Most Popular Books by Charles De Lint

Newford''s citizens--fey folk, magicians, hustlers, painters, fiddlers, and ordinary people--stumble headfirst into enchanting adventures.

A tale of love, courage, and the transforming power of imagination

A Loving Collaboration between Charles de Lint and his fans, this extraordinary collection celebrates the finest stories of the pioneer of urban fantasy and creator of the mythical city of Newford. Asked to suggest their own favorite stories for inclusion, de Lint''s readers were instrumental in creating this timeless treasury. These retold fairy tales and modern myths redefine magic through de Lint''s enchanted characters: playful Crow Girls sneaking into the homes of their sleeping neighbors; a graffiti artist risking everything to expose a long-standing conspiracy; a half-human girl choosing between her village and her strange birthright; and an unrepentant trickster throwing one last party in his folkloric tradition.

In the Old Country, they called them the Gentry: ancient spirits of the land, magical, amoral, and dangerous. When the Irish emigrated to North America, some of the Gentry followed...only to find that the New World already had spirits of its own, called manitou and other such names by the Native tribes. Now generations have passed, and the Irish have made homes in the new land, but the Gentry still wander homeless on the city streets. Gathering in the city shadows, they bide their time and dream of power. As their dreams grow harder, darker, fiercer, so do the Gentry themselves--appearing, to those with the sight to see them, as hard and dangerous men, invariably dressed in black. Bettina can see the Gentry, and knows them for what they are. Part Indian, part Mexican, she was raised by her grandmother to understand the spirit world. Now she lives in Kellygnow, a massive old house run as an arts colony on the outskirts of Newford, a world away from the Southwestern desert of her youth. Outsider her nighttime window, she often spies the dark men, squatting in the snow, smoking, brooding, waiting. She calls them los lobos, the wolves, and stays clear of them--until the night one follows her to the woods, and takes her hand.... Ellie, an independent young sculptor, is another with magic in her blood, but she refuses to believe it, even though she, too, sees the dark men. A strange old woman has summoned Ellie to Kellygnow to create a mask for her based on an ancient Celtic artifact. It is the mask of the mythic Summer King--another thing Ellie does not believe in. Yet lack of belief won''t dim the power of the mast, or its dreadful intent. Donal, Ellie''s former lover, comes from an Irish family and knows the truth at the heart of the old myths. He thinks he can use the mask and the "hard men" for his own purposes. And Donal''s sister, Miki, a punk accordion player, stands on the other side of the Gentry''s battle with the Native spirits of the land. She knows that more than her brother''s soul is at stake. All of Newford is threatened, human and mythic beings alike. Once again Charles de Lint weaves the mythic traditions of many cultures into a seamless cloth, bringing folklore, music, and unforgettable characters to life on modern city streets. At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fantasy-roman.

Modern classic of urban myth and magic.

From the World Fantasy Award–winning author: A website malfunction causes unexpected trouble for a modern city infused with magic and myth. Charles de Lint''s Newford novels are renowned for their imaginative scope and memorable characters. In Spirits in the Wires, de Lint returns to his captivating city as it enters the Internet age. The city of Newford has it all—including its own popular research and library website, Wordwood. But when Wordwood mysteriously crashes, everyone visiting the site instantly vanishes. Longtime resident Christy Ridding witnesses his girlfriend Saskia disappears right before his eyes. . . . To rescue their missing friends, Christy and his companions must journey into Newford''s otherworld, where the Wordwood, it transpires, has a physical presence of its own...

Familiar to Charles de Lint''s ever-growing audience as the setting of the novels Memory & Dream, Trader, and Someplace To Be Flying, Newford is the quintessential North American city, tough and streetwise on the surface and rich with hidden magic for those who can see. Now de Lint returns to this extraordinary city for a third volume of short stories set there, including several never before published in book form. Here is enchantment under a streetlamp: the landscape of urban North America as only Charles de Lint can show it. "Blending Lovecraft''s imagery, Dunsany''s poetry, Carroll''s surrealism, and Alice Hoffman''s small-town strangeness," wrote Interzone on Dreams Underfoot, de Lint''s Newford tales are "a haunting mixture of human warmth and cold inevitability, of lessons learned and prices to be paid." At the Publisher''s request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Fantasy-roman.

This collection from the World Fantasy award-winning author of The Onion Girl contains "lucid transfiguration of folklore and myth into fantasy tales." — Booklist Charles de Lint''s urban fantasies, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical realism. At the heart of his work is the ongoing Newford series, of which this is the latest volume. The city of Newford could be any contemporary North American city . . . except that magic lurks in its music, in its art, in the shadows of its grittiest streets, where mythic beings walk disguised. And its people are like you and me, each looking for a bit of magic to shape their lives and transform their fate. In this volume we meet a bluesman hiding from the devil; a Buffalo Man at the edge of death; a murderous ghost looking for revenge; a wolf man on his first blind date; and many more. We''re reunited with Jilly, Geordie, Sophie, the Crow Girls, and other characters whose lives have become part of the great Newford myth. And De Lint takes us beyond Newford''s streets to the pastoral hills north of the city, where magic and music have a flavor different but powerful still. "Gracefully told and filled with unforgettable and convincing characters." — Library Journal

A tale of magic and murder The increasingly bizarre murders have baffled the police—but each death is somehow connected with the city''s elusive Gypsy community. The police are searching for a human killer, but the Romany know better. They know the name of the darkness that hunts them down, one by one: Mulengro.

