{"id":10897,"date":"2018-06-03T16:40:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T20:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=10897"},"modified":"2021-06-03T18:06:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T22:06:29","slug":"dreams-underfoot-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10897","title":{"rendered":"Dreams Underfoot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dreams Underfoot<\/a><\/em> (1993) Charles de Lint<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n\u201cUncle Dobbin\u2019s Parrot Fair,\u201d Isaac Asimov\u2019s Science Fiction Magazine, Nov \u201887
\n\u201cStone Drum,\u201d Triskell Press chapbook, 1989
\n\u201cTimeskip,\u201d Post Mortem: New Tales of Ghastly Horror<\/strong>, ed. Paul F. Olson & David B. Silva, St. Martin\u2019s, 1989
\n\u201cFreewheeling,\u201d Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 6, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1990
\n\u201cThat Explains Poland,\u201d Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 2, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1988
\n\u201cRomano Drom,\u201d Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 5, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1989
\n\u201cThe Sacred Fire,\u201d Stalkers<\/strong>, ed. Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, Arlington Heights, IL: Dark Harvest, 1989
\n\u201cWinter Was Hard,\u201d Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 10, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1991
\n\u201cPity the Monsters,\u201d The Ultimate Frankenstein<\/strong>, ed. Byron Preiss, David Kellor, Megan Miller & John Gregory Betancourt, Dell, 1991
\n\u201cGhosts of Wind and Shadow,\u201d Triskell Press chapbook, 1990
\n\u201cThe Conjure Man,\u201d After the King<\/strong>, ed. Martin H. Greenberg, Tor, 1992
\n\u201cSmall Deaths,\u201d original to the collection
\n\u201cThe Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep,\u201d Snow White, Blood Red<\/strong>, ed. Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling, AvoNova, 1993
\n\u201cIn the House of My Enemy,\u201d original to the collection
\n\u201cBut for the Grace Go I,\u201d Chilled to the Bone<\/strong>, ed. Robert T. Garcia, Mayfair Games, 1991
\n\u201cBridges,\u201d The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Oct\/ Nov \u201892
\n\u201cOur Lady of the Harbour,\u201d Axolotl Press: Eugene, OR, 1991
\n\u201cPaperjack,\u201d Cheap Street: New Castle, VA, 1991
\n\u201cTallulah,\u201d Dead End: City Limits<\/strong>, ed. Paul F. Olson & David B. Silva, St. Martin\u2019s, 1991<\/p>\n

This was the first Charles de Lint collection I came across, and I immediately fell in love. I like his novels, but I really love his Newford story anthologies. I’ve been waiting for awhile for this book to come out on kindle–when it did I snatched it up.<\/p>\n

“Uncle Dobbin\u2019s Parrot Fair” isn’t set in Newford, but it doesn’t not fit in this anthology.<\/p>\n

Ellen carried a piece of string in her pocket, with four complicated knots tied into it, but no matter how often she undid one, she still had to wait for her winds like anyone else. She knew that strings to catch and call up the wind were only real in stories, but she liked thinking that maybe, just once, a bit of magic could tiptoe out of a tale and step into the real world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ellen has been searching for years for the magic she saw in her childhood. But there is darkness as well as beauty in magic.<\/p>\n

“The Stone Drum” is the first Jilly story. I appreciate how our view of Jilly changes over the collection. Initially she’s a pretty artist who wants to believe in magic.<\/p>\n

\u201cReligious artifacts and trappings require faith\u2014 a belief in their potency that the skookin undoubtedly don\u2019t have. The only thing I know for certain that they can\u2019t abide is the truth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Timeskip” is the first story in which Jilly and Geordie appear together. It’s a love story and a ghost story and a story of heartbreak.<\/p>\n

“Freewheeling” is another story of heatbreak, only it is the heartbreak commonly seen on the streets. It’s another Jilly story, even if she isn’t necessarily the primary character.<\/p>\n

“That Explains Poland” is a story about a Latina character, but it’s not a Latina story. It’s a Bigfoot story.<\/p>\n

