Trader

Rating:
Summary: Too much angst and melodrama...
Review: I almost put this book down three times in the first 100 pages. It was only the appearance of "Bones" and the Coyote subthread that finally kept my attention. Well, that and the fact that I've enjoyed others from De Lint's library of stories. His strength lies in his inherent story telling abilities. His weakness is wallowing in excess inner angst. Ultimately, I liked this story, but it did not merit four hundred plus pages. It could have been told in half those.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: I have had mixed opinions about Mr. De Lint's short stories - some are wonderful and touching, some very forgettable. None seem like they would be of as much value if stretched out into a longer telling. In this fine tome, though, De Lint proves himself capable of writing a wonderful story and more importantly keeping it up for over 400 pages. The end is a bit "happy" for my tastes, especially when looking at the hard realism De Lint often uses, but the book as a whole is a winner. I wish we had gotten to view the world more from Johnny's viewpoint, since every other character's eyes and feelings are used numerous times in telling the story, but the one look we get from Johnny's perspective explains his character perfectly. As always with Mr. De Lint's writing, the prose is wonderful, even if you disagree with some of his philosophy. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A rewarding visit to Newford and beyond
Review: When first hearing of "Trader" the subject of this book didn't really sound appealing. Luckily I decided to buy it anyway. Returning to Newford and its enchanting people was great. Okay, it did get some getting used to the permanent switching of characters but this style of writing helped unfolding this story, a real page-turner!

In my opinion, though, De Lint put too much different storylines in this book and therefore couldn't explore all of them deeply enough. The final showdown between Trader and Devlin wasn't quite what I expected it to be. This guy takes away all the basics of Max'existence, but there is not really a deeper-going dialogue between the leading characters!

But all in all "Trader" is a book really worth reading.