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 Someplace to be Flying by Charles DeLint
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 16, Autumn 1997
Before I start on this review I have to state my personal preferences, which can often subtly slant a review. In this case any distortion will be in favour of DeLint rather than against and I have to admit a predisposition to like the book, before I had read a single word. Not that I was wrong in my expectations. Once again DeLint has delivered an intelligent and sensitive novel interweaving modern urban life and the deepest recesses of human consciousness along with the dreams of the ancient times before history or that world which may exist just beyond the periphery of our vision.
In the case of Someplace to be Flying we are presented with a living and breathing version of the native American creation mythos - animal people who inhabited the world before humanity. Coyote, who had a hand in our creation and the crows, blackbirds, jackdaws and ravens who are the original inhabitants of our reality. In DeLint's imagination these beings still inhabit our world, unbeknownst to us. They are powerful primal entities which can appear like normal humans when they desire but who possess superhuman and supernatural powers.
Many of them are benign and have our interests at heart, but there are those who would as soon see us destroyed if the opportunity arose. And it is just about to arise. Hank Walker attempts to rescue a stranger, Lily Carson, from a mugging and ends up being shot by the mugger who turns out to be well armed and rather less than a casual opportunist. But before the mugger can finish off Hank he is himself killed by two slender teenage girls who appear from nowhere. Following the rescue one of the girls heals a bullet wound in Hank's shoulder with spit and a gentle touch. Now we know we're not in Kansas, Toto.
This is Hank and Lily's first encounter with the animal people, they have been saved by the Crow Girls. Soon they become drawn deeper into the lives of the animal people as it turns out that both of them are acquainted with animal people and possess some animal blood themselves. Rapidly they discover that the mugging was related to a plot to end the existence of the world as we know it and that Lily and Hank are inextricably involved.
Once you are capable of suspending your disbelief, the characters and concepts in this novel are easy to credit. The everyday concerns of the protagonists as they travel through their ordinary and often humdrum lives are beautifully realised. The histories and motivations of the characters are thoroughly convincing. Perhaps the plot maguffin is a little more hackneyed than DeLint's usual fare, but all in all, a treat for fans and newcomers alike.
 Yarrow by Charles DeLint
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 4, Spring 1994
I came to YARROW by CHARLES DeLINT with few preconceptions about either the book or the author. The reviews I had read of his previous novels were on the whole quite good without ever bursting with enthusiasm. But the cover gave it the look of a gentle, pastoral fantasy and that was what I was in the mood for.
What I got was a less than gentle urban nightmare about an author, Cat Midhir, who is told stories in her dreams which form the plots of her novels. So when someone, or something, begins to steal her dreams it has the effect of blocking her writing and destroying her confidence in her abilities. Never brimming over with confidence at the best of times and with few friends, she has begun to subtly crack up before she finally tells anyone her problem.
But there is worse in store, for not only does the dream thief want the contents of her subconscious, he also wants her very soul.
Yarrow works well on at least a couple of levels, with DeLint's evocation of Cat Midhir's dreams and the realm to which she travels while asleep containing odd echoes of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood. It is also a pretty good thriller, with murder, mayhem, close shaves for the central characters and a spooky villain pushing the action along at a fair old lick. But where it falls down is as an investigation of the creative process.
The probability is that Charles DeLint did not intend the book to be judged on such a level but the fact is that he dipped into it briefly, but for long enough to begin the reader asking all the right questions and looking for him to take them on a voyage of discovery. Unfortunately he either lacked the time or the interest in the characters he had created. This lack of depth leaves the novel feeling hurried and somewhat unfulfilling. Although if you skim through it rapidly, as the author appears to have written it, or to give him the benefit of the doubt as he has designed it to be read, then it is a fast-paced but instantly disposable read. I get the impression that Mr. De Lint can do an awful lot better than this.
 Memory and Dream by Charles DeLint
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 9, 1995
There are a growing number of writers whose work blurs the boundaries between the genres. Writers who do not wish to be labelled or writers like Charles DeLint whose work transcends the genre which gave it birth. MEMORY AND DREAM, DeLint's latest novel is a contemporary fantasy with a mainly urban setting, but with a distinctly pastoral feel to it.
Isabelle is a painter of immense talent who studied under an acknowledged modern master, Vincent Ruskin. The techniques learned from Ruskin enable Isabelle to do more than paint beautiful pictures; the figures in her paintings call to life beings, spirits if you like, from another place or possibly another time. They are real in our world and appear outwardly human, although some of her creations are patently impossible and necessarily keep out of the view of mortal humans.
She discovers that Ruskin's tutelage was not inspired merely by his desire to pass on his skills and knowledge; the man is a monster who feeds on the beings called across to our world by the talent of Isabelle and others like her. When she discovers this she gives up representational painting (in favour of the abstract variety) and moves out of the city to take up residence on the island where she grew up on her parents' farm.
A letter, lost in the postal system for five years (sound familiar?), from an old friend now deceased and reminding her of an old promise, causes Isabelle to return to the city and begin painting in her former style. Naturally, Ruskin raises his ugly head again.
MEMORY AND DREAM is simply a superb novel on every level. The fantasy elements are introduced slowly into a totally believable milieu and the motivations of the central characters are drawn with painstaking attention to detail. This is no happy-ever-after fairy tale romp though at times it has the magical, timeless feel of Hans Christian Anderson at his best. DeLint has invented a string of powerful characters to people his novel and drive the action, although as often as not the action is fuel to the people. If there is a better craftsman working in fantasy today I would be very much surprised If this novel does not garnish every award for which it is eligible then there is no justice in the world. This is the best novel, no matter what the label attached, I have read in the past twelve months. MEMORY AND DREAM has the potential to make Charles DeLint the Stephen King (translate as: commercial phenomenon) of modern fantasy.
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