This full-color, illustrated companion novel to The Cats of Tanglewood Forest includes "beautiful bookmaking, lovely storytelling, and wondrous illustrations....Readers will be enchanted" ( Kirkus Reviews, starred review). This captivating adventure from two masters of modern fantasy is a story of magic, family, and the power in believing in both. Sarah Jane has always wanted to meet a fairy, but she has no idea that the tiny wounded man she discovers in the Tanglewood Forest is about to ensnare her in a longtime war between rival magical clans. When her six sisters are kidnapped and split up by the opposing sides, she''ll need the help of several friends--from the reclusive Aunt Lillian to the mysterious Apple Tree Man--to bring them home. But if they don''t untangle themselves from the feud quickly, they could all be trapped in the fairy world forever. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly noted "the lyrical narrative blends a contemporary setting with a fairy tale that might have been plucked from a distinctly different time and place.

"[This] fantasy moves from the outer to the inner world with amazing ease and should satisfy new and old fans of this prolific and gifted storyteller." — Publishers Weekly In novel after novel, and story after story, Charles de Lint has brought an imaginary North American city to vivid life. Newford: where magic lights dark streets; where myths walk clothed in modern shapes; where a broad cast of extraordinary people work to keep the whole world turning. At the center of all the entwined lives in Newford stands a young artist named Jilly Coppercorn, with her tangled hair, her paint-splattered jeans, a smile perpetually on her lips—Jilly, whose paintings capture the hidden beings that dwell in the city''s shadows. Now, at last, de Lint tells Jilly''s own story . . . for behind the painter''s fey charm lies a dark secret and a past she''s labored to forget. And that past is coming to claim her now. "I''m the onion girl," Jilly Coppercorn says. "Pull back the layers of my life, and you won''t find anything at the core. Just a broken child. A hollow girl." She''s very, very good at running. But life has just forced Jilly to stop. "A master storyteller, [de Lint] blends Celtic, Native American, and other cultures into a seamless mythology that resonates with magic and truth." — Library Journal "Like great writers of magic realism, [de Lint] writes about people in the world we know, encountering magic as a part of that world. Fairy tales come true, and their magic affects realistic characters full of particular lusts and fears." — Booklist

When Lily, a photojournalist, investigates rumors she has heard of magical "animal people" living in the ruins Newford''s slums, she meets these strange and fantastical creatures, including Coyote the Trickster, Jackdaw the storyteller, and the Crow Girls. 35,000 first printing.

Janey Little, a folk musician, discovers a mysterious manuscript hidden in her grandfather''s cottage in Cornwall and gets caught up in a world both strange and familiar, with only her music as a weapon.

In this whimsical, original folktale, written and illustrated throughout in vibrant full color by two celebrated masters of modern fantasy, a young girl''s journey becomes an enchanting coming-of-age story about magic, friendship, and the courage to shape one''s own destiny. Lillian Kindred spends her days exploring the Tanglewood Forest, a magical, rolling wilderness that she imagines to be full of fairies. The trouble is, Lillian has never seen a wisp of magic in her hills--until the day the cats of the forest save her life by transforming her into a kitten. Now she must set out on a perilous adventure that will lead her through untamed lands of fabled creates--from Old Mother Possum to the fearsome Bear People--to find a way to make things right.

The renowned urban fantasy author returns to the magical world of Newford, where fairies and spirits meddle in a long overdue romance. Ever since Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie Riddell were introduced in "Timeskip," Charles de Lint''s first Newford story, their friends and readers alike have been waiting for them to realize that they belong together. Now, in Widdershins, a stand-alone novel of fairy courts set in shopping malls and the Bohemian street scene of Newford''s Crowsea area, Jilly and Geordie''s story is finally told. Before it''s over, we''ll find ourselves plunged into the rancorous and sometimes violent conflict between the magical North American animal people and the more newly-arrived fairy folk. We''ll watch as Jilly is held captive in a sinister world based on her own worst memories and Geordie, attempting to help, is sent someplace even worse. And we''ll be captivated by the power of love and determination to redeem ancient hatreds and heal old magics gone sour. To walk "widdershins" is to walk counterclockwise or backwards around something. It''s a classic pathway into the fairy realm. It''s also the way people often back slowly into the relationships that matter, the real ones that make for a life.

Fantasy-roman.