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Newford #6
Moonlight and Vines
Return to Newford
Familiar to Charles de Lint's ever-growing audience as the setting of the novels Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and many others, Newford is the quintessential North American city, tough and streetwise on the surface and rich with hidden magic for those who can see.
In the World Fantasy Award-winning Moonlight and Vines, de Lint returns to this extraordinary city for another volume of stories set there, featuring the intertwined lives of many characters from the novels. Here is enchantment under a streetlamp: the landscape of our lives as only Charles de Lint can show it.
Familiar to Charles de Lint's ever-growing audience as the setting of the novels Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and many others, Newford is the quintessential North American city, tough and streetwise on the surface and rich with hidden magic for those who can see.
In the World Fantasy Award-winning Moonlight and Vines, de Lint returns to this extraordinary city for another volume of stories set there, featuring the intertwined lives of many characters from the novels. Here is enchantment under a streetlamp: the landscape of our lives as only Charles de Lint can show it.
384 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
64 people are currently reading
2055 people want to read
About the author
Charles de Lint
446 books3,991 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 - 30 of 112 reviews
May 17, 2013
This is a tough one to describe. I grappled with what to score it, and settled on four stars in the end.
I'm not keen on de Lint's prose style, and find his dialogue artificial. I suppose my main problem is he reminds me so much of my own juvenile attempts, in my teens, at short fiction. In the early days, I made some of the same mistakes he does. For one thing, his settings and characters come across as things he thinks are cool, as opposed to things that make a good story. It sounds like a whole lot of wishful thinking. His riot grrl females aren't interesting, fleshed out people: they're his idea of a cool and appealing woman, and his moody, aloof men are more of the same. It often feels as though de Lint tells different stories using the same archetypal warm, mystical women, and the same cold, downtrodden hero-men.
But in spite of all this, I did give this collection four stars, and for a good reason. It's the magic. De Lint has a policy about magic, and he comes right out and says it in several of the stories here: that it can be found anywhere, however mundane, and even if it comes right out and smacks you in the face, you still have to look for it. The real crux of his storytelling is the magic his characters find when they need it the most. It's satisfying, and when it happens, it makes a kind of narrative sense. If you can get past the sometimes pretentious prose and his autobiographical quasi-depressive lone wolf identity bleeding through every story, you can access a world saturated with marvels right down to the most everyday things. It's everywhere, and it's beautiful, mirroring your own world and filling it with wonder that you can carry with you.
As I said, it's a hard one to describe.
I'm not keen on de Lint's prose style, and find his dialogue artificial. I suppose my main problem is he reminds me so much of my own juvenile attempts, in my teens, at short fiction. In the early days, I made some of the same mistakes he does. For one thing, his settings and characters come across as things he thinks are cool, as opposed to things that make a good story. It sounds like a whole lot of wishful thinking. His riot grrl females aren't interesting, fleshed out people: they're his idea of a cool and appealing woman, and his moody, aloof men are more of the same. It often feels as though de Lint tells different stories using the same archetypal warm, mystical women, and the same cold, downtrodden hero-men.
But in spite of all this, I did give this collection four stars, and for a good reason. It's the magic. De Lint has a policy about magic, and he comes right out and says it in several of the stories here: that it can be found anywhere, however mundane, and even if it comes right out and smacks you in the face, you still have to look for it. The real crux of his storytelling is the magic his characters find when they need it the most. It's satisfying, and when it happens, it makes a kind of narrative sense. If you can get past the sometimes pretentious prose and his autobiographical quasi-depressive lone wolf identity bleeding through every story, you can access a world saturated with marvels right down to the most everyday things. It's everywhere, and it's beautiful, mirroring your own world and filling it with wonder that you can carry with you.
As I said, it's a hard one to describe.
