This book was a chance find for me, hidden in the fantasy section of my local library. It is less a fantasy book, more a representation of the mentality of street survival and the personal myth-making required to pull through each day. It demonstrates that magic is a valid response to a modern life full of material and immaterial demons. ( )

This seems, at first, to be a good work of magical realism - Charles de Lint with a twist - but it turns out to be much more. We first see a fantasy world, where magic is real, but then we also see a more realistic worldview, where the main character is psychotic. Both of these views are allowed their integrity, and neither is shattered. This is a very difficult balance, and the tension between these two views casts some light on what fantasy is, and why each of us reads it. ( )

I adore this book and if you find it, but it immediately. It took me years to obtain a copy after re-reading my library's copy obsessively. At any rate, this is an early work of urban fantasy that has withstood the test of time. The book focuses on a series of magic workers who live in Seattle. Wizard, the main character who is among other things obliged to look after the pigeons, has cobbled together a relatively plesant and comfortable existance living on the margins of life in Seattle. Eventually, a malevolent force comes to Seattle and disrupts Wizard's life and grasp on reality. The way the story plays out is interesting and things don't happen the way you might expect. ( )