Charles de Lint

[Louise]

I have a slightly ambivalent realtionship to this author. I have about 25 of his books, and some of his ideas and short stories are brilliant. Really brilliant.
He knows a lot about faerie lore and mythology, and has some great ideas.

But... I also think that some of his books/stories aren't as well worked through as they could be, the writing in some of them seems hurried and a little formulaic at times (this becomes apparent, especially if you read more than 2-3 of his books). For instance in Into the Green. Which for me lands them on 2-3 stars, as opposed to the really great 4-star reads like The Ivory and the Horn or
Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon
He does publish a LOT, so maybe he should "write 3 books in 5 years" instead of "5 books in 3 years" so to speak.

What do the rest of you think?

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

My experience with de Lint is fairly limited, but not very favorable - I've read 4 books of his, and rated 3 of them 2 stars:

Little (Grrl) Lost, The Dreaming Place, Wolf Moon (all 2 stars), and The Blue Girl (3 stars).

I've been told by fans that I've been unlucky and just picked not-so-great-books, and I should try others. I've marked Someplace to Be Flying as a to-get-to-eventually type book, but I can't say I've ever been able to muster much enthusiasm about it.

Maybe I should nominate it some month as an added incentive to actually read it. Heh.

[Shannon]

The only de Lint I've read is The Little Country and I can only vaguely remember it as an "ok" read. I've always meant to try some of his other works.

[Dana]

I love Charles de Lint. He's in my top three authors. I read The Little Country first because it had a little blurb on the front cover from Robert Jordan and I liked it enough to hunt down some other books. Someplace to Be Flying is one of the best books I've ever read. I haven't read many of his short story collections, because I'm just not a short story person, but I haven't rated anything I've read of his as less than 3 stars and most of it as 4 or 5.

[Traci]

I've read The Mystery of Grace which I have mentioned three times now in the past three days. (I swear I'm not de Lint) I gave it a four star rating. Loved it. Also read a collection of short stories that I forgot about and I guess didn't care for. Going to give him another chance though.

[Carly]

I've only read The Onion Girl. Couple of times and I liked it.

[carol. , Senor Crabbypants]

Traci wrote: "I've read The Mystery of Grace which I have mentioned three times now in the past three days. (I swear I'm not de Lint) I gave it a four star rating. Loved it"

I saw your rating and am holding you responsible ;) You pushed me over the fence--I was afraid it would be a little derivative of Briggs' Mercy series--just picked it up from the library.

[Traci]

At least you got it free of charge at the library. I didn't think it would be my kind of thing but it was. On a side note, I wrote I gave it a four rating but when I just looked I gave it a five. Did I change it or do I not know what I rate? I think I bumped it up. :)

[Katy]

I've never read Charles de Lint.
What book would you recommend that I start with to read?

[Dana]

His books are mostly stand alone novels or short story collections. Characters from one book might make a cameo in another book (at least for the ones that take place in his fictional city of Newford), but the stories are self contained and you don't have to have read the previous book for it to make sense. If you like short stories, you could try one of his collections. The Very Best of Charles de Lint just came out recently. I like the novels myself though. The Onion Girl, Someplace to Be Flying,and Memory and Dream all take place in Newford and are some of my favorites. The Mystery of Grace or Moonheart would be good if you would rather read something that isn't in Newford.

[Greg]

The Very Best of Charles de Lint? That's going to be an instant 'buy' for me, thanks Dana! I read Memory and Dream a year or two ago, and it absolutely smacked the ball out of the park for me. It was executed flawlessly. I've read some others he wrote that didn't hit that note, but now that I know what he's capable of I'll keep reading his books.

[Jalilah]

I did not realise there was a Charles de Lint thread on this forum until now. When I joined I was surprised to find only a few members mentioning him! I absolutely love his works; he's my favourite fantasy writer. That being said, not all his works are the same. I could easily imagine not being impressed with him if your first introduction was certain novels, in particular some of his earlier works or short stories.
De Lint is also not light, so if you are in the mood for something more escapist, a typical dark gritty detective type urban fantasy series or a paranormal romance De Lint might not be the right read.
I would suggest starting the Newford series or some of his newer novels that take place in the American Southwest. As others have already mentioned, you do not need to start with book 1 of the Newford series. All De Lint’s novels are stand alone. The only Newford books I would not recommend starting with are Onion girl, Spirits in the Wires or Widdershins simply because you would be missing too much background information on the characters to fully appreciate the story. You can start with any of his YA books. I’ve never read From a Whisper to a Scream or I will be watching you as they are supposedly so different, so much darker than his usual works that he originally published them under a different name.
I appreciate De Lint because he is very versed in many different types of Mythology, both First Nations, (Native American) and Celtic Folklore and infuses the various myths in his works . At the same times his novels are still based in reality and are very character driven. I also like the fact that he his characters are more on the fringe types, often artists.
Regarding the term Urban Fantasy, De Lint has been credited to starting the gender Urban Fantasy in the 80s (this has been disputed and I don’t think De Lint claims this.) He himself describes what he writes as Mythic Fiction.
I hope I am not gushing too much. LOL I not De Lint’s publicist ;), just fan who thinks he deserves to be more well known than he is!