May 23, 2025
Moonlight & Vines is the third collection of de Lint's Newford stories, with stories from the mid-to-late 1990s. Most of the stories first appeared in original anthologies of genre short fiction (boy, do we miss Martin Greenberg!), though a couple were original to this book, and some were privately released in chapbook format by de Lint's Triskell Press. Jilly Coppercorn and her friends figure in many of the stories, and though there's a wide range of returning characters (and new ones, too, such as the introduction of Saskia) in greater or lesser roles, the familiar sights and sounds and people make the volume something more than the sum of its individual tales. I've read many of the stories before in their initial venues but encountering them side-by-side makes it feel somehow deeper, like a mosaic novel. De Lint's writing is evocative and emotional, and the deep gloom of past abuse and sorrow is occasionally broken by whimsy and joy. We meet ghosts and supernatural creatures in addition to the magic that surrounds the everyday. I especially liked the crow girls stories, and The Pennymen.
March 5, 2018
Another magical collection from De Lint!
World: The world building is fantastic, it's hard to explain unless you read his books. The closest person I always feel I can compare with him when I read this book is Neil Gaiman. Both are so effortless in creating a world and making it dense, real and amazingly detailed and internally consistent. The city of Newford is a living breathing place with bright lights and deep shadows, high highs and very low lows. This is the sixth book in this world so that world is fully formed, but with each short story we get more and more of the world and in every little corner there is humanity and magic.
Story: So many beautiful stories I can't even begin and of course I can't spoil them. De Lint is amazing in writing about the waif and strays of society, the forgotten the abandoned and the desolate. But De Lint doesn't show us how sad they are and how much they need our help, he shows the beauty the strength and the magic found in these little forgotten people and places in society and much like the rest of the books in the Newford series this collection is just that. There is the heartwarming 'Saskia', the heartbreaking 'Passing', the mesmerizing 'Crow Girls' this series has all the emotions, from up beautiful joy to the low and sad melancholy that is 'Shining Nowhere but in the Dark' this collection is absolutely beautiful. I love his writing, it's dense but not heavy in info dumping, it's magical without being to over the top. It's not preachy but real, I love it.
Characters: Where do I start!? This is where De Lint is at his peak, his characters are real, flawed, human and full of personal voice. They live and breath and are infinitely relatable. I can't say anything else, just read a story in this collection and you will find how beautiful these characters are (yes I'm being very vague sorry).
I love De Lint, he's one of my favorites and this collection is a perfect example of why, full of heart, beauty and magic.
Onward to the next book!
World: The world building is fantastic, it's hard to explain unless you read his books. The closest person I always feel I can compare with him when I read this book is Neil Gaiman. Both are so effortless in creating a world and making it dense, real and amazingly detailed and internally consistent. The city of Newford is a living breathing place with bright lights and deep shadows, high highs and very low lows. This is the sixth book in this world so that world is fully formed, but with each short story we get more and more of the world and in every little corner there is humanity and magic.
Story: So many beautiful stories I can't even begin and of course I can't spoil them. De Lint is amazing in writing about the waif and strays of society, the forgotten the abandoned and the desolate. But De Lint doesn't show us how sad they are and how much they need our help, he shows the beauty the strength and the magic found in these little forgotten people and places in society and much like the rest of the books in the Newford series this collection is just that. There is the heartwarming 'Saskia', the heartbreaking 'Passing', the mesmerizing 'Crow Girls' this series has all the emotions, from up beautiful joy to the low and sad melancholy that is 'Shining Nowhere but in the Dark' this collection is absolutely beautiful. I love his writing, it's dense but not heavy in info dumping, it's magical without being to over the top. It's not preachy but real, I love it.
Characters: Where do I start!? This is where De Lint is at his peak, his characters are real, flawed, human and full of personal voice. They live and breath and are infinitely relatable. I can't say anything else, just read a story in this collection and you will find how beautiful these characters are (yes I'm being very vague sorry).
I love De Lint, he's one of my favorites and this collection is a perfect example of why, full of heart, beauty and magic.
Onward to the next book!
August 1, 2010
WOW!!! I don't like short stories. I really don't. I want something I can sink my teeth into, something that will allow me to escape fully into the world found in the book. Not some short snippet, nothing more than a tease. The only reason I picked this book up is that I enjoy the author and it was cheap...yard-sale cheap! So I set off, fully expecting that, well, that I wouldn't finish it.
It did take forever to finish, but not why you may think. Each story captured me. de Lint seems to have the ability to fully develop his characters in a short amount of time. His descriptions painted pictures in my mind, pulling me in. There was sometimes a thread connecting one story to another...a character, a place, a theme. But reading one didn't depend on having read another. Each story carried some type of fantasy, which he painted in such a way that it carried me right into that land, a land where crows turn into girls, where Death gives you advice, where pennies sprout arms, legs and heads and run away.
