The Ivory and the Horn

Title: The Ivory and the Horn

Author: Charles de Lint

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc. (April 1995)

Genre(s): Fiction, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Short Stories

Length: 318 pages, 15 stories

Synopsis: This collection is set in Newford, a fictional city that seems, on the surface, like any other metropolis, but where some perceptive individuals find that almost anything is possible.  Featuring a cast of characters that de Lint fans will recognize from other books in the Newford collection, these stories expand on the lives and experiences of these artists, poets, street urchins, and friends as they struggle to find meaning in their lives.

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Opinion:

Sometimes a book comes along, sits down beside you, and just has a conversation.  This collection does precisely that.  Many of de Lint’s books feature Newford and its inhabitants, and many of these stories have been around long enough to be reprinted several times.  I’ve stumbled across several of them in unexpected places and every time I felt I was greeting old friends.  This collection is no exception.  Newford is a remarkable place; for the setting of many fantastical exploits, the city itself (and those who live there) seem remarkably real.  This is not a through-the-wardrobe, escapist kind of fantasy, but rather the kind that sits beside you on the bus and waves to you in the park.  There are no cloaks, no swords, no dragons.  There are people who struggle every day.  Some have lost lovers or friends.  Some cannot see the worth in themselves when society says they are worthless.  Some are looking for clarity, some for redemption.  Reading these stories, I see myself and my friends and my family.  I see the people I work with and my neighbors.  Storytelling features heavily throughout the collection, even in the tone of the narratives themselves.  It’s almost they’re told not by their narrators, but by another voice, the voice that’s just sat down beside you to talk.  See? that voice says to you.  They are like you.  They hurt and weep and exult in their lives just as you do.  And see?  The pain fades.  The lessons can be learned.  Listen to the story.  It’s a pleasure to do so.  For pure fantasy alone, this book is appealing.  It’s charming and inventive and unique, but it’s more than that.  It’s an odd combination of grit and pixie dust, like the production that might be staged if Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent were combined with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream- sweet and harsh and frightening and primal and fantastical and, above all, very, very real.

Title: The Ivory and the Horn