I mentioned it before, but part of what I like about Charles de Lint’s Newford series is that it’s not an ongoing storyline, but rather a bunch of novels and short stories that take place in a common setting with some common characters and some one-shot characters. This lets me read the series intermittently without the discomfort that is usually associated with reading a series with a continuing story in pieces with large gaps. I figured now was a good time to pull another of his books off my shelves and take a trip to Newford once again.
I’ve read two from this series so far, one was a short story anthology, and the other was a full novel. Both worked for what they were, but weren’t exactly flawless either. This time around we’re back to a short story anthology which was released about six years after “Dreams Underfoot”, and five years after “Memory and Dream”. While the gap is large, there’s only a few other books in the series released by de Lint in that time. Two of those books are written under his pseudonym of Samuel M. Key, and are more horror books that just happen to be in Newford than a real part of the series. Another is “The Dreaming Place”, which is a hard to find book of only 160 pages that is considered young adult. The other two are “Trader” and “The Ivory and the Horn”, both of which I’ve never seen on a shelf and have not had a chance to buy. Luckily, since these stories aren’t directly tied together, jumping a few books doesn’t have a huge impact and I can always go back to those when I finally get my hands on them.
Stories
I have to admit, I was less impressed overall with this collection than I was with “Dreams Underfoot”, which I’ll go in to. Don’t get me wrong, the book was still good and worth the read, but it felt a lot less diverse in its content this time around. There were some real gems in this book regardless, including one story that I would say currently holds the title of being my favorite Charles de Lint story thus far. I will start by addressing a few of my concerns with this book first though.
Unfortunately, Charles de Lint really seemed to have an obsession with birds, death and feminism when he wrote this book. Several of the stories in the book touch on death and the afterlife, and sometimes in a seemingly contradictory fashion. Birds, particularly Crows and Ravens and similar birds, seem to factor in heavily in the stories in this volume as well. Feminism seemed to be the most glaring focus of the book though, particularly noticeable since most of the stories focused on female protagonists. This in itself isn’t really that significant, but lesbianism was also something of a common theme, sometimes manifesting itself as a character trait or a setting (like lesbian night clubs) or just something running through a characters inner monologue and so on. An actual lesbian relationship only plays a major role in a story or two, so it’s not overbearing, but there’s definitely a strong hint of feminism in general in this book. I was hoping for a bit more diversity than this honestly, and I did find the frequency of these elements to get a bit tiring.
There was also a definite focus on tragedy and shattered lives in this book as well. While “Dreams Underfoot” did have a number of darker stories and tragedy and such as well, it wasn’t quite to the level seen in “Moonlight & Vines”. I would almost argue that these elements were even stronger in many, or most, of the stories in this volume than the fantasy part was. It was almost to the point that it felt like magic in this world only exists for the emotionally or psychologically crippled. I understand that this is urban fantasy, and part of that is to focus on urban life and the struggles that are a part of that, but I think the pendulum has swung too far one way in this case. In fact, there was one story, called “In the Land of the Unforgiven”, that seemed to have no fantasy or magic element to it at all. It wasn’t a bad story, there were worse in the book, but it really just didn’t seem to fit the rest or the genre.
One of the stories I didn’t much care for was “Passing”, which took a great classic legend and just made it something oddly ridiculous, even for a book full of urban centered fantasy. On top of that, it became more about a woman struggling with whether or not she’s a lesbian and her self-discovery and internal monologues than it was actually about the fantasy and the legend. I found the two stories didn’t mesh together well, and seemed completely out of place, which wasn’t helped by some poor pacing, even for a short story.
Another story I felt disappointed by was “Crow Girls”. Given how many de Lint fans seem to talk about these girls, and this being the first story I’ve read of them, I guess I was expecting something really good. Instead it was pretty much just a story about some woman struggling with an emptiness inside her, and the Crow Girls really only pop in at one point as a kind of inspiration for her. I felt the conclusion was odd and didn’t seem really realistic, even for a fantasy world since we’re talking standard human psychology here. Maybe they play a better role later on, but I’m underwhelmed so far, considering the hype from the fanbase about these characters.
Then there’s “In the Quiet After Midnight”, another one that left me a bit disappointed. It started so strong with a first part to it that was truly amazing. The encounter in the mysterious church at the beginning was some truly great and meaningful storytelling, and I found myself really hoping that the church would show up again. Sadly it didn’t, and instead the story completely spiraled downward in to another story of someone dealing with their internal emptiness and pains, and the protagonist at this point wasn’t even the same person the story opened up with. Then it just turns in to a strange sort of fairytale event that just seems to come out of nowhere, and doesn’t even seem like it would realistically have the effect that it did, much like in the last story I mentioned.
Then there is the story that I disliked the most, which is actually the story that the book ends with, called “The Fields Beyond the Fields”. Like the story the book opens with, this is also about Christy Riddell, but it paints a much different version of him than I’d previously known, and like the last two stories I mentioned, seems to just end in some kind of resolution that just doesn’t make sense. The resolution I can deal with though, it’s the content of the story that was hard to swallow. The whole thing was almost entirely an internal monologue that goes nowhere, and actually got to a point it was hard to keep myself interested, it was like reading some of the truly excruciatingly dull parts of an Ayn Rand novel, though luckily just for a handful of pages in this case.