Verdad<\/em>, I still don\u2019t know who I am or where I fit in. I stand in front of the mirror and the muchacha<\/em> I see studying me just as carefully as I\u2019m studying her looks older. But I don\u2019t feel any different from when I was fifteen. <\/p>\n

So when does it happen? <\/p>\n

Maybe it never does.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Charles de Lint’s stories are full of amazing women, and those women are not all white. Because that’s the way the world is. <\/p>\n

“Romano Drom” is a story of the secret roads that run through the world.<\/p>\n

The road. The Chinese called it a dragon track. Alfred Watkins, in England, had discovered the old straight tracks there and called them leys. Secret ways, hidden roads. The Native Americans had them. African tribesmen and the aborigines of Australia. Even her own people had secret roads unknown to the non-Gypsy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“The Sacred Fire” is an especially dark story, mostly because unlike many of his other stories, it doesn’t end with any note of hope, only the possibility of more horror.<\/p>\n

“Winter Was Hard” is another Jilly story, where we being to see her complexities, as she plans to spend Christmas with an elderly man in a nursing home, without family to go home to or visit, but it’s also about magic and memory.<\/p>\n

There were people who just made other people feel good. Just being around them, made you feel better, creative, uplifted, happy. Geordie said that she was like that herself, though Jilly wasn\u2019t so sure of that. She tried to be, but she was subject to the same bad moods as anybody else, the same impatience with stupidity and ignorance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Pity the Monsters” is another very dark story, that lacks the hope usually found in these stories. It’s about the loneliness of monsters.<\/p>\n

“Ghosts of Wind and Shadow” is a Meran and Cerin story, and also the story of a teenage girl whose mother doesn’t understand the magic she sees in the world. It’s also an explanation of sorts as to why people don’t see or talk about magic in the world.<\/p>\n

“The Conjure Man” is a story I particularly like, and the events here are referenced in later stories (although not in this book). It’s about a tree of tales and memory.<\/p>\n

(T)hat\u2019s our hope for the future, isn\u2019t it? That the imagination reaches beyond the present to glimpse not so much a sense of meaning in what lies all around us, but to let us simply see it in the first place?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Small Deaths” is the story of an overnight DJ, and the people who are drawn to her. The main character is a tiny bit like Kitty the werewolf, but only, really, because I think midnight DJs are a sort of their own.<\/p>\n

“The Moon Is Drowning While I Sleep” is a Sophie Etoile story (Jilly makes an appearance). Sophie is another character who recurs throughout the series.<\/p>\n

(D)reams want to be real. When you start to wake up, he said, they hang on and try to slip out into the waking world when you don\u2019t notice. Very strong dreams, he added, can almost do it; they can last for almost half a day, but not much longer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“In the House of My Enemy” is probably the most heart-breaking story in the book. It’s where we discover that Jilly is far more than we could have imagined, and that her love of her friends and the world in general is a miracle.<\/p>\n

“But for the Grace Go I” is another story that I especially like and that has always stuck in my mind. A young woman has made her life on the streets, caring for those who can’t care for themselves, wanting nothing more except to be left alone.<\/p>\n

Except that life asks more of us.<\/p>\n

“Bridges” <\/p>\n

You build the bridge and it either takes you where you want it to, or it doesn\u2019t.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if it doesn\u2019t?\u201d His teeth flashed in the moonlight. \u201c<\/p>\n

Then you build another one and maybe another one until one of them does.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Our Lady of the Harbour” is The Little Mermaid, except it’s more.<\/p>\n

“Paperjack” is another story I particularly like. It picks up where “Timeskip” leaves off, with Geordie trying to come to terms with Sue’s disappearance. <\/p>\n

If I had to describe myself as belonging to any church or mystical order, it\u2019d be one devoted to secular humanism. My concerns are for real people and the here and now; the possible existence of God, faeries, or some metaphysical Otherworld just doesn\u2019t fit into my worldview.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the story also has Paperjack, who is a fascinating enigma.<\/p>\n