Each story also had some sort of "lesson" at the end. Many of them were hokey, some obvious. But I'll tell you, a hokey lesson was actually a relief from the pain and suffering I see every day. With each story, I had to...no, I wanted to put down the book and allow what I just read to fully sink in, to become a part of me.
This is so very worth the read!!!!
It did take forever to finish, but not why you may think. Each story captured me. de Lint seems to have the ability to fully develop his characters in a short amount of time. His descriptions painted pictures in my mind, pulling me in. There was sometimes a thread connecting one story to another...a character, a place, a theme. But reading one didn't depend on having read another. Each story carried some type of fantasy, which he painted in such a way that it carried me right into that land, a land where crows turn into girls, where Death gives you advice, where pennies sprout arms, legs and heads and run away.
Each story also had some sort of "lesson" at the end. Many of them were hokey, some obvious. But I'll tell you, a hokey lesson was actually a relief from the pain and suffering I see every day. With each story, I had to...no, I wanted to put down the book and allow what I just read to fully sink in, to become a part of me.
This is so very worth the read!!!!
April 27, 2019
Not a fan of this particular Newford collection. I'm starting to feel (in this go-round) that short stories are not the best vehicle for the author's brand of urban fantasy. Most of the stories seem light, throw-aways, overly simplistic, or just too brief for the material. In the case of Moonlight and Vines, a fair percentage of the stories, while set in Newford, don't seem to be in the "Newford Mythos" (for lack of a better word - the artistic/fae/folktale/Native American melange that seems to define the series), nor does the city seem critical to the plot (i.e. the story could really be set anywhere). As always with de Lint's short stories, many of his reoccurring characters appear, but usually as secondary figures. I noticed that this particular collection has several stories that seem to focus on the afterlife in various ways, including ghosts, vampires, guardian angels/reapers, and zombie/revenants. I was a little disappointed in the vampire story "In This Soul of a Woman", which, while you can tell it's a de Lint story, he doesn't seem to really put his stamp on it and brings nothing new to the genre. Two stars; maybe 2.5 as it was an easy read.
December 29, 2017
Moonlight & Vines' short stories are tales of the walking wounded. The characters within are lonely, despairing, lacking self worth, and incapable of maintaining healthy relationships. They carry around old hurts from abusive fathers, departed lovers, and ridiculously dysfunctional families. Instead of taking their problems to therapist, they work them out through encounters with ghosts, vampires, guardian angels, and various spirits and creatures from the spirit world of faerie.
These tales of crippled characters working through their issues have relegated the fantasy elements to the periphery. Indeed, you could nearly remove everything that makes this urban fantasy without significantly changing them. So, if you think you might have a taste for psychodrama served up with a side of urban fantasy, then Moonlight & Vines may be just the thing for you. I found it to be dreary dreck, and don't recommend it.
August 20, 2014
I don't know if you do this or not, but sometimes seeing all the books I have yet to read and long to read again (who's lucky enough to have the time for that?) the only thing that comforts me is to get up and run my fingers along the bookcase. As passionate book lovers, we can't possibly read everything we want to, but sometimes knowing it just exists is enough.
Tonight I pulled my Charles de Lint books down off the shelf and experienced the giddiness I first felt upon discovering his wonderful work years ago.
All of his writing is heartfelt, magical and Mr. de Lint is so in tune with the human spirit he seems both masculine and feminine. His Newford stories, in particular, touch the soul. After his novel Memory and Dream (I can't possibly sing its praises enough) Moonlight & Vines is my next favorite of his.
This is the kind of fiction that makes you wish it were real and the characters inside your very best friends.
Tonight I pulled my Charles de Lint books down off the shelf and experienced the giddiness I first felt upon discovering his wonderful work years ago.
All of his writing is heartfelt, magical and Mr. de Lint is so in tune with the human spirit he seems both masculine and feminine. His Newford stories, in particular, touch the soul. After his novel Memory and Dream (I can't possibly sing its praises enough) Moonlight & Vