Muse and Reverie

Muse and Reverie (2009) Charles de Lint

The last Newford short story collection was in 2002, so it was quite a wait for this fifth collection.

In the interim of course, he has had stories in a variety of anthologies, many of which I have, some of which I picked up solely because he had a story in the collection. And I just realized there are a lot of other anthologies in which he has stories, which must not be Newford stories, because they aren’t in this collection.

So what are the Newford stories? They’re set in the city of Newford, which is in either Canada or the US, and is a place where the world of magic is close to our world. Many of the stores have mythic origins, others have the feel of stories of stories you heard as a kid, that happened to a friend of a friend.

What they are not are paranormal or supernatural fantasies. They’re simply classic fantasy transferred to the city. They’re strange happenings–homeless disappearing, dream visitations from the dead, a small box that contains the entire world–that could be happening right now in the world in which we live.

As I said, several of the stories I’d read before. “Somewhere in My Mind there Is a Painting Box” the story that opens this anthology, was one of those, and is one of the strongest stories in this anthology.

The Crow Girls made several appearances, and were the center of their own story about Christmas, which was a lovely romp (pretty much what you’d expect from the Crow Girls).

Several of the stories involved the dead, and several others involve going back in time to change the past, and at least one story, “Riding Shotgun” overlaps the two. “Riding Shotgun” was a very unusual story, even for a Newford Collection, and although it was good, it felt at times like it was missing something, but I’ll be damned if I know precisely what that was.

Besides “Somewhere in My Mind There Is a Painting Box,” there were two other stories I particularly liked, that seemed to encapsulate everything I love about Newford stories. “Dark Eyes, Faith, and Devotion” is one of his stories that although complete leaves you wondering, “but what happened after that?” The closing story, “The World in a Box” goes back to the idea of ‘be careful what you wish for” only nowhere near as horrific as, say, “The Monkey’s Paw.”

I think that what I love best about Charles de Lint’s stories is that they are often about redemption. Not overtly so in an in-your-face manner, but in a way that makes you stop and consider the wishes we make every day, “if only…”

And one last thing for me to love–I absolutely adore the cover for this book. He tends to get amazingly fabulous covers, that somehow manage to give you the feel for the stories, without actually having to be about any one of the stories in particular. The covers are ethereal, much like his stories.
Rating: 9/10

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