Today I have another Charles de Lint review. Forests of the Heart is quite possibly my favorite de Lint novel thus far.
The story’s central character is Bettina, a half-Mexican half-Native American woman who is a curandera, or healer. Bettina’s magic tells her to move from the desert that is her home to Newford.
In de Lint’s world, every place has its own spirits. Bettina and other characters discover that some Celtic place-spirits emigrated with the Irish to the new world. Known as the Gentry, they were content to rule the city while the spirits around Newford ruled the country. However, when an ancient legend proves to be true, the Gentry plot to kill the native spirits and claim the land as their own. Obviously, this must be stopped.
I had thought Muse and Reverie had a lot of artists and musicians. I was wrong, as Forests of the Heart features far more. However, de Lint does a better job of contextualizing them in this book to the point that one almost can forget that there are so many of them.
Overall, this book was spectacular and was full of memorable characters. My favorite were the cadejos, spirits which appear as rainbow dogs with hooves (they look sort of like pinatas) that are prone to dancing and revelry. Excellent job, Charles de Lint.
Books Without Any Pictures 
I love Charles de Lint–but I haven’t read Forests of the Heart! His descriptions are often breathtaking. Looks like I’ll have to check this one out 🙂
I haven’t seen it; I’ll definitely check it out.
This sounds like another good one.
From the descriptions it sounds as if there were similarities to Gaiman’s “American Gods”, another one on my huge pile. Maybe I’ll manage to read one for the Once Upon a Time Challenge V. Did you see it? It’s a wonderful event and would introduce you to a huge amount of bloggers who love fantasy.
It’s hosted by Chris from Stainless Steel Droppings, he is on my blogroll. You can still join. It lasts until the 21st of June.