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Crow Roads
Set outside of Newford in 1967, Annie lives in Tartown with the rest of the poor kids. When a handsome, longhaired hippie shows up outside Ernie's Poolroom, Annie is smitten by his exotic good looks and long black hair. The local boys just want to beat him up, but before they can, the stranger suggests an irresistible contest, which reveals that he may be even more mysterious than he appears.
23 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
28 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
About the author
Charles de Lint
446 books3,996 followersCharles de Lint is the much beloved author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children's books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, conducted by Random House and voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint's books among the top 100.
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he's been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He's been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Born in the Netherlands in 1951, de Lint immigrated to Canada with his family as an infant. The family moved often during de Lint's childhood because of his father's job with an international surveying company, but by the time Charles was twelve—having lived in Western Canada, Turkey and Lebanon—they had settled in Lucerne, Quebec, not far from where he now resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
In 1980, de Lint married the love of his life, MaryAnn Harris, who works closely with him as his first editor, business manager and creative partner. They share their love and home with a cheery little dog named Johnny Cash.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers.
Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
—Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint's body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won 2013 Aurora Award. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times Editors as one of the top six children's books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), is a fascinating ghost story about love, passion and faith. It was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards.
De Lint is presently writing a new adult novel. His storytelling skills also shine in his original songs. He and MaryAnn (also a musician) recently released companion CDs of their original songs, samples of which can be heard on de Lin
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
September 30, 2017
Note: This is a review for both this story and Somewhere in my mind there is a Painting Box, which I reviewed in tandem on my blog.
I forgot about Charles de Lint. There was a time when I couldn't get enough of his writing, having picked up Moonheart on a whim, fallen in love with it, and forced it on all my friends who also fell in love with it. Each of us, Karen, Glinda, and I, ordered a hardcover copy from the UK because we had to have the hardcover.
But over time, I turned to other things, other authors, and forgot about the magic of de Lint's world, which is a shame. It's a beautiful place where everything is alive, everything has a spirit, a meaning.
In Somewhere in my mind there is a Painting Box de Lint gives us a young woman hungry for a bigger life. She wants to be an artist, but without money or training, she's not likely to accomplish much. One day she finds an abandoned paint box that had belonged to an artist who worked in the area years earlier. Since he disappeared with an apprentice, his work has become famous, so when Lillian sees the artist's name on one of the panels, she knows exactly who the box belonged to.
Lillian knows there is magic in the world, she's experienced it, she expects it. So when she encounters the young apprentice in the woods, looking not a day older than he was when he and the older artist disappeared, she accepts his tale of having crossed into another world, one so beautiful and brilliant that neither he nor the older artist ever needed to paint again.
The second book, Crow Roads, gives us a story set in the past, about a stranger who comes to a small town, antagonizes the boys and challenges one of them to a contest. After he fights with them, he seduces Annie, the narrator of the story, and then disappears.
She knows she's been touched by magic just as Lillian knows. They understand and accept. But both women find that the encounters put them at crossroads in their lives, and force them to make choices which, even a day earlier, were not remotely available to them.
These are stories about girls becoming their own women, growing, coming to understand who they are, what they want from their lives, and what they have to do to get it.
These are stories about choices, and the not-always-reliable lure of magic. They made me sorry that I'd stopped reading de Lint. But it doesn't matter, because I've begun again. Like meeting an old friend.
I forgot about Charles de Lint. There was a time when I couldn't get enough of his writing, having picked up Moonheart on a whim, fallen in love with it, and forced it on all my friends who also fell in love with it. Each of us, Karen, Glinda, and I, ordered a hardcover copy from the UK because we had to have the hardcover.
But over time, I turned to other things, other authors, and forgot about the magic of de Lint's world, which is a shame. It's a beautiful place where everything is alive, everything has a spirit, a meaning.
