Medicine Road

De Lint's best fantasies are marked by spirited conclusions. They delve into the possibilities of what if. They touch your imagination and your longing to travel to those other places so close to home. Try De Lint... he is addicting.

This isn't a big book - only 206 pages in the hardcover edition - but that doesn't matter at all. This is one of those stories that just grabs you from the start and sucks you right into the mythological world that Charles de Lint creates so well. It's not an action-packed book, nothing like that. Instead it follows the interactions of about seven individuals over the course of a few days. He makes the interactions between the "real" people and the people of myth totally believable. I never find myself saying, "Oh, how can that be?". Nope, I just go along happily for the ride. After reading this book, I want to go and actually see the deserts of the Southwest. I want to learn more about the mythology of the region. That is one of the secrets to de Lint's writing, I think - it's very easy to visualize the settings, to become intrigued by the mysteries surrounding the characters. To want more. I enjoyed the nod he gave to Terri Windling, and I would second the recommendation another reviewer gave about Windling's "The Wood Wife" - it's another excellent book. For those of you who may have read de Lint's "Forests of the Heart", there's a brief appearance of Bettina and one of her uncles in this book, which was a pleasant surprise. Read this book.

Almost every De Lint book I have read has sucked me in instantly. All of his books are great but the Newford Series are my absolute favs. I would sugest starting with one of them, then getting into his other books. His horor novels are just that, the mental aspect will have you lieing awake at night. I would sugest reading Forests of the Heart first before this novel, but you do not have to. All delint books stand on their own.

Medicine Road is what I've come to expect from De Lint. Wonder-full! Bess and Laurel Dillard are back. We first met them in Seven Wild Sisters. This time they are in Arizona giving concerts at local establishments. They fall or leap into a magical adventure depending on which sister's version you happen to be reading. Each sister has her own way of relating to magic and the everyday world and it colors their respective response to it. Each sister grows and changes in the "same but different" way of twins. This duality is paralleled by the characters Alice and Jim, formerly jack rabbit and coyote. They grow and change as they interact with the twins and play out their own stories. De Lint's story is reminiscent of Terri Windling's The Wood Wife, which you should check out as well. But De Lint's magic is all his own. Read this and all of his other work. You won't be disappointed.

I really enjoy a de Lint book. Nothing appears out of the ordinary, until you turn a corner or take one more step. Suddenly you're in a magical, more alive world. Ours, yet more so. Medicine Road concerns Bess and Laurel, twin sisters traveling to Arizona for a series of concert appearances. Upon arrival in Tucson, they meet several people, threatening or otherwise. As in any de Lint book, no one is who they appear to be. His characters always reveal hidden potential. Character and reader both discover this potential as the story develops. Their are six main actors, each of whom is at times the focus of the action. Of these, the sisters' focal pieces are done first- person. A nice separation that draws the reader into their viewpoint and how it affects the others around them. The Charles Vess illustrations are light yet mysterious. I especially like the one inside the front cover. Charles de Lint is a modern-day storyteller with an old message: we are each more than we realize. "We figure, if folks like our music, we've probably got something in common with them, and when you're far from home, this is pretty much the best way for us to meet like-minded folks." Subterranean Press edition