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212th out of 1,123 books
—
1,900 voters
A Red Heart of Memories (Red Heart of Memories #1)
A brilliant fantasy from Bram Stoker Award-winner and Nebula and World Fantasy Awards finalist Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
Paperback, 336 pages
Published
December 1st 2000
by Ace Trade
(first published 1999)
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Mar 25, 2008
Joe
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people looking for a tender and not over the top ghost story.
Shelves:
magical-realism,
contemporary-fantasy
This is a strange book. Written almost like a young children's novel, it really dances the edge of magical realism, fantasy, and the just plain bizarre. There's a parable for greed, a young ghost boy, and a bunch of people that were given superpowers years before without really realizing it. Note that this is far from the focus of the main plot, which revolves around a homeless, androgynous young woman who can just happen to talk to inanimate objects. Think Wonderfalls but without any jokes. An...more
Sort of magical realism, about a woman who can talk to objects and a man who can shapeshift into objects.
The author takes magic for granted in a way that children would, without equivocation and only a cursory nod toward the fact that normal adults in reality don't believe in magic. It makes for a fairy tale aesthetic and a graceful and effortless representation of magic, easily dove-tailed into reality without getting campy or goth.
Very good psychological realism in the characters, though it...more
The author takes magic for granted in a way that children would, without equivocation and only a cursory nod toward the fact that normal adults in reality don't believe in magic. It makes for a fairy tale aesthetic and a graceful and effortless representation of magic, easily dove-tailed into reality without getting campy or goth.
Very good psychological realism in the characters, though it...more
More angst, more magic, more closure.
I enjoyed this story, but felt a bit disconnected from what turned out to be the main story, probably because the point-of-view character was not the person who needed closure, but rather the person who facilitated closure. Although, in the end, I think it was a group effort.
Which brings up another reason I like Hoffman's work, created families who work together for each other's benefit.
I loved the magic here. The gold, while eventually becoming a tool for wi...more
I enjoyed this story, but felt a bit disconnected from what turned out to be the main story, probably because the point-of-view character was not the person who needed closure, but rather the person who facilitated closure. Although, in the end, I think it was a group effort.
Which brings up another reason I like Hoffman's work, created families who work together for each other's benefit.
I loved the magic here. The gold, while eventually becoming a tool for wi...more
I am not sure what to say about this book, but I can say without a doubt that I found it utterly magical. I guess that is a bit of a pun since it is about magic and look, there is a haunted house on the cover and everything. But what I mean is that it cast a spell on me while I was reading it. I was very moved, deeply thoughtful, and warmed by this book. Nina Kiriki Hoffman has a distinctive style that I really loved. She writes about everyday magic in a way that just... assumes its existence. M...more
It started off well - weird and wonderful. After that, it went downhill into a subplot involving magic gold. The characters became unsure, uncertain, doubtful, trying to control the gold and what using it would mean and this didn't make for good reading. All I wanted was to get back to the interesting main plot.
I also didn't understand how the androgynous element added to the story - i.e. Matt/Matilda; Suki and Lyle.
As for the magic gold itself, it remained a part of the story but its limitation...more
I also didn't understand how the androgynous element added to the story - i.e. Matt/Matilda; Suki and Lyle.
As for the magic gold itself, it remained a part of the story but its limitation...more
4.5 stars! I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman's work. The way she writes about magic, and the kind of magic she invents, is really unique and totally unlike anything else I've ever read about. I can't even try to describe the types of magic that she uses in this book because to do so would take away the surprise of coming across it in Hoffman's story. Plus, I wouldn't be able to do it justice. I think I liked
A Fistfull of Sky
a tiny bit better, but mostly because I identified with that main character...more
I read A RED HEART OF MEMORIES when I worked in an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon - Twenty-Third Avenue Books. I picked it up because I thought the title and cover were silly. I instantly chastised myself for "judging a book by its cover." I fell in love with the main character, Matt (Matilda) Black. It is a fantastical story set in our time. Hoffman's use of colors and visual language astound me. It is warm, whimsical and fun. I've read it 5 times and always go back to it. It's my co...more
Matt can speak with inanimate objects and witnesses the dreams of others. She finds a kindred spirit in Edmund a kindly wandering witch on a spiritual quest to help those in need. When they meet he’s been a brick wall for three months. Together they are able to fix the holes in others and themselves.
First, Edmund must go back to find out what he did when he was a teenager. He helped Susan, but never saw her again, when they each left town. He doesn’t remember why.
“Matt cocked her head. ‘People...more
First, Edmund must go back to find out what he did when he was a teenager. He helped Susan, but never saw her again, when they each left town. He doesn’t remember why.
“Matt cocked her head. ‘People...more
Liked this even better than 'Stir of Bones.' It didn't grab and entrance me as quickly, so I'm glad I read that one first. This book was more complex, and so unique. Apparently, you can just write the book you want to write without following the standard formulas and conventions. So much imagery, so much magic (and so many kinds of magic), so much personality. A book straight out of the imagination.
This is a book about shamanic healing, delivered in the guise of a fantasy novel. It's flawed in some ways but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters are engaging and while the magical elements of this story are a little out of control it is definitely unique and imaginative. Psychologically this novel is brilliant. I look forward to reading other books by her.
My new favourite fantasy author, definitely. She writes such a crazed and frenetic magic that I can't resist. I have never read anything like it before. The magic is definitely what always drives the plot.
Here we have a friendly ghost, a man who follows spirit in order to decide where his wanderer's life will start up next and who emerges from a wall at the beginning of the story, a woman who hears what man-made objects are thinking and a strange golden magic that responds to people who will op...more
Here we have a friendly ghost, a man who follows spirit in order to decide where his wanderer's life will start up next and who emerges from a wall at the beginning of the story, a woman who hears what man-made objects are thinking and a strange golden magic that responds to people who will op...more
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Such a sweet reread. Not flawless--everyone sounds a bit like Keanu Reeves going 'whoa', sometimes it gets to psychobabble, but friends helping each other out and loving each other, healthy family relationships (and some unhealthy past abuses), learning to move on from traumatic events, finding magic.
Feb 29, 2008
Kirsten
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Kirsten by:
Celia
Shelves:
read-pre-12-07,
from-library
Matt (short for Matilda) is homeless by choice (mostly) and consumed with an intense wanderlust. While she's lived on the streets for years, her life is made a lot easier by a unique ability -- she can speak to inanimate objects, and they will sometimes animate themselves to do things for her. Doors fall open at her touch (so long as she reassures them she doesn't mean any harm to the building they are protecting) and being able to talk to the trash makes it a lot easier to find food in the dump...more
This lovely, contemplative book follows extremely broken characters with good hearts learning to put themselves back together. Magic arises so naturally in the story that it seems an extension of the characters, themselves. I also really enjoyed that this story is told largely through dialogue.
Was good. I enjoy Matt's character, but I think she's better when she's more genderqueer. I started to get annoyed when more of the focus was about people and other witches and less about Matt and her talking to things.
Not quite as good as Fistful of Sky, but perhaps only because I read it second and some of the same themes were no longer new and exciting? A very good inner quest with many of the good elements of Fistful of Sky.
Apr 20, 2011
Jessica
marked it as to-read
I really love everything else I've ever read by Hoffman but I'm having some troubles with this book. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't read the short story where Matt was first introduced or what but I'm just not into this book. I am dragging through it...taking forever.
This is a follow-up to A Stir of Bones - about 10 years later. Something happened soon after the last book and a new character, Matt Black, meets Edmund and leads him to find old friends and confront their past. There's a lot of wish fulfillment magic/fantasy - comforting, but also cloying.
Nina Kiriki Hoffman is one of my favorite authors - her books are a joy to read.
Interesting ideas, not particularly well written. Heavy on dialogue.
This was bizarre! interesting but sooooo odd!
I really like this book, but it was really weird. It is a neat story about healing and forgiveness, loving your fellow-men, coming to know yourself. The magic in it is what was weird, but only weird because it was so different from any other magic I have read about. The woman can talk to manmade things and the man can talk to nature. There's this gold stuff that grants wishes. Clean and well written.
This is a follow-up to A Stir of Bones - about 10 years later. Something happened soon after the last book and a new character, Matt Black, meets Edmund and leads him to find old friends and confront their past. There's a lot of wish fulfillment magic/fantasy - comforting, but also cloying.
I cannot read enough by this author. So far, every book od Nina K. Hoffman led me into a fantastic world I complete could loose myself into. This book is no exeption :) However, in order to understand the plot, one should read "A stir of bones" before.
I enjoyed this in a kind of disquieted way, as I loved the author's style, and the characterisation but was not happy with the abundance of more and more magic that became available to solve every problem. I like my magic to have rules and limits...
I was disappointed that this book didn't hold my interest after enjoying A Fistful of Sky. But the characters didn't seem to have any weight to them, perhaps partially because this story is a continuation of some short story.
If you've ever fantasized about conversing with inanimate objects (keys, cars, doors), then this is the book for you. Everything in the world, including magic, is sentient and eager to communicate in this quirky, light fantasy.
latest re-read 1/28/2012
The first novel dealing with the Witch/Ghost crew of Spores Ferry (and *Matt*)
The first novel dealing with the Witch/Ghost crew of Spores Ferry (and *Matt*)
Review to follow. Great book. I'll be a life-long fan of her work from now on.
One of the most unique SFF books I've ever read
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Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s first solo novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones (1993), won the Bram Stoker Award for first novel; her second novel, The Silent Strength of Stones (1995) was a finalist for the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. A Red Heart of Memories (1999, part of her “Matt Black” series), nominated for a World Fantasy Award, was followed by sequel Past the Size of Dreaming in 2001. Much o...more
More about Nina Kiriki Hoffman...
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