In Somewhere in my mind there is a Painting Box de Lint gives us a young woman hungry for a bigger life. She wants to be an artist, but without money or training, she's not likely to accomplish much. One day she finds an abandoned paint box that had belonged to an artist who worked in the area years earlier. Since he disappeared with an apprentice, his work has become famous, so when Lillian sees the artist's name on one of the panels, she knows exactly who the box belonged to.
Lillian knows there is magic in the world, she's experienced it, she expects it. So when she encounters the young apprentice in the woods, looking not a day older than he was when he and the older artist disappeared, she accepts his tale of having crossed into another world, one so beautiful and brilliant that neither he nor the older artist ever needed to paint again.
The second book, Crow Roads, gives us a story set in the past, about a stranger who comes to a small town, antagonizes the boys and challenges one of them to a contest. After he fights with them, he seduces Annie, the narrator of the story, and then disappears.
She knows she's been touched by magic just as Lillian knows. They understand and accept. But both women find that the encounters put them at crossroads in their lives, and force them to make choices which, even a day earlier, were not remotely available to them.
These are stories about girls becoming their own women, growing, coming to understand who they are, what they want from their lives, and what they have to do to get it.
These are stories about choices, and the not-always-reliable lure of magic. They made me sorry that I'd stopped reading de Lint. But it doesn't matter, because I've begun again. Like meeting an old friend.
October 2, 2023
Classic Charles de Lint. Written like a myth, this is so much like some of his older stuff from the 90's. I didn't mean miss this voice.
I recommend for those looking for what urban fantasy used to look like.
I recommend for those looking for what urban fantasy used to look like.
June 26, 2017
Neat little short. It leaves you wondering what name she comes up with for "Buddy," and how old she is when/ if she takes the crow roads to him, and what is that place/world like? I was born in the mid eighties and had to research what a "ducktail" hairstyle is and also what "spaghetti westerns" are.
October 5, 2013
If I have any complaint about this story I wish it were longer. As usual, De Lint builds realistic, engrossing characters in a short span and weaves the mythic elements in a way that feels very natural. Annie is a girl from the poorer side of town who wants to get out and prove that she can be something better than what anyone else thinks she can. One day a handsome, long-haired Native hippie boy arrives and she can't help but be drawn to him. Some local jerks try to push him around and he shows that for all his calm manner he can be dangerous if he wants to.
Annie meets him again later and he reveals he comes from another world and shows her how to find him again through the Crow Roads. Although tempted to follow him now, she wants to stay behind to prove to everyone what a girl from Tartown can do. She promises to find him again someday and when she does she'll have a name to give him.
Good short, short but wonderful. The characters are ones I'd love to see again and as usual the dialogue and storytelling is fluid and graceful. Well worth the ebook price.
Annie meets him again later and he reveals he comes from another world and shows her how to find him again through the Crow Roads. Although tempted to follow him now, she wants to stay behind to prove to everyone what a girl from Tartown can do. She promises to find him again someday and when she does she'll have a name to give him.
Good short, short but wonderful. The characters are ones I'd love to see again and as usual the dialogue and storytelling is fluid and graceful. Well worth the ebook price.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2021
It's 1967, and Annie is a teenager living in Tartown, outside Newford, a tough area where everyone is poor. One afternoon after school, she's hanging out at the laundromat with a friend, when a very handsome, unusual young man shows up outside Ernie's pool room. His good looks, long black hair, and general hippie look makes him seem an easy target for the local tough boys--and it doesn't turn out the way they expect.
Annie winds up spending the afternoon with him, and tries to get a name out of him, other than "Buddy," that the leader of the tough guys gave him. He says he doesn't have a name, unless she wants to give him one.
And as they talk, she has to make a choice, about going with him on the Crow Roads, or sticking with her own dream, of going to university and proving that even a girl from Tartown can do something meaningful in the world.
It's a short story about thought, feelings, values--and whether one choice really excludes all the others.
Recommended.
I bought this short story.
