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Collected Early Stories of Charles de Lint #1
A Handful of Coppers: Collected Early Stories, Vol. 1: Heroic Fantasy
Contents:
Aynber
“The Fair, the Foul & the Foolish”
“Wizard's Bounty”
“Stormraven”
“The Valley of the Troll”
“The Road to Jarawen” (unpublished)
“A Handful of Coppers” (unpublished)
Colum mac Donal
“Night of the Valkings”
“The Ring of Brodgar”
“The Iron Stone”
“The Fair in Emain Macha”
Damon
“Damon: A Prologue” (unpublished)
“Wings Over Antar”
“Dark God Laughing” (unpublished)
Liavek
“The Rat's Alley Shuffle”
“The Skin & Knife Game” (collaboration with Lee Barwood)
Aynber
“The Fair, the Foul & the Foolish”
“Wizard's Bounty”
“Stormraven”
“The Valley of the Troll”
“The Road to Jarawen” (unpublished)
“A Handful of Coppers” (unpublished)
Colum mac Donal
“Night of the Valkings”
“The Ring of Brodgar”
“The Iron Stone”
“The Fair in Emain Macha”
Damon
“Damon: A Prologue” (unpublished)
“Wings Over Antar”
“Dark God Laughing” (unpublished)
Liavek
“The Rat's Alley Shuffle”
“The Skin & Knife Game” (collaboration with Lee Barwood)
332 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 2003
About the author
Charles de Lint
451 books4,026 followersCharles de Lint is the much beloved author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children's books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, conducted by Random House and voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint's books among the top 100.
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 14, 2025
Pretty much what it says on the tin -- a collection of very early (mostly 1978-1985-ish) stories by de Lint, many of which were originally published in small-circulation 'zines, one of which appeared in Sword and Sorceress, and a couple of which are taken from his participation in Liavek, another mid-80s Thieves' World-style shared universe. And some of which, although I assume everything dates back to that period, may not have been published back at the time because the copyright date shows 2003, same as the collection itself.
And yes, these are all stories in more of a heroic fantasy/secondary world sort of mode rather than the urban fantasy where de Lint would go on to really make his mark (and which he continues to write to this day).
So there are four sets of stories included here. In order:
Aynber, a woman bounty hunter, sometimes accompanied by a hedge wizard (he might dispute the label) called Thorn. These stories, per the introduction, are clearly inspired by spaghetti westerns, particularly Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name films.
Colum mac Donal, heir-in-exile to the throne of a lightly-altered Irish Isles (although he actually spends several of the stories on a lightly-altered England in company of one King Artor before returning home in the longest story in the book, The Fair in Emain Macha. Unsurprisingly, given the names, these have a very distinct Celtic flavor to them.
Damon, a half-daemon (sort of a proto-Tiefling?) back in Aynber's world. These two stories (and an introductory piece) start shading towards the grim.
Saffer, a bard(?) in Liavek. As mentioned, this is a shared universe that leans more heavily into magic and luck, and these stories initially appeared in two of the half dozen or so collections of Liavek stories. These are probably the best in the book just by virtue of being the latest-written.
And yes, they're early stories, frequently rough around the edges and you can see him learning his craft, but they're still entirely readable and you can chart his improvement over the course of the collection.
And yes, these are all stories in more of a heroic fantasy/secondary world sort of mode rather than the urban fantasy where de Lint would go on to really make his mark (and which he continues to write to this day).
So there are four sets of stories included here. In order:
Aynber, a woman bounty hunter, sometimes accompanied by a hedge wizard (he might dispute the label) called Thorn. These stories, per the introduction, are clearly inspired by spaghetti westerns, particularly Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name films.
Colum mac Donal, heir-in-exile to the throne of a lightly-altered Irish Isles (although he actually spends several of the stories on a lightly-altered England in company of one King Artor before returning home in the longest story in the book, The Fair in Emain Macha. Unsurprisingly, given the names, these have a very distinct Celtic flavor to them.
Damon, a half-daemon (sort of a proto-Tiefling?) back in Aynber's world. These two stories (and an introductory piece) start shading towards the grim.
