Into the Green (1993)

*note to self. (copy from Al).

While reading it, everything seemed very familiar though I have no recollection of the book itself. So, either the book feels so familiar because it's formulaic to the point where I think I've read it before, or I have read it before and it's forgettable to the point where I can't remember any of the characters or details.

Either option is possible, I suppose, and neither option is all that flattering to the book. ( )

As always, Charles de Lint weaves magic and music in a way that feels True. I never put down one of his books that I don't feel that I'm saying good-bye to a dear friend.

"Today we are all that is left of the old magic," the tale-teller went on. "Our small echo of the gift sets us apart from those around us. But in the old days, when the Blood still ran strong, there was a deeper magic still - held by those who knew the calling-on magic, born of threes. Tinker, harper and witch. Moon, music and the stoneworks of old."

"Into the Green" is not one of de Lint's Newford-set urban fantasies, but takes place in a world based in part on Celtic mythology. Angharad, a Summerborn witch, goes on a quest to destroy the glascrow, the dark power that feeds on the Summerblood of the witches and could even destroy the green itself, taking away the last traces of magic from the Green Isles.

De Lint proves that there is no need for fantasy novels to be 1000 pages or more long, as he fits this story into a book only 1/4 of that length. It's always best to to leave your audience wanting more rather than burnt out. ( )

Angharad was born into the life of a tinker. She also, through her mother, was born with the magic of the summerborn. To keep from feeling out of place when she was young she chooses to ignore her gifts for a simpler life. The magic that runs through her veins can not be contained and reemerges one night when a couple of travelers stir up the old magics inside of her. She must venture out into the world to keep the green from fading away and being destroyed by an ancient evil.

I kept expecting some something important to happen but it never did. Like the previous poster there were a lot of separate short stories that never really were brought together. I liked it okay but it wont be a favorite. ( )