Annie winds up spending the afternoon with him, and tries to get a name out of him, other than "Buddy," that the leader of the tough guys gave him. He says he doesn't have a name, unless she wants to give him one.
And as they talk, she has to make a choice, about going with him on the Crow Roads, or sticking with her own dream, of going to university and proving that even a girl from Tartown can do something meaningful in the world.
It's a short story about thought, feelings, values--and whether one choice really excludes all the others.
Recommended.
I bought this short story.
November 20, 2016
For avid, lifelong readers, there is nothing better than the sense of discovery and awe that overwhelms you as you fall between an author's words and into a world far and away from personal experience.
Charles de Lint is fast becoming a new favorite for me and I wish I had found him sooner. No matter. "Crow Roads" is an awesome piece of magical realism and 99 cents is a small price to pay for the beautiful imagery of the crows and the ghost roads. The kind of image that seeps through the mind and creates an almost-memory.
Charles de Lint is fast becoming a new favorite for me and I wish I had found him sooner. No matter. "Crow Roads" is an awesome piece of magical realism and 99 cents is a small price to pay for the beautiful imagery of the crows and the ghost roads. The kind of image that seeps through the mind and creates an almost-memory.
August 6, 2020
Beautiful
This is a great example of why I love deLint. Just a little bit of everyday magic. And the more I read from him the more I suspect he loves crows as much as I do. They're everywhere!
This is a great example of why I love deLint. Just a little bit of everyday magic. And the more I read from him the more I suspect he loves crows as much as I do. They're everywhere!
August 2, 2012
Beautiful story. Of course, it's by Charles de Lint, so I'd expect nothing but perfection.
November 25, 2013
Very well done for a short. Mystical entwined with reality that makes you think the stranger is a cousin of the crow girls from the fictional town of Newford that the author created.
May 11, 2014
Good little short story. I really enjoy Charles de Lint's writing style.
September 18, 2017
I really enjoyed this short story. As much as I enjoy Charles de Lints novels, really love his shorter novels and stories.
Crow Roads was a lovely short story.
Crow Roads was a lovely short story.
August 14, 2018
Who is that mysterious guy with the long hair?
December 20, 2020
During 1967's Summer of Love, a teen encounters a Crow Trickster.
January 4, 2020
I've always loved the world created by Charles de Lint. I think I'll pay more attention to how the crow flies
January 11, 2020
a fragment
February 11, 2025
Another great story from Charles de Lint.
What I always expect when I read one of Charles de Lint’s books. Another good feeling in that part of my heart where I keep all the fantastic fantasies I read!
What I always expect when I read one of Charles de Lint’s books. Another good feeling in that part of my heart where I keep all the fantastic fantasies I read!
July 3, 2023
A truly beautiful short story that reminded me why I love the magic of Newford.
August 7, 2024
A perfect little gem of a story, especially at bedtime, or past it.
November 21, 2014
Really short short story
Loved it even though it really left me wanting more. It was so short, but what was a lack of resolution for me paralleled the feelings of the main character.
Loved it even though it really left me wanting more. It was so short, but what was a lack of resolution for me paralleled the feelings of the main character.
November 28, 2017
The Lang-haired boy
I really think this is my favorite Crow tale yet. And that���s saying a lot! I love the Crow sisters, but this tale of the Crow road is special. I only wish it were longer.
I really think this is my favorite Crow tale yet. And that���s saying a lot! I love the Crow sisters, but this tale of the Crow road is special. I only wish it were longer.
January 14, 2019
from The Coyote Road re-read e-book 5/7/2015
re-read aloud to Lisa 5/14/2015
re-read aloud to Lisa 5/14/2015
May 16, 2023
Lovely short story!
I’m glad I bought this; my only complaint is that I wish the story was longer, a novella even!
As is, very sweet
I’m glad I bought this; my only complaint is that I wish the story was longer, a novella even!
As is, very sweet
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews