - Story about Christie, referenced in many of the earlier stories as Geordie's writer brother, and his relationship with Newford and/or Talullah.