This is another book by one of my favorite authors, Charles de lint. Often his novels are infused with music, either on the periphery or as an integral part of the book. In The Little Country he even includes some sheet music at the end of the story. Greenmantle uses the music to bring together the two worlds he likes to write about, ours and the fey.

The story is about Tony Valenti, an ex-mob hit man who is trying to turn his life around and stay hidden after his mob family turns on him. It is also about Frankie and Ali Treasure, a mother and daughter who move to Frankie's childhood home after winning the lottery. They are also looking for a new life. What Ali and Tony (now neighbors) find, is a beautiful and haunting music that calls to them from the woods. Chasing the music and mystery it promises leads them to a forgotten village filled with people who worship and call the mystery to them every night through that music. The two worlds collide when Tony is found by a mob contact who also happens to be Ali's dead-beat father.

I loved the imagery in this book and of course, the importance of the music. The music is not good and it is not bad. The mystery is not good and it is not bad. They are what you bring to them. A very important message for us all in the way we live our lives, I believe.

From the back of the book:

Not far from the city is an ancient wood, forgotten by the modern world, where Mystery walks in the moonlight. He wears the shape of a stag, or a goat, or a horned man wearing a cloak of leaves. He is summoned by the music of the pipes or a fire of bones on Midsummer's Evening. He is chased by the hunt and shadowed by the wild girl.
When he touches your dreams, your life will never be the same again. ( )

I chose Greenmantle solely because I read that it was a good start to reading anything by de Lint. His style of Urban Fantasy is unique because it combines both the aspects of traditional fiction with aspects of fantasy. This undoubtedly gets many true Fantasy aficionados upset that his work should be considered Fantasy at all but I now tend to disagree with these beliefs since reading this novel.

Greenmantle on the whole is just a simple, yet good, story. There's nothing in the way of true discussion upon society or politics. His development of friendship between adults and children was very good I thought and his style of writing is very peaceful and easy to follow. This novel is easily just as accessible for teenagers as it is for adults and I would recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good novel to read. It is especially adequate for those who dislike reading true Fantasy novels because of their inherent 'far out' nature but who still wish to read a novel with a bit of the mystic and mysterious. ( )

This one's due for a re-read -- I recall hugely enjoying it a few years ago, but I'm not sure if it holds up. ( )

An very cool tale. There's some exposition on the nature of deity/mystery/supernatural and the relationship between inner and outer realities. ( )