The Ivory and the Horn

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read. I love the mixture of characters. As with most people, Jilly Coppercorn is my favorite character and I really love reading stories of her. The wishing well is my favorite story in the book. And the one with Coyote (I don't remember what is called). This book is pure magic. I'd suggest it to anyone who loves a good read which delves into fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: More beautiful tales from the streets of Newford
Review: This second collection of urban fantasy stories from de Lint's fictional city of Newford is almost as pleasurable as the first. As before, each story can be read and enjoyed on its own, but taken as a whole, they build subtly upon each other, and on stories from Dreams Underfoot, to create a whole portrait of a city that is greater than the sum of its parts. De Lint's lyrical, beautiful prose subtly underplays the magic, making it completely believable that there truly is this greater world beyond the one we ordinarily perceive.

The only reason I give this book four stars rather than five is the apparent influence that author/attorney Andrew Vachss has on this collection. Vachss's work crusading against crimes against children is indeed an admirable goal. However, several stories in a row in The Ivory and the Horn pick up on those themes--one even mentioning Vachss as someone one of the characters has had contact with--and it lends that particular section a samey sort of feeling, as opposed to the variety I prefer to find in short story collections. Individually, the stories are just fine. I simply would have prefered to see them presented in a different order, to keep the recurring themes from feeling so obvious.

Rating:
Summary: More beautiful tales from the streets of Newford
Review: This second collection of urban fantasy stories from de Lint's fictional city of Newford is almost as pleasurable as the first. As before, each story can be read and enjoyed on its own, but taken as a whole, they build subtly upon each other, and on stories from Dreams Underfoot, to create a whole portrait of a city that is greater than the sum of its parts. De Lint's lyrical, beautiful prose subtly underplays the magic, making it completely believable that there truly is this greater world beyond the one we ordinarily perceive.

The only reason I give this book four stars rather than five is the apparent influence that author/attorney Andrew Vachss has on this collection. Vachss's work crusading against crimes against children is indeed an admirable goal. However, several stories in a row in The Ivory and the Horn pick up on those themes--one even mentioning Vachss as someone one of the characters has had contact with--and it lends that particular section a samey sort of feeling, as opposed to the variety I prefer to find in short story collections. Individually, the stories are just fine. I simply would have prefered to see them presented in a different order, to keep the recurring themes from feeling so obvious.