Spiritwalk

Rating:
Summary: Not De Lint's best
Review: I was expecting a fine read when I began this book, since the writer is such a good one, a master of both short stories and novels. This book was, to put it briefly, a major letdown. The pagan characters are of course one hundred percent virtuous and always manage to save the day, an example of perfect propoganda. If an author had attempted similar characters, only making them Christian or Jewish, they would be condemned for preaching, but I guess it's okay if they're Wiccan. While De Lint condemns New Age theology in this book, he presents quite a bit of it. The attempt to mix together several plots is also a failure - the first story is extremely dry, the second moderately interesting and the third average at best. Overall the attempt to mix them into one coherent book does not work and the whole comes across as very convoluted (sp?). I'd recommend Trader for anyone who wants a real taste of De Lint's writing - even fans of his should skip over this.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting new kind of fantasy
Review: Spiritwalk is a sequel to Moonheart. I accidently read this book before Moonheart, but I have since corrected that error. It makes much more sense when you know who the characters are ;)

I think that de Lint's writing is decent, and his stories are good. They are a different kind of fantasy, pulling the otherworld into our world, an occurance that surprises the characters as much as the reader. They are perhaps gothic, having a dark tone to them, but good still triumphs over evil.

Moonheart is definately a better book, but those who liked it would be interested in the stories in this one. Other reviewers have compared de Lint to Tolkien and CS Lewis, but I think they were misguided. The fantasy of Tolkien and Lewis is of a different brand. For one thing, they are Christian, and this is clearly reflected in the organization of their secondary worlds. De Lint's writing is based on a different, polytheistic tradition, and this also is apparent in his writing. [In Moonheart, it is mainly Celtic w/ some Native American, in Spiritwalk it focuses more on the Native American, and in later works such as Svaha, it is a blend of Native American and Eastern mysticism]. Not that you can't like all three of these authors [I do], but I do not think that they are similar enough to be compared. I appreciate each for his merits. I would consider de Lint to be modern in his themes, and his writing to be exclusively for teenagers and adults [NOT children!] My reason for this would most likely be sex scenes, which, while I'm on the topic, tend be described in rather ridiculous terms, but then, I am no fan of romance novels. These stories are an interesting rendition of ancient rituals of magic crossing into modern Canada.