The Very Best of Charles de Lint

Every collection of Charles' short stories is full of gems, but thus far this is the one that I like best. The selection of stories was chosen in tandem with loyal fans through social media (way to jump on the technology/social media bandwagon!), which I find quite endearing as many authors don't maintain close contact with their fan base. Especially when it comes to publishing!

The stories that are included showcase the range of Charles' writing style, and include classic Newford tales, traditional Isles-style fantasy, and a touch of horror as well. Many of the stories are also ones that were initially published as super-limited editions by Triskell press, and are unavailable unless you can get your hands on a copy of Triskell Tales 1/2 show more (both long out of print) or are the lucky recipient of one of the original Christmas stories.

Not only has Charles made it very clear how much his fans mean to him by including many of their favourite stories, but he has also inadvertantly addressed one of the major issues with his published works: availability. Obviously Charles will keep producing amazing work, but I would be extremely happy to see some of his older books be re-issued so that my collection isn't so full of holes! show less

I was pleased that 18 of the 29 stories in this collection were new to me (and the 7 from [Dreams Underfoot] I read back in the '90s were due for a reread). Some of the stories were very dark (one in particular about a very young girl suffering from sexual abuse) but there were enough hopeful stories to keep this volume from being too much for me to handle. I am glad however that I spread out my reading of them -- to read them all back-to-back might have reduced my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

I particularly liked "The Badger in the Bag" (about the souls of musical instruments coming alive at night), "A Wish Named Arnold", and "Pixel Pixies". Oh and the tribute to Joe Strummer "That Was Radio Clash"!

This was an excellent collection of stories by Charles de Lint. De Lint was one of my favorite authors many years ago and I am not sure why I stopped reading him. This collection of stories really brings home all the things I loved about de Lint; he is just such a creative storyteller and excellent writer.

The first few stories were about Meran and her husband Ceran and the bodachs that make mischief in their lives. These were fun and entertaining to read. These stories were followed by a number of stories featuring Jilly Coppercorn and Geordie; I always love these stories a lot as well.

A couple of my favorites were: “Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood” (about a woman who visits Merlin while he is trapped in a tree) and “The show more Graceless Child” about a young half-trow girl who saves the world of Dream.

Overall this was an amazing collection of stories by de Lint. He was one of my favorite authors when I was in my 20's and reading this makes me wonder why I haven't read him in a long time. De Lint is an amazing storyteller and the author that introduced me to urban fantasy. I highly recommend this collection of stories they are just so well done. show less

Still fantastic on a second read through. While not all of the stories here will appeal to all of the book's readers, they are bound to fine some that captivate them. Strongly recommended.

This review is a work in progress.

This is a collection of short stories chosen by the fans with a few added by the author to round out the collection.

I had read most of them in other collections but this is a good selection for anyone who wants to know what his writing is about.

I like that the stories that involve repeating characters (such as Jilly Coppercorn) are chronological, so the stories build on each other. A character is introduced in one story then expanded in another.

Many of the stories are dark. I think there needs to be a trigger warning for child abuse and child sexual abuse.

That said, while reading the stories about abused kids living on the streets I found the trope trite and cliched. Which was surprising because show more most of de Lint's work is original and fresh. Maybe it is just because I read these stories when they first came out and that was along time ago. Or maybe it's because I'm old and jaded. I know the system fails some kids. But I don't believe that it fails all of them or that living on street is a better option.

Newford is a lot like "Bordertown" (another urban fantasy series of short stories). I used to want to live in Newford it seemed like such a cool place with quirky little stores and art galleries. Now I live in Ithaca NY which is about as close to Newford as you can get. We have quirky little stores and art galleries, and little experimental theater troupes. And I can see that all those artist types are a small minority even here. Someone has to do the day to day work of life. A lot of those artists have boring but respectable day jobs. Most people live normal lives. And Newford seems less realistic and more of a fantasy of reality.

A bit depressing really. I think this collection had more darker stories than he usually includes in his collections.

I had already read most of these because I'm a long time fan. But there were a couple that were new to me. (I didn't know he wrote vampire stories.) And all of them were worth reading again.

These are fan favorites so I recommend them to anyone who is just checking out Charles de Lint. It gives you a good overview of his style and subject matter.

Introduction
In Which We Meet Jilly Coppercorn
Coyote Stories
Laughter in the Leaves
The Badger in the Bag
And the Rafters Were Ringing
Merlin Dreams in the Mondream Wood
The Stone Drum
Timeskip
Freewheeling
A Wish Named Arnold
Into the Green
The Graceless Child
Wintere Was Hard
The Conjure Man
We Are Dead Together
Mr. Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery
In the House of My Enemy
The Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep
Crow Girls
Birds
Held Safe by Moonlight and Vines
In the Pines
Pixel Pixies
Many Worlds are Born Tonight
Sisters
Pal o' Mine
That Was Radio Clash
Old Man Crow
The Fields Beyond the Fields
Copyrights & Acknowledgements
About the Author
Memory & Dream excerpt show less

I really enjoy Charles de Lint's writing. Some of these stories seemed a tad dated, but I enjoyed learning some of the early history of Newford.

I tried but could not get into this collection of stories. In fact, my thoughts were "if this is his best, I'm glad I'm not seeing his worst!" I stopped reading about a third of the way through the book because I wasn't enjoying it.