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Written by Josh More
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Sunday, 04 November 2007 18:47 |
This weekend, my copy of Promises to Keep arrived. I had intended to let it sit until I had finished some of the work that I had do, but then it's hard to focus on preparing a talk when there is a bright shiny new Charles de Lint book sitting there looking at you. I swear, the book had little glistening eyes that watched everything I did and then suddenly looked away whenever I checked to see what it was doing. But I digress...
As stated in the "story about the book" on the inside cover, this was the book that grew from a short story that was to be put into a collection of stories that were never collected. It's about Jilly's early years in Newford, as Charles de Lint doesn't want to write more about her after Widdershins (Newford). It's a fine story which takes its time popping between Jilly's early life and "present day", which is when Jilly is in college. I won't spoil any of the plot points, but to say that it is fully consistent with the mythologies around Newford.
To digress a bit, the best thing about the first Alien movie was that no one really knew what the alien was. There was a sense of mystery and discovery there that wasn't possible to achieve in later films until AVP came along and reset the story. In many ways, this book does that for Newford. In fact, Charles de Lint states that he hopes that this book can become a good entry point for new readers. However, much like I wouldn't want a viewer to start with AVP, I wouldn't want a reader to start here.
There is as great a joy in rediscovery as there is in the initial discovery. If someone reads this book first, the later books will feel like review. However, if you start at the beginning with Dreams Underfoot and meander slowly through the rest of Newford, this book will feel like what it truly is. A sweet little bonus to Jilly's story; one that I'm happy to have.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 08 November 2007 00:58 |
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