From the Bookshelf of Sword & Sorcery: "An earthier sort of fantasy"…

A Handful of Coppers: Collected Early Stories, Vol. 1: Heroic Fantasy

Charles de Lint

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Nov 13, 2025 Joseph rated it really liked it

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 200 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. ...more

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