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The Gypsy
by
Steven Brust (Goodreads Author),
Megan Lindholm
Cigany is the gypsy, stalking the city in a cloud of magic.Stepovich is the seasoned cop, who keeps finding dead bodies in the gypsy's wake.The Fair Lady is Queen of the Underworld, drawing them both into her murderous web...until only the gypsy's broken memories stand between Stepovich's beloved city and the Lady's dark designs.Part crime novel, part magic, Steven Brust a...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
April 1st 2005
by Orb Books
(first published 1992)
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Definitely one for the urban fantasy fans.
Co-written by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) and Steven Brust, the book mixes Hungarian folkloric archetypes with a story of modern police and teens. I suspect that Lindholm wrote the folklore-inspired characters, because some of them, especially the title character, reminded me of her early book "Wizard of the Pigeons." There are a few references to tie this in to Brust's 'Taltos' series, which fans of his will likely appreciate.
Overall, though, this isn...more
Co-written by Megan Lindholm (Robin Hobb) and Steven Brust, the book mixes Hungarian folkloric archetypes with a story of modern police and teens. I suspect that Lindholm wrote the folklore-inspired characters, because some of them, especially the title character, reminded me of her early book "Wizard of the Pigeons." There are a few references to tie this in to Brust's 'Taltos' series, which fans of his will likely appreciate.
Overall, though, this isn...more
...The Gypsy (1992) is an Urban Fantasy novel from before the hijacking of the sub genre by perky, vampire-slaying, werewolf-dating, power-girls. It is set in the late 1980s and it mixes Hungarian folklore (which I assume to be part of Brust's input) with a small town US setting. From what I can tell, it received some very mixed reviews over the years. I guess it is not an easy book to like. I'm not sure about Brust but it is very different from the other novels that Megan Lindholm wrote for one...more
It's a pretty good fantasy-mystery with a bit of horror. It didn't grab me on one read the way some of his others have, although I'm not sure why. I should re-read it & see if I change my mind, but as I recall, I just didn't identify much with the hero.
Apr 10, 2012
Jeremy Howell
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
hobb-collection
Wow, a Hobb/Lindholm book I didn't like! What is this madness?
I'm not familiar with Steven Brust so I can't comment on his influence in this collaboration, but I have to say that this is far from what I've grown to expect from Lindholm. I kept inspecting the text, desperate to pinpoint her voice and finding nothing. The weakest point of this book for me were the characters - which was jarring, considering Lindholm's greatest strength are her characters. Points of view switched around rapidly, ne...more
I'm not familiar with Steven Brust so I can't comment on his influence in this collaboration, but I have to say that this is far from what I've grown to expect from Lindholm. I kept inspecting the text, desperate to pinpoint her voice and finding nothing. The weakest point of this book for me were the characters - which was jarring, considering Lindholm's greatest strength are her characters. Points of view switched around rapidly, ne...more
I wavered between really liking this one, and really just hoping it'd end. On the whole, I liked the parts I liked way more than I disliked the parts that I disliked, so I'd still count this as a worthwhile read.
This is an urban fantasy tale of Good versus Evil set against/above/within the backdrop of Hungarian folklore. The characters are compelling and the multiple story arcs are intricately woven into a single, grand tapestry by the end. The mystery unfolds at a pace that is neither too revea...more
This is an urban fantasy tale of Good versus Evil set against/above/within the backdrop of Hungarian folklore. The characters are compelling and the multiple story arcs are intricately woven into a single, grand tapestry by the end. The mystery unfolds at a pace that is neither too revea...more
Dans ce roman, on suit différents personnages qui, depuis une petite ville américaine bien typique, vont tenter de sauver notre moooonde. Comme je l’ai déja écrit, le début de ce roman, trop confus, trop onirique, trop morcelé, a failli avoir raison de ma motivation.
Et pourtant, en termes de lecture, je suis pour le moins obstiné. Je me suis donc accroché. Coup de bol pour moi, la suite est un peu meilleure que le début. Ca reste confus, difficile à suivre, mais c’est un peu plus clair que les c...more
Et pourtant, en termes de lecture, je suis pour le moins obstiné. Je me suis donc accroché. Coup de bol pour moi, la suite est un peu meilleure que le début. Ca reste confus, difficile à suivre, mais c’est un peu plus clair que les c...more
Overly complicated but in an unusual and irritating way. The characters in the story also have an allegorical or perhaps archetypical component. So they fade out in mid paragraph and are the owl or wolf or raven or badger or whatever. And the evil fairy world is seemingly just behind the veil and also fades in and out but in the writing not in the world itself. There were some good bits to this book but in general it was not worth reading or rereading. But showing the flaw in the star system ......more
A tarot-fantasy, I guess. Street cops join with mysterious strangers to try and end the machinations of the devil, aided and abetted by Old Crones Who Know Secrets. Some passages of almost lyrical brilliance shine in an otherwise dank, dark novel that doesn't want to get into too many details (except about sauces - Brust does like writing about sauces). 3/5
This is a truly amazing urban fantasy. The characters are strongly drawn and intriguing, and while the plot is not new, it's handled well. One of the strongest elements of this book for me was the way the Gypsy/Dove character slipped involuntarily from a magical to a realistic view of his surroundings and then back again.
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Interesting, but confusing, especially when many characters have multiple names, and aren't always interesting enough for me to remember one. I usually like Brust and Lindholm (as Robin Hobb), but this just didn't work for me.
Meh. I would like to blame Megan Lindholm, because her opinions are bad and I disapprove, but really, I suspect it's Brust. It takes skill to be that incomprehensible. Back to Dragaera for me.
This was okay. Not great -- which is too bad, I had high expectations with Brust involved -- but okay. I'm not terribly fond of the use of multiple tight 3rd POVs and this book had at least half a dozen, possibly more, and so I wasn't able to settle comfortably into caring about any particular character or plot thread before it was pulled away from me. Yet the story was interesting, and I liked the mix of the fairy tale with reality, and the writing was certainly quite competent, sometimes even...more
This was a strange book - and I think it tried too hard to be too clever.
At first it was too much like a gritty cop murder mystery, but then the fantasy started kicking in and I actually thought the ending was pretty good.
Not as good as other Hobb books but an alright read nonetheless.
A decent read.
I'll give a big "meh" for this one. Pretty standard urban fantasy bit of fluff, with some vague prophecies delivered by bland characters in annoying verse.
It wasn't all bad. As a sometime violinist, I thought the scene where the would-be lovers played a violin in tandem was very sweet. Other than that, meh all around.
It wasn't all bad. As a sometime violinist, I thought the scene where the would-be lovers played a violin in tandem was very sweet. Other than that, meh all around.
Meh. Even though Brust and Lindholm are among my favourites, this was confusing and didn't really work for me. It didn't help that many characters had several different names, and weren't interesting enough to keep track of even if they had just one.
From the first time I read about this collaboration, I had to have it. When I did eventually get my hands on it, I wasn't disappointed. I found it somewhat confusing in places, I think, but a good, absorbing read.
Brust and Lindholm are the authors of this stories-within-stories "fairy tale" that was interesting and entertaining to read.
May 21, 2013
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Steven Karl Zoltán Brust (born November 23, 1955) is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede, and also belongs to the Pre-Joycean Fellowship.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
More about Steven Brust...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...
(Photo by David Dyer-Bennet)
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“Blind man's night is music to the deaf, and everyone has two paths, not one,
whence comes tragedy and comedy, forsooth and damn straight, son.”
—
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whence comes tragedy and comedy, forsooth and damn straight, son.”
