Synopses & Reviews
In the city of Newford, when the stars and the vibes are right, you can touch magic. Mermaids sing in the murky harbor, desert spirits crowd the night, and dreams are more real than waking.
Charles de Lint began his chronicles of the extraordinary city of Newford in Memory & Dream and the short-story collection Dreams Underfoot. In The Ivory and the Horn, this uncommonly gifted craftsman weaves a new tapestry of stark realism and fond hope, mean streets and boulevards of dreams, where you will rediscover the power of love and longing, of wishes and desires, and of the magic that hovers at the edge of everyday life.
Review
"De Lint is a master of the modern urban folk tale." --
The Denver Post"De Lint's writing is as good as ever, and his folkloric scholarship remains outstanding." --Booklist
"This fanciful and moving collection of 15 tales, some loosely related with common characters, probes deeply into the nature of art and the souls of the poor and downtrodden....De Lint's evocative images, both ordinary and fantastic, jolt the imagination." --Publisher's Weekly
About the Author
Born in Holland in 1951,
Charles de Lint grew up in Canada, with a few years off in Turkey, Lebanon, and Switzerland.
Although his first novel was 1984's The Riddle of the Wren, it was with Moonheart, published later that same year, that de Lint made his mark, and established him at the forefront of "urban fantasy," modern fantasy storytelling set on contemporary city streets. Moonheart was set in and around "Newford," an imaginary modern North American city, and many of de Lint's subsequent novels have been set in Newford as well, with a growing cast of characters who weave their way in and out of the stories. The Newford novels include Spirit Walk, Memory and Dream, Trader, Someplace To Be Flying, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and Spirits in the Wires. In addition, de Lint has published several collections of Newford short stories, including Moonlight and Vines, for which he won the World Fantasy Award. Among de Lint's many other novels are Mulengro, Jack the Giant-Killer, and The Little Country.
Married since 1980 to his fellow musician MaryAnn Harris, Charles de Lint lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Table of Contents
Waifs and strays -- Mr. Truepenney's book emporium and gallery -- The forest is crying -- The wishing well -- Dead man's shoes -- Bird bones and wood ash -- A tempest in her eyes -- Saxophone Joe and the woman in black -- The bone woman -- Pal o'mine -- Where desert spirits crowd the night -- Dream harder, dream true -- Coyote stories -- The forever trees.