The Mystery of Grace

The Mystery of Grace is a perfect de Lint novel. It has fully fleshed out characters I really cared about, the author's familiar treatment of spirit worlds and the ordinary people who encounter them, and the easy-going voice I've come to love over the years.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't yet read a de Lint novel. It does differ from his others in that the spirit world in this book is a limbo where people are trapped after they die. There aren't any of his usual fairies or dream boyfriends, but the heart and style are de Lint at his best. ( )

Charles de Lint is my favorite author. Period. So I grabbed this without even looking at the bookflap and just plunged in. Do yourself a favor and do the same thing. Without knowing anything about the book, the prologue is one of the best hooks I've read in a long time. But you can't know anything about the story beforehand. But, man, what a hook!

One of the things I love about de Lint is how his characters always have faith in something bigger than themselves, but that faith doesn't necessarily take the form of organized religion. He incorporates the best elements from many different religions and mythologies to build a story that most people can relate to. This book has a great love story, but the point is really to explore faith, grace, and having the courage to let go.

The biggest thing that I love about de Lint is his characters. Within a few pages, his characters feel like old friends. Grace is no exception. Tough, tattoo-covered, hot-rod building Grace is easy to pigeonhole. But there are many surprising sides to her personality, and she quickly became a character I won't forget. But what makes his characters stand out to me are the way they interact with each other and the world. They usually have some of their own serious issues, but they also generally seem to believe that, while they might not be able to single-handedly change the world, they can change their parts of it. They live to try to ease the way for others they encounter. They understand that life is hard enough without people beating each other down. We should build each other up. De Lint got all of that into this book too.

Most of my favorite books by this author are set in the fictional city of Newford, with some recurring characters throughout. I was initially a little disappointed that this wasn't a Newford book, and that I wouldn't get to check in on Jilly and Geordie and friends, but I quickly got over that. This still wasn't my very favorite book of his, but this was definitely one of my favorites.

In all honestly, the story was probably 4 stars. But the ideas behind the book are 5 stars. I love this guy, I loved this book, and I can't recommend either highly enough. ( )

3.5-4.0 stars

I enjoyed this short novel, but found it hard to categorize since it crossed so many subgenres. Ghost, spirits or spiritwalkers, a smidgen of Native American shamanism, a pinch of paganism (Wiccans at the Witches' Ball no less), Catholic saints, a peculiar Purgatory, existentialism, a dangerous delusional mother and a surprising touch of redemption wrapped in tattoos. Oh, and a brief romance kindled after the protagonist's death. Trust me, it sounds strange (it is strange), but de Lint delivers. ( )

While this isn't de Lint's best, it's a refreshing change from his typical setup.

First of all, it's set in the desert rather than Newford - from what I understand, de Lint has stopped writing Newford novels and has migrated to the southwest for his settings.

Secondly, the heroine isn't a survivor of an abusive relationship - she had a normal home life. Instead, she's just killed almost as soon as the book begins.

Third, the mythos is a bit different. Instead of focusing on gods, faeries of various sorts, and de Lint's brand of consent reality, it is mostly a standard Christian (Catholic) mythos - just ghosts in a limbo version of their town.

John's immediate interest in all of Grace's hobbies, friends and music -even though she wasn't there to introduce him to them other than a single night of conversation - struck me as a bit stalkerish. But then again, I've never been a believer in love at first sight or soul mates.

While I like the changes and think they worked well together, I got the same feeling that I got after reading Medicine Road -- that things were just a bit off or lacking somehow. It's a good book, and I liked it but if this were my first de Lint book, I wouldn't be rushing out to buy the next one. ( )

This was not comparable to the rest of de Lint's fiction. I think his best work is in his short stories, although I really do like some of his novels (Someplace to be Flying, for example). But this just doesn't compare. It was an easy, quick read, and not so bad that I didn't finish... but it wasn't very satisfying. ( )