# Charles de Lint **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 14, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505 "2003-07-14T23:10:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr\_Tambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr\_Tambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Tambo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/1 "2003-07-14T23:10:19Z")
So I’m reading _Jack of Kinrowan_ by Charles de Lint, and it’s falling a little flat. The dialogue seems somewhat self-conscious and a little awkward, the prose, considering the subject, is rather dull. I thought pretty much the same thing of my previous outing into de Lint; _Mugabe_. Which is annoying me, because I want to like de Lint. He’s very important in the subgenre of urban fantasy, which is one I like a lot. I like the concept of _Jack_; a fantasy world that isn’t in some distant dimension but is right next door to us, in fact which overlaps us; the Wild Hunt as motorcycle riding thugs, the Unseelie Court strengthened by the modern age’s horror novels and movies. I think that’s cool. I think urban fantasy is cool. Don’t I? Because looking back now, while I’ve always thought the idea was cool, I had mixed reaction to almost all such novels. I always thought Neil Gaiman’s stuff was a little twee and cutesy (yes, there are dark scenes in \*Sandman \* and other works, but they struck me as… I dunno. Kinda twee in their own way, too, I suppose). I like Tim Powers, but not unreservedly. I don’t know. Can you like a genre in theory and dislike most of it in practise? ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/2 "2003-07-15T00:36:03Z")
I love Charles de Lint, but I wouldn’t call _Jack of Kinrowan_ one of his best works. Try _Somewhere to be Flying_ and _Trader_, both are excellent and you don’t need his whole mythology to enjoy them. _The Onion Girl_ is also great, but you may want to be more familar with Jilly before you read it (and I can’t remember the names of his story collections at the moment). All three of these novels are more subtle about the otherworld and its incusion into “our” world than _Jack_, but the urban mythology is still very much present. ---
**Author:** ![Fionn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fionn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fionn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/3 "2003-07-15T00:50:20Z")
I thought _Trader_ was a great novel, but my favorite Charles de Lint book is _Dreams Underfoot_, an anthology of short stories set in the city, with recurring characters. I loved it well enough to want to lend out my copy, and it never came back to me. I want to say he has another book along the same lines, but the name escapes me. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/4 "2003-07-15T01:56:07Z")
I tried very hard to like him as well, have a friend who _loves_ the guy up back and down, and I never could stand it. All, you know, twee. But what I gotta say is - yeah, you can like a genre in theory and not in practice. I like cyberpunk, kinda - most people do. So name me a book not by Neal Stephenson or William Gibson that’s cyberpunk worth, you know, reading? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/5 "2003-07-15T02:23:19Z")
Argh. What I meant to type was [quote] I like cyberpunk, kinda - most people do.\*quote] I like cyberpunk, kinda - lots of people do, but they have to qualify once they think about it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/6 "2003-07-15T02:58:22Z")
Same here with DeLint. I’m struggling through _The Onion Girl_ because it feels like a book I should finish, but I’m not particularly enjoying it. And the “Jack” books were enjoyable but, well, not particularly memorable for me. I want to like urban fantasy. I love the idea of it, but the execution so far isn’t thrilling me. Julie ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/7 "2003-07-15T04:15:48Z")
Try _Moonheart_. In my opinion, it’s a much better book and story than the two in _Jack of Kinrowan_. I’d also recommend _Yarrow_, _The Riddle of the Wren_ and _Harp of the Gray Rose_. These last two aren’t Urban Fantasy, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/charles-de-lint/188505/8 "2003-07-15T04:46:22Z")
I think maybe DeLint is a writer who works better in a short story format. I too had a hard time getting through the Jack books, but I loved _Dreams Underfoot_.