Still though, while I didn’t care for those four stories, and the stories in the book seemed to rely a bit too heavily on emotionally and psychologically crippled people, there was still a number of great stories in the book as well. While the book ended with a Christy story that I just didn’t like at all, it opened with a Christy story that I really liked. In fact, part of what I liked about it was that it progressed his character, even if the book kind of ended with one that regressed his character in to another psychological mess. We’ve all watched TV, or read other short fiction anthologies with frequently used characters. We’ve maybe seen the episode of a show where the family finds and takes in a dog and all kinds of hilarity ensues, but by the end the dog either brought back to its home or dies or something that takes it out of the show so that the next episode can start they way they’ve all started for god knows how long. Short stories with frequent characters are similar in that respect, story after story sees some events, but nothing ever progresses forward. Here we get a story where the events do have an obvious lasting impact on the character with the introduction of another character. I admit I kept waiting for the point she’d die or disappear or something, and was surprised when that didn’t happen by the end.
Another great story is “Heartfires”, which was probably the closest to a fairy tale that one can get in this book. It was certainly an unusual story, with a cast that I’m still not entirely sure what to make of, but the story just had a sense of mysticism to it that made it particularly engaging. While it wasn’t the brightest gem in the book, it is definitely one that I took notice of and really enjoyed.
Then there’s “Wild Horses”, a particularly touching and emotional story about a woman seeking her long lost brother on the streets of Newford. Unlike “Passing”, this story melds two separate stories together in a way that doesn’t negatively impact it as a whole. It isn’t so much the woman or her brother that become the focus, but rather those she enlists the aid of in this effort. This story actually focuses primarily on Cassie, a black fortune teller who had gone through a similar search once some time ago, and that story and her history is told along with the primary story of looking for this womans missing brother. We’re also introduced to her partner, a Native-American named Joe, though this is actually his second appearance in the book (his first was a small role in “Shining Nowhere but the Dark”, which was pretty good too). This was definitely an emotional and bittersweet story, both in regards to the woman and Cassies history and present, and I’m hoping Cassie shows up again sometime.
“My Life as a Bird” is another great story, and is another with a sort of fairy tale vibe to it. I think what really makes this one work is the characters though, Mona as the heartbroken and lost artist, and Nacky Wilde who is some sort of crude and rude fairy type creature who owes Mona a debt and moves in with her. It’s like a fairy tale odd couple and works pretty well, being rather amusing at times. The story is more than that though, and the story told ends up being pretty engaging and interesting as well, definitely one of the better ones in this volume.
The true gem in the book, at least in my opinion, is one of the earlier stories called “The Big Sky”. This one was a very emotional and almost epic (for a short story) tale of compassion, self-discovery, determination, and redemption, all in the face of bleakness and despair that one could only really imagine. This story really hit me when I got through it, and I absolutely loved it. I would say it’s easily my favorite Charles de Lint story that I’ve read so far. It’s a lesson about compassion and having a purpose, or a meaning, and I personally felt it carried a strong message to it. Definitely my most recommended read of any of his stories so far.
All in all, this book was generally a good read. When I finished “Dreams Underfoot”, I will admit that there was only the one story in that book that I didn’t much care for, where as this book had four. Many that I didn’t mention were pretty good though, like “The Invisibles” and “Held Safe by Moonlight and Vines”. Of course, there’s also a few I didn’t mention that I felt were only mediocre to decent, like “In the Pines” and “If I Close My Eyes Forever”. Overall, I would say that pretty much any I haven’t yet mentioned were quite good. Sure, I liked more stories in “Dreams Underfoot”, but I will admit that “Moonlight & Vines” did have more gems to it, so it’s hard to compare and really pick a favorite. So I’ll settle for picking one specific favorite story, which is easily “The Big Sky” so far.
Characters
This is a tough segment to blog about for an anthology, since the cast is really quite large. On top of that, the short stories don’t provide a lot of development, and a lot of what is provided would require spoilers to really go in to much detail about the character since that development is tied to the plot of the story. Still, I’ll do my best to focus on a few of the stand outs from this book.
Jilly Coppercorn shows up of course, but she’s usually a secondary character in the stories, and really only gets “Twa Corbies” as a story in which she plays the protagonist. She’s as talkative as ever, with the same artistic and outgoing personality we’ve come to know in previous books. Her role here is primarily that of someone that people go to when they witness magic and are teetering at the threshold of belief and denial. She’s almost like a magical therapist, there to help people believe and accept the magic in the world. If she were a book, she’d be a sort of self-help book for those not sure if magic is real or fake.
Now if Jilly is a self-help book, Christy is an encyclopedia. He previously seemed to play the role of the sort that people would go to when they knew of magic, but now wanted to know what the magic was or truly understand it. Heck, it seems that Jilly herself owes a lot of her knowledge to Christy. I liked him in this role, as the sure wise man who people could go to for answers, like a Dumbledore of Newford. He was a character that seemed like an anchor amongst the troubled souls that otherwise make up the cast. This is why the final story really didn’t work for me, besides the boring monologuing, because it seemed to just regress this character to a degree that dropped him to, or even below, others that had otherwise seemed to look up to him. While development and personality is great, not everyone needs to be a troubled or tortured soul, and I’m just not buying all this doubt and internal strife he experienced in that story considering all he’s seen and been through.
Then there’s Cassie, who I mentioned previously as the protagonist of “Wild Horses”. This character really impressed me, and I feel she has a lot of potential. Her partner, Joe, appeared twice in this book, so I’m thinking we may see Cassie again as well. Her life has quite a history behind, as well as the story behind her ability to read the cards, or rather the specific deck she uses to do so. She is skilled and level-headed and good natured, not to mention very intelligent as well. Joe is also an intriguing individual, with an odd presence to him, but just as good-natured and intelligent as Cassie.
The Crow Girls are also worth a mention, even if their story didn’t impress me much. The characters themselves are still intriguing, and they also played a role in “Twa Corbies” as well. Their name fits well because they are not only crows, but just girls as well. They act immature and seem to just enjoy playing around and having fun. What they are and what role they play is uncertain, but they seem keenly aware of more of the world than their childish nature lets on, and it is hinted that they’re possibly quite old. They’re an interesting enigma, and based on the rumblings from the fanbase, I’m certain this isn’t the last time I’ve seen them.
A couple other characters worth mentioning are Ted from “The Invisibles” and Danny and Cray from “In the Land of the Unforgiven”. What makes these characters notable to me is that they finally gave me the impression that de Lint is capable and willing to create characters that don’t feel like they were created from the same mold as the rest. They felt more typical and less attached to the artistic or “bohemian” lifestyle that the majority of his characters seem to be drawn from. I felt this was noteworthy since a lack of character variety was one of my primary complaints with the last two of his books I’ve read.
Writing
I definitely think Charles de Lint has improved from his earlier works which I’d previously read, although he’s also maintained the same positive talents he’d exhibited before. His style is still detailed and artistic, painting a wonderful picture of the settings and the characters, both inside and out. He also managed to produce characters this time around that didn’t feel like derivatives of the same archetype. Yeah, those types still appear in great frequency, but this time we’ve got others that appear that have greater diversity to their personalities and mannerisms. Sure, we still don’t have sports fans or jocks or bar flies and other types, but at least now the characters being introduced don’t all feel like copies of each other with different physical descriptions and histories.
Still, as I mentioned, while he partially released this obsession with a certain character type, he instead latched on to a couple thematic elements that play a role in nearly every story in the book. If there’s not a lesbian then there’s a lesbian bar or a woman who’s angry at men or a man, or someone who thinks about it at one point or another, or just two females who live together and don’t date but have a platonic relationship. If the feminism isn’t present, then there’s bound to be birds like crows or ravens or grackles about, and if those aren’t around then death or the afterlife will be there. These elements pretty much take over the book, which works well enough as the stories are unique enough themselves, but the redundancy does get a little tiring.
Illustrations
The cover art is the only illustration to speak of for this book, and it’s a pretty plain but appealing piece of art. I wouldn’t really say the cover art has much to do with the content of the book, but I seem to get that impression from a number of de Lint’s books and their cover art. Although, “Memory and Dream” did have cover art that seemed to fit with the content of the book, but “Dreams Underfoot” didn’t really. I think it’s more of a artistic rendition of the story style rather than an actual depiction of the books contents. Either way, it works, giving the book that sort of enchanting look that is both beautiful and somewhat melancholy, similar to the stories themselves.
Closing Comments
It’s hard to say where this one stands amongst the others. While I like the style of stories Charles de Lint tells, there’s been elements in each of the three books that just haven’t worked for me. I read the books and know these are great stories and a great author, but there’s so far been a great negative in each book that I couldn’t get past. So far “Dreams Underfoot” has been the most consistently good book, but it suffered from redundant character types and a lack of any real truly outstanding gems. “Memory and Dream” suffered from a split narrative that didn’t quite work so well, along with some predictable elements and another cast of redundant character types. “Moonlight & Vines” finally showed Charles de Lint giving his characters greater range, but instead the redundancy went to the darker thematic elements, and as a result I found a number of stories that I didn’t care for, though there were some great gems as well.
Still, I’ve enjoyed each of his books so far, and I would recommend these three books to anyone. I think “Dreams Underfoot” was the most consistent, but while “Moonlight & Vines” had more variance in the quality, that only means there were some truly exceptional stories mixed in with the sub-par or mediocre ones. I think if the next anthology of his I read keeps the character diversity and applies that to thematic elements as well, along with being a bit less obsessed with the darker side of society and humanity, then I think it’ll go from being a good worthwhile book like these last three, too a great or amazing book.
© 2010, Keonyn. All rights reserved.
Tags: Charles de Lint, Moonlight & Vines, Newford Series, Orb Books, Urban Fantasy