Around him, an overcast day didn\u2019t seem half so gloomy, and when the sun shone, it always seemed brighter. He just exuded a glad feeling that you couldn\u2019t help but pick up on. So in that sense, he was magic.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Talullah” is a Christy Riddell story. For some reason, he is the character I find least compelling in Newford.<\/p>\n

(S)he taught me that getting close can hurt, but not getting close is an even lonelier hurt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In some ways it’s the flip-side to “Our Lady of the Harbour” but it’s also the story of the city and of change.<\/p>\n

No matter how much I know that so many of these stories are dark, it still surprises me every time how dark the stories can be. Mostly because with a few exceptions, the darkness is tempered with hope.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Triskell Press
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint \u201cUncle Dobbin\u2019s Parrot Fair,\u201d Isaac Asimov\u2019s Science Fiction Magazine, Nov \u201887 \u201cStone Drum,\u201d Triskell Press chapbook, 1989 \u201cTimeskip,\u201d Post Mortem: New Tales of Ghastly Horror, ed. Paul F. Olson & David B. Silva, St. Martin\u2019s, 1989 \u201cFreewheeling,\u201d Pulphouse: The Hardback Magazine Issue 6, ed. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Pulphouse, 1990 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,18,2,48,41,35,34],"tags":[71,161],"class_list":["post-10897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-anthology","category-fantasy","category-female","category-reread","category-short-story","category-urban-fantasy","tag-charles-de-lint","tag-newford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2PL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":410,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/410","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":0},"title":"The White Mists of Power","author":"Michelle","date":"July 25, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The White Mists of Power (1991) Kristine Kathryn Rusch I found this story both enjoyable and maddening. Enjoyable because it was a very interesting story, but maddening, because the \"twist\" in the story felt more like a trick than a twist. I also wasn't quite clear about the Enos and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5298,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5298","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":1},"title":"Fiction River: Hex in the City","author":"Michelle","date":"June 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Fiction River: Hex in the City (2013) edited by Kerrie L. Hughes \u201cKing of the Kingless\u201d by Jay Lake \u201cSpeechless in Seattle\u201d by Lisa Sliverthorne \u201cThy Neighbor\u201d by Nancy Holder \u201cSomebody Else\u2019s Problem\u201d by Annie Bellet \u201cA Thing Immortal as Itself\u201d by Lee Allred \u201cGeriatric Magic\u201d by Stephanie Writt \u201cRed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hex-in-the-City","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Hex-in-the-City.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8615,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/8615","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":2},"title":"A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"January 17, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A Fantastic Holiday Season: The Gift of Stories (2014) edited by Kevin J. Anderson & Kieth J. Olexa I picked this collection up solely for the Patricia Briggs story, but once I saw some of the other authors, read through the stories that interested me (but skipped the ones that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Fantastic-Holiday-Season.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":436,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/436","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":3},"title":"Places to Be, People to Kill","author":"Michelle","date":"September 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Places to Be, People to Kill (2007) Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Brittany A. Koren I really like short stories, so I'm a sucker for anthologies. I've been burned a couple of times, but for the most part, anything that Martin H Greenberg has a hand in will most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Place-to-Be-People-to-Kill.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":200,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/200","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":4},"title":"Dreams Underfoot","author":"Michelle","date":"February 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Dreams Underfoot (1993) Charles de Lint I believe that Dreams Underfoot is the first Charles de Lint book I bought. I may have read one of his stories somewhere (Now that I look, I may have first read \"The Moon Is Drowning as I Sleep\" in Snow White, Blood Red,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/dreams-underfoot.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":285,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/285","url_meta":{"origin":10897,"position":5},"title":"Widdershins","author":"Michelle","date":"July 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Widdershins (2006) Charles de Lint Widdershins is the latest book by Charles de Lint, and I debated for about a month as to whether I wanted to buy it in hardback or wait for it to come out in paperback. First there was the fact that I own Spirits in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/07\/Widdershins.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}