Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The Ivory and the Horn-Charles de Lint

The Ivory and the Horn
Charles de Lint
Tor Orb, Oct 2007, $14.95
ISBN: 9780765316790

These fifteen Newford tales are a fun interrelated collection as the characters find solace from the everyday pain of living, but every action leads to a related reaction. For instance Jilly’s artist pal Sophie enters "Mr. Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery" as a child only to find herself years later isolated in a Native American dream world in "Where Desert Spirits Crowd the Night"; while her parents first meet "In Dream Harder”. Thus the audience obtains deep fantasy tales that contain characters in several entries, which in turn leads to even more profound sagas. Although all except for "Bird Bones and Wood Ash" have been printed in other publications, fans of the series will enjoy reading them in one anthology that makes for easy mix and match as Newford character linkage between sets of stories showcases Charles de Lint’s abilities to intelligently entertain his fans.

Harriet Klausner

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