Spirits in the Wires

This is another Newford novel, taking some the least technologically-inclined of the loose Newford network of friends and aquaintances into the internet. Literally into the net--some of them get involuntarily uploaded, and others follow in the hope of rescuing them.

Aaran Goldstein, book editor for the local newspaper and mild pain in neck to Christy Riddle, Saskia Madding, and others of literary bent in our old familiar crowd, hits upon a relatively harmless means of revenge upon Saskia for the offense of having realized almost imme diately what a jerk and a loser he is. He blackmails one of the I.T. staff at the paper into uploading a virus that will temporarily take down the Wordwood website, so beloved of Saskia and her friends. show more Unfortunately, the damage isn't as temporary or as limited as intended. The Wordwood hasn't been a normal website for quite a while now--it vanished from the machines that originally hosted it, and started doing things its original creators couldn't explain. So when Jackson Hart's virus takes it down, they have no idea how to get it back up. And when Jackson is overcome by the moral doubts that had plagued him from the beginning, and emails the webmaster at the Wordwood instructions on how to recover from the virus, the real trouble starts, as the Wordwood responds by aggressively uploading hundreds of people, whose disappearances naturally alarm and disturb even more people. Jackson's among the uploaded.

So is Saskia Madding.

Except that, while all the other uploaded go directly to the Wordwood website, Saskia manages to resist effectively enough to reach Christy's "shadow," Christiana, who was born from the parts of Christy that he discarded when he was seven. Saskia and Christiana have recently been discussing whether they are "real" or not--Christiana, of course, because she's a shadow, and Saskia because, as far as she can tell, she was born in the Wordwood. She has a paper trail showing a fairly normal life going back to a normal birth, but her real, substantial memories go back only a few years, to shortly before she met Aaran Goldstein, and Christy, and the others. When she resists the Wordwood spirit that's trying to reclaim her, she reaches Christiana on her borderlands-capable cellphone, and enters Christianarquote s head. For most of the remainder of the book, they are literally inseparable.

Christy, Geordie, Holly, and others (including, eventually, a somewhat chastened Aaran Goldstein), search for a solution and conclude that they need to go to the spiritworld, where the Wordwood is apparently located now, and cure the virus there in order to get their missing friends back. Along the way, they encounter hellhounds and other dangers of the spiritworld. Christiana, Saskia, and eventually Jackson Hart, head for the heart of the Wordwood, also to tackle the virus. Along the way, they find a Disneyesque Sleeping Beauty coffin, displaying, rather alarmingly, Saskia's unoccupied body. They also find Librarius, formerly a servant of the being that controlled the Wordwood, now in rebellion against it. The virus gave him his opportunity, and he's not interested in any solutions that don't leave him in charge.

There are some oddities in the story. On the detail level, it seems odd, even with this relatively non-techie crowd, that no one except Jackson Hart has a either DSL or a cable modem. On the story level, Librarius' vengefulness towards the people responsible for the virus that gave him his shot at taking control of the Wordwood doesn't quite make sense. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable visit with the Newford crowd. show less

Despite not having read about many of the Newford gang (except Jilly in The Onion Girl), I really enjoyed this book and didn't feel lost among the references to the past that the characters have shared. As usual, when I read a de Lint book, I want to believe that there is more to life than just "The World As It Is," and that there's some secret magic waiting just beyond what I can see.
I enjoyed de Lint's take on the internet being a place inside the spirit world, and that it's inhabited by spirits that seek to gain what they can in the form of devotions from people who use certain sites. The mainline of the story follows Christy Riddle and his shadow Christiana as they quest to find Saskia, Christy's girlfriend, who was sucked into show more cyberspace when a virus hit a site she was visiting. The point of view varies each chapter, following a different character, and I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the action, though at times I think the real sense of urgency was lacking. As usual I enjoyed de Lint's descriptions and his refrences to a mix of folklore. The idea that characters of books can come to life in the spirit world is especially appealing. show less

I felt that this book was either too long (because if it was shorter it may have been more focused) or too short (because it had loose ends and left things hanging with some of the characters). As I've come to expect with Charles de Lint, there were many clever and intriguing ideas, but there were also characters introduced seemingly at random and it seemed as if we were treated to a mishmash of mythologies for very little reason. The Romani character who could barely utter three consecutive sentences without referring to "my people" and the Vodou subplot seemed somewhat arbitrary. Even so, the characters were interesting and it was an enjoyable read if not an entirely satisfying one.

I'm more used to these kind of stories told in a cyberpunky vein rather than the softer edged urban fantasy mode. I was going to leave some space between the de Lint readings, but there it was on the new book shelf... It was enjoyable as a gripping story that made me want to know what happens next, but there were so many characters, I never felt like I spent enough time with one to identify much. I do like his fusions of voudou, faerie & otherworlds that take on cyberspace. Why not? (May 21, 2004)

Intelligent and perceptive as any of De Lint's works, with some particularly vivid imagery (especially in the Wordwood section), with an interesting and eclectic bunch of characters. However, some of them were *much* better fleshed out than others (and some of these others were rather randomly thrown in from his other Newford stories, I gather), and the story was lacking in urgency in many places.

(Full post here: http://cathyincanada.com/?p=845)

I wanted to love this book. Truly, I did. The premise of the Internet and fantasy characters manifesting into their own reality, with the ability to crossover into our own, and interact with us mere humans, is amazing. A little bit of fantasy story with some real-life morals and exciting action sequences... wonderful.. should have been great. For some reason(s), which I am having a hard time pinpointing, it just didn't do it for me.

Would still recommend that a person read it and decide for themselves though. And I may give it another read in year or two. Perhaps my mindset and personal life during the time of reading jaded it for me. Authors work hard at their craft, and usually I have show more respect for them even if I dislike their book (not for Stephanie Meyers or E. L. James though).

Some things that bothered me:
1. Chapters beginning with quotes from novels that were "written" by one of the characters in the book. Impress me by finding real life quotes that are relevant; don't just make them up.

2. Many of the characters have names that just do not flow off your tongue, which causes them to not flow through your brain and they get stuck. Don't make a name the difficult part of the reading process please.

3. I wanted to identify with the main character (Christianna) and cheer for her but I never got the emotional connection needed to do so. At the end of the book, at her difficult cross road, I didn't care which direction she took. show less

(Full post here: http://cathyincanada.com/?p=845)

I wanted to love this book. Truly, I did. The premise of the Internet and fantasy characters manifesting into their own reality, with the ability to crossover into our own, and interact with us mere humans, is amazing. A little bit of fantasy story with some real-life morals and exciting action sequences... wonderful.. should have been great. For some reason(s), which I am having a hard time pinpointing, it just didn't do it for me.

Would still recommend that a person read it and decide for themselves though. And I may give it another read in year or two. Perhaps my mindset and personal life during the time of reading jaded it for me. Authors work hard at their craft, and usually I have show more respect for them even if I dislike their book (not for Stephanie Meyers or E. L. James though).

Some things that bothered me:
1. Chapters beginning with quotes from novels that were "written" by one of the characters in the book. Impress me by finding real life quotes that are relevant; don't just make them up.

2. Many of the characters have names that just do not flow off your tongue, which causes them to not flow through your brain and they get stuck. Don't make a name the difficult part of the reading process please.

3. I wanted to identify with the main character (Christianna) and cheer for her but I never got the emotional connection needed to do so. At the end of the book, at her difficult cross road, I didn't care which direction she took. show less