Saffer, a bard(?) in Liavek. As mentioned, this is a shared universe that leans more heavily into magic and luck, and these stories initially appeared in two of the half dozen or so collections of Liavek stories. These are probably the best in the book just by virtue of being the latest-written.
And yes, they're early stories, frequently rough around the edges and you can see him learning his craft, but they're still entirely readable and you can chart his improvement over the course of the collection.
March 19, 2010
Charles de Lint is a favorite author of mine, so when I read a review of this book, the first of a two-volume set of his early work (written, in this case, from 1979-1986), and supplemented by a few stories newly written for this collection, I was immediately intrigued. As my rating indicates, I wasn't disappointed! Though he was later to make his name primarily in the area of urban fantasy, these 15 stories all fall into the realm of what he calls "heroic fantasy" --basically the "sword-and- sorcery" sub-genre. Of the 11 stories here that actually do date from the early 80s and before, most originally appeared in small-circulation magazines and attracted little critical notice, and the author's introduction is self-deprecating as to their quality. His concern on this score, though, is too modest; I found all of these tales to be just as well-written as his later works, and honestly couldn't tell, without a look at the copyright notices page, which were newly written. (Of course, de Lint did do a stylistic editing of the older works, to remove "a few of the many adverbs and exclamation marks...[and:] some of the clumsy dialogue attributions;" that probably helped considerably to remove any original journeyman awkwardness. :-))
The stories fall into four sections, grouped by their main character. Six feature lady bounty hunter Aynber, sometimes nicknamed the Huntress, and her sidekick, wizard Thorn Hawkwood (the two are business partners, but not romantically involved). I'd already read one of these stories, "The Valley of the Troll," in the first Sword and Sorceress collection edited by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, so was already acquainted with Aynber (and with her lethal abilities with elven-made lessen-yaln, razor-sharp throwing disks, which in her hands can be quite deadly). Four linked stories follow Colum mac Donal, a brave young warrior (contemporary with King Arthur) in Ireland --or perhaps an alternate Ireland, since some of his people have settled in America. (Though there was a tradition in our world that Holy Brendan, on one of his westward voyages, reached America.) The darkest of de Lint's protagonists here, Damon, is the subject of three stories --actually two, with a prologue that tells of his origins: born of the rape of an elf maiden by a demon, he bound himself to serve the dark gods of his world in return for superhuman strength to avenge the slaughter of his mother's people. His vengeance completed, he tried to renege on the deal, so was stripped of his conscious memory and held prisoner for 200 years inside a standing stone. Finally, the last two stories are grouped in a section called "Liavek," but the protagonist is actually female minstrel Saffer, one of the more honorable (and more clever and gutsy) inhabitants of the Rat's Alley district in the city of Liavek. Residents of Terry Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork would likely feel pretty much at home in Liavek; it was actually a setting created by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, but shared by a number of writers who contributed to two Liavek anthologies. (One of these stories was co- written with de Lint's friend, Lee Barwood.)
Where religion operates at all in these stories, it's of a pagan, and often dark, variety. As is characteristic of the sub-genre, the plots tend to be violent in places, a fact that somewhat embarrassed the now older de Lint. But there's relatively little bad language, and no explicit sex. (The only implication of casual sex at all is at the very beginning of the first story, "The Fair, the Foul, and the Foolish," when Hawkwood rousts Aynber out of a bed where she's asleep with an unnamed young man, but the positioning of that incident creates the impression that she's more promiscuous than she actually proves to be; her usual behavior elsewhere is to rebuff improper advances.) All of the stories are exciting and genuinely fun to read; the protagonists are likable (or at least engage your sympathy); the settings are developed enough to seem real, though there's not a lot of detailed world building; the plotting and writing is often emotionally compelling; and most importantly, de Lint writes from a moral grounding that often calls on his characters to make good ethical choices. All in all, I'd highly recommend this book to fans of this sort of fantasy.
The stories fall into four sections, grouped by their main character. Six feature lady bounty hunter Aynber, sometimes nicknamed the Huntress, and her sidekick, wizard Thorn Hawkwood (the two are business partners, but not romantically involved). I'd already read one of these stories, "The Valley of the Troll," in the first Sword and Sorceress collection edited by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, so was already acquainted with Aynber (and with her lethal abilities with elven-made lessen-yaln, razor-sharp throwing disks, which in her hands can be quite deadly). Four linked stories follow Colum mac Donal, a brave young warrior (contemporary with King Arthur) in Ireland --or perhaps an alternate Ireland, since some of his people have settled in America. (Though there was a tradition in our world that Holy Brendan, on one of his westward voyages, reached America.) The darkest of de Lint's protagonists here, Damon, is the subject of three stories --actually two, with a prologue that tells of his origins: born of the rape of an elf maiden by a demon, he bound himself to serve the dark gods of his world in return for superhuman strength to avenge the slaughter of his mother's people. His vengeance completed, he tried to renege on the deal, so was stripped of his conscious memory and held prisoner for 200 years inside a standing stone. Finally, the last two stories are grouped in a section called "Liavek," but the protagonist is actually female minstrel Saffer, one of the more honorable (and more clever and gutsy) inhabitants of the Rat's Alley district in the city of Liavek. Residents of Terry Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork would likely feel pretty much at home in Liavek; it was actually a setting created by Will Shetterly and Emma Bull, but shared by a number of writers who contributed to two Liavek anthologies. (One of these stories was co- written with de Lint's friend, Lee Barwood.)
Where religion operates at all in these stories, it's of a pagan, and often dark, variety. As is characteristic of the sub-genre, the plots tend to be violent in places, a fact that somewhat embarrassed the now older de Lint. But there's relatively little bad language, and no explicit sex. (The only implication of casual sex at all is at the very beginning of the first story, "The Fair, the Foul, and the Foolish," when Hawkwood rousts Aynber out of a bed where she's asleep with an unnamed young man, but the positioning of that incident creates the impression that she's more promiscuous than she actually proves to be; her usual behavior elsewhere is to rebuff improper advances.) All of the stories are exciting and genuinely fun to read; the protagonists are likable (or at least engage your sympathy); the settings are developed enough to seem real, though there's not a lot of detailed world building; the plotting and writing is often emotionally compelling; and most importantly, de Lint writes from a moral grounding that often calls on his characters to make good ethical choices. All in all, I'd highly recommend this book to fans of this sort of fantasy.
December 21, 2021
3.5 stars
Very serviceable sword and sorcery stories, with all the violence and maybe a third of the male gaze I normally expect. I particularly enjoyed rereading The Fair at Emain Macha - and also the two Liavek stories at the end, I'm always glad to reread some Liavek (shared magical world kinda like Thieves' World but even better).
CN: sword and sorcery typical violence including some graphic death and torture; details of sexual assault under spoiler tag
Very serviceable sword and sorcery stories, with all the violence and maybe a third of the male gaze I normally expect. I particularly enjoyed rereading The Fair at Emain Macha - and also the two Liavek stories at the end, I'm always glad to reread some Liavek (shared magical world kinda like Thieves' World but even better).
CN: sword and sorcery typical violence including some graphic death and torture; details of sexual assault under spoiler tag
May 12, 2016
7/8 -7/20/2008
"The Fair, the Foul and the Foolish" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Wizard's Bounty" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Night of the Valkings" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Damon: A Prologue" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Wings Over Antar" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Stormraven" RE-READ 6/4/2015
"The Ring of Brodgar" RE-READ 6/5/2015
"The Iron Stone" RE-READ 6/5/2015
"The Valley of the Troll" read 5/3/1998 Re-read 6/15/2015
"The Fair in Emain Macha" Re-read 6/20/2015
"The Rat's Alley Shuffle" RE-read 6/22/2015
"The Skin and Knife Game" RE-read 7/10/2015
"The Fair, the Foul and the Foolish" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Wizard's Bounty" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Night of the Valkings" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Damon: A Prologue" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Wings Over Antar" RE-READ 5/29/2015
"Stormraven" RE-READ 6/4/2015
"The Ring of Brodgar" RE-READ 6/5/2015
"The Iron Stone" RE-READ 6/5/2015
"The Valley of the Troll" read 5/3/1998 Re-read 6/15/2015
"The Fair in Emain Macha" Re-read 6/20/2015
"The Rat's Alley Shuffle" RE-read 6/22/2015
"The Skin and Knife Game" RE-read 7/10/2015
January 27, 2017
This is the first volume of early released short stories by Charles de Lint. These short stories are when he was first beginning to be a writer, and a few of these have never been published before. de Lint writes urban fantasy; in fact, he helped create the genre. But these stories are when he was still writing classic fantasy stories, with druids, wizards, and such. None of these stories are anywhere near the level of writing that de Lint developed later in his career, but they are still interesting and fun to read.
