Category Archives: Books

Lloyd Alexander’s The Rope Trick

What is magic? Although she doesn’t know it, this is the question confronting Lidi, a young traveling magician, whose sleight of hand tricks earn her a living and bring her across the path of some likeable companions and some unsavory … Continue reading

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Lloyd Alexander’s Westmark

Theo is a young apprentice to a printer, an orphan who has been looked after by his community and his master, Anton. Business has been down lately because the Chief Minister Cabbarus has required official approval for every publication, with … Continue reading

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Lloyd Alexander’s Time Cat

Jason’s in trouble. He’s been sent to his room for, among other things, spilling paint on the dining room table, punching his younger brother for laughing at him, and talking back to his mother. Sulking in his room, he turns … Continue reading

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Charles de Lint’s Svaha

Naomi de Bruyn wrote this review. Svaha is a little different from what we are accustomed to seeing from Canadian fantasist Charles de Lint, being much more science fiction than fantasy. However, there are elements of urban and mythic fantasy … Continue reading

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Charles de Lint’s Triskell Tales: 22 Years of Chapbooks

This, quite honestly, is a book that I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on for quite some time. Years, in fact, long before the good people at Subterranean Press announced they would be putting forth this massive collection, … Continue reading

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Charles de Lint’s The Ivory and The Horn

Imagine a Charles de Lint short story collection as the literary equivalent of a box of Godiva chocolates. Each individual tidbit is luscious, rich, and sensuously delicious. Unfortunately, if you eat the whole box at once, those qualities tend to … Continue reading

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John Matthews’ The Summer Solstice: Celebrating the Journey of the Sun from May Day to Harvest

Celebrating seasonal rituals today is often like picking from a smorgasbord of hearty, simple dishes from diverse locales: deliberately rustic and mismatched, taken slightly out of context, but satisfying in a self conscious way. Solar rituals seem to be central … Continue reading

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Charles de Lint’s Waifs and Strays

When I read Charles de Lint, I don’t just pay attention to the words. I slow down and listen to the rhythms the words make. I look for the underlying patterns of color and music that so thoroughly insinuate themselves … Continue reading

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Various authors: An omnibus review featuring Lloyd Alexander, Evangeline Walton, et. al

Patrick Ford, translator and editor’s The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales (University of California Press, 1977) John Layard, editor’s A Celtic Quest: Sexuality and Soul in Individuation (revised by Anne S. Bosch) (Spring Publications, 1975) Lloyd Alexander’s The Black … Continue reading

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Kath Filmer-Davies’s Fantasy Fiction and Welsh Myth: Tales of Belonging

Contemporary fantasy writers such as Susan Cooper and Jane Yolen are drawing more and more on ancient Welsh mythic tales and folklore as the basis of their stories. (See Grey Walker’s review of Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series.) … Continue reading

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