A novel of loss, identity, and, in the strangest of places, hope.
Leonard Trader is a luthier, a maker of guitars. Johnny Devlin is chronica... read full description
Leonard Trader is a luthier, a maker of guitars. Johnny Devlin is chronica... read full description
reviews
Sep 29, 2010
Amanda
rated it: 
I finished my book, I finished my book, I finished my book, I finished my book!!! I love it when I finish a book.
Good ol' Freaky Friday kind of story. The good guys win.
Good ol' Freaky Friday kind of story. The good guys win.
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Sep 29, 2010
Stephen
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I was casually browsing the book sale table at the library when this title caught my eye. "Trader" -- my first thought was that it might be about trading stocks or futures. Picking it up, I realized it was a fantasy -- way over at the other end of the spectrum, although on second thought the ambitions of your average trader probably do border on fantasy. But never mind that. I bought it anyway.
Nominally about Max Trader, a renowned but introverted maker of fine guitars, th More...
Nominally about Max Trader, a renowned but introverted maker of fine guitars, th More...
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Sep 29, 2010
JG (The Introverted Reader)
rated it:
Max Trader is a luthier who wakes up one morning in a body not his own. After the initial panic and a little further investigation, Trader finds out that charming, womanizing rake, Johnny Devlin, has wished for a different life and somehow they have traded bodies. Devlin has no intention of trying to switch back. He gets a fresh start while Trader tries to navigate his way through the wreckage of Johnny's life. While learning about Johnny, though, Devlin learns a few things about his own lif
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Sep 29, 2010
Mark
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Charles de Lint is probably one of the most brilliant writers at making you feel wretched one minute and then tremendous the next. He is not well known, but has produced an admirable body of work, all of which I'd term as Dark Fantasy. Many of his books center around the archetypal town of Newford (which I've always thought of as in Canada, for some reason) where dark and dangerous things always seem to happen. This is not horror, but a shadier side of fantasy. Reminds me a lot of Neil Gaiman,
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Jan 08, 2012
Steve
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Max Trader is a successful luthier - a master guitar maker - with a quiet, relatively contented life. Johnny Devlin is selfish, mean spirited and chronically unemployed. One morning the two of them wake up in each other's bodies. Devlin quickly and gleefully sets up in Trader's life, while Trader - friendless, penniless and about to be homeless, attempts to reclaim some semblence of his former life...[return][return]Bodyswopping - a tired, worn out science fiction cliche you might say. But this
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Apr 07, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
This book was intresting and keeped my intrest through out the whole book. This book out of most I have read really gave me a suprise through out the story with not only looking through the life of Leonard Trader but the different perspectives of other chaters as the story played out. "trader" realy gets enjoying to read whihle looking at a situation of a person how has swithed bodys with someone else and brings in other perceptions as you coutinue to read.Mostly Lenard Trader was try
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Jul 22, 2011
Kit
rated it:
When I began reading Trader, I honestly wasn’t sure what to think. Most people I’ve spoken with about de Lint’s writing tell me that he’s urban fantasy, so I was waiting for werewolves lurking in the hedges or vampires tromping down the sidewalks, interspersed with more sexual encounters than one could shake a stick at.
De Lint does none of this, and I must say: I am so much happier for it. Unlike other novels I’ve read in the urban fantasy genre, de Lint creates a town that is seeming More...
De Lint does none of this, and I must say: I am so much happier for it. Unlike other novels I’ve read in the urban fantasy genre, de Lint creates a town that is seeming More...
Aug 09, 2011
Masha
rated it:
This book is a sort of fantasy equivalent of Kafka's Metamorphosis: A Max Trader, a well respected instrument maker, wakes up in the body of another man. The man who's body and life Max now inhabits is Johnny, the human equivalent of a cockroach; a nasty loser who cheats, steals and treats everyone around him with contempt. An Johnny has taken over Max's body and life.
The story follows Max's attempts to make sense of what happened to him and to regain his old life. He has to deal More...
The story follows Max's attempts to make sense of what happened to him and to regain his old life. He has to deal More...
Sep 29, 2010
Frank
rated it:
DeLint shines as usual. A wonderful and interesting tale about a man who shifts minds with another and his travails in finding a soltion to his probelm. Placed in his city of Newford, and using some of his long term characters, he again shows us a world of supernatural bordering and interacting with our world.
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Aug 27, 2011
Cupcakencorset
rated it: 
Trader is pure magic, not just in the central plot point of the story, but also in the language and world-building. The main plot involves two men who wake up in each other's bodies and have to deal with the very real possibility that they may not get back to their own bodies, their own lives, before irrevocable damage is done... if ever. Complicating the matter is the fact that only one of the men really wants his old life back. Add in a terrific group of secondary characters, a heavy dose of u
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Sep 29, 2010
Andrew
rated it:
Charles De Lint isn't a perfect writer from a literary standpoint, and every time I read one of his books there are a few moments where I find myself restructuring his sentences in my head, or changing some wording around, to make it all flow more smoothly. Despite all of this, I adore his books. He goes so far beyond making up for slight weaknesses in his style that it seems petty to even bring them up. The characters in his books are more like real people I actually know than any other literar
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Feb 08, 2012
Erik
rated it:
An average yet entertaining read. Set in modern times in an unknown city, it turns reality on its head when two different men wake up in each other's body. It makes you think a bit about what it means to be yourself, and de Lint does a great job of describing how people handle the strange situation - the characters reactions are very believable. Other than that, it doesn't leave me wanting more (which, in a way, is probably a good thing, since it is a standalone novel).
Sep 24, 2011
I loved this book from one of my favourite fantasy authors..This story is filled with colourful characters from a modern lifestyle,with a quiet Luthier in love with his craft switching identites/bodies with a shady ladies man who has nothing in life & showing the complexities of living someone elses life while finding "themselves & their true values while journeying the otherworld...Thoroughly enoyable!
Aug 02, 2011
Lindsey
rated it:
Charles De Lint I've given multiple tries but i just can not warm up to his writting. Amazing ideas, a duel universe based in a dreamer's reality. And his characters are so unique and rough. All of his books will leave you feeling drained and as depressed as their main characters, just not something i can get into.
Sep 29, 2010
Kelly
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This book was slightly more mature for De Lint. It still brings up his favorite "don't overlook the spirits in homeless people!" theme a lot, and his sentimental view points of emos, goths, slackers, and all those other disaffected groups. He finds redemption in them. Which is sweet on some level, but again. He tends to beat it to death. The device for this one is about two vastly different guys who get their bodies swapped and their lives changed. One's a horrible guy and one's a good
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(3 people liked it)
Jan 02, 2011
Satyrblade
rated it:
De Lint's best novel explores identity, music, and the choices we make in life. Avoiding the melodrama and excessive cuteness that mars many of his works, TRADER is, end-to-end, a great read.
Aug 14, 2011
Christa
rated it:
This is my all time favorite book. It changes my life every time I read it. It makes you think about life and what a life is really worth
Sep 29, 2010
Mark
rated it:
Charles De Lint writes urban fantasy, that is stories of modern people in modern towns who have some small or large contact with magic. This book's plot is that a "good" and an "evil" person switch bodies and have to deal with there new lives. The book doesn't 100% track that plot, it is more a bunch of slice-of-life stories about the people who come in contact with the "good" character.
I really enjoyed reading the book, especially the first 2/3s, an More...
I really enjoyed reading the book, especially the first 2/3s, an More...
Jul 02, 2011
Suzannesky1
rated it:
I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read more and more books by this author!
Sep 29, 2010
Keith
rated it:
Really engrossing fantasy novel about two persons who exchange identities and the people around them. I never tried this author before but I'm going to seek out other books he has done. Very enjoyable read.
Sep 29, 2010
Sharon
rated it:
Another entertaining entry in de Lint's urban fantasy series about the denizens of Newford. In this outing, luthier Max Trader wakes up to find that his mind and memories are living in the body of ne'er-do-well Johnny Devlin ... and he is determined to get his life and his body back.
Fans of the Newford series will find favorite characters like Jilly Coppercorn and Christy Riddell in this book, as well as getting to know a whole batch of new denizens of The Tombs and Upper Foxworth
Fans of the Newford series will find favorite characters like Jilly Coppercorn and Christy Riddell in this book, as well as getting to know a whole batch of new denizens of The Tombs and Upper Foxworth
Sep 29, 2010
Chuck
rated it:
While I am not a de Lint fan, despite the fact that he is a talented writer,this book had a bit of a philosophical and metaphysical aspect, in contrast to his other writings, which are not as deep. The book is about a luthier, whose mind is put in the body of a real loser. The book demonstrates how a person who is emotionally sound can find his way through horrible circumstances and the importance of having faith in yourself no matter how bad things may look at the moment. Uplifting.
Sep 04, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
This is another story in the Newford story arc. It involves a body switch between two people and the consequences to those around them. It was an interesting twist to an old story and I got very involved with what was going to happen next. There were definitely some bittersweet moments in this one. I hope to see some of the characters in another one of his novels.
Sep 29, 2010
Tam
rated it:
This was my first experience with a story that has both first and third person narration. For the most part, deLint juggled the multi-POVs well and delivered an interesting story, despite the concept having been done before. For some reason though, the pacing felt a bit off. It wrapped up a bit too quickly to satisfy my tastes, but overall, it was a very good read.
Sep 29, 2010
Kirstin
rated it:
This was one of deLint's typical Newford book and though it was enjoyable, there were moments where I was a bit irritated with the characters. Between the Jilly-worship, the relationship angst, the depression, it was not as magical as some of his other books and seemed a bit more like a trip down bad-memory-lane.