The first part is six stories about the female warrior Aynber. And these were the worst of the bunch, you can tell de Lint is still a kid when writing these stories. The next section tells a complete tale in four stories, where one is a full length novella, about Colum mac Donal. This was a fun and interesting set of stories, and were of the best quality in this book. The last two sections are really just two stories each of Damon, a demon warrior in the vein of Elric by Michael Moorcock, and Liavek, a Bard. Damon is interesting because it is about a dark hero. I like it when de Lint gets dark in his writing. And Liavek is the first instance where de Lint mixes music within his stories, so that is interesting in itself because he uses it a lot in his later works.
Overall this is really only for a hard core de Lint fan, as the writing isn't great. As these are his first works as a writer. But for a de Lint fan, like myself, this was a great opportunity to read his early works that have never made it into book form before. It's a invaluable part of my de Lint collection.
The first part is six stories about the female warrior Aynber. And these were the worst of the bunch, you can tell de Lint is still a kid when writing these stories. The next section tells a complete tale in four stories, where one is a full length novella, about Colum mac Donal. This was a fun and interesting set of stories, and were of the best quality in this book. The last two sections are really just two stories each of Damon, a demon warrior in the vein of Elric by Michael Moorcock, and Liavek, a Bard. Damon is interesting because it is about a dark hero. I like it when de Lint gets dark in his writing. And Liavek is the first instance where de Lint mixes music within his stories, so that is interesting in itself because he uses it a lot in his later works.
Overall this is really only for a hard core de Lint fan, as the writing isn't great. As these are his first works as a writer. But for a de Lint fan, like myself, this was a great opportunity to read his early works that have never made it into book form before. It's a invaluable part of my de Lint collection.
August 29, 2010
Even fans of Charles de Lint and the author himself will acknowledge that de Lint was "not done yet." (as in not fully formed....enthusiastic but not so skilled a writer as he later has become.
These are his first works and those who love him can read these with affection and see the seeds of greatness which sprouted in later books as he developed a whole new genre of urban fantasy. My favorites so far are Onion Girl and Blue Girl!
These are his first works and those who love him can read these with affection and see the seeds of greatness which sprouted in later books as he developed a whole new genre of urban fantasy. My favorites so far are Onion Girl and Blue Girl!
April 26, 2009
I tried, but made it about three and a half stories in before giving up. If you like Ren-faire speech, you'll love these stories, but I found them really overwritten and with stories not intriguing enough to get past the "long gold tresses" and "shining swords". I am very glad de Lint has grown as an author.
August 30, 2010
Heroic fantasy
Four different character collections:
1. Aynber, a female bounty hunter with a cutting skillset
2. Column mac Donal, last member of a slaughtered clan of Aerin
3. Damon the Demon
4. Liavek, the adventures of Saffer the musician
Four different character collections:
1. Aynber, a female bounty hunter with a cutting skillset
2. Column mac Donal, last member of a slaughtered clan of Aerin
3. Damon the Demon
4. Liavek, the adventures of Saffer the musician
April 6, 2017
It was a rare treat to read a collection of early stories with characters that I was unfamiliar with. I really hope that Mr. de Lint returns to the worlds he created and gives us more adventures with Saffer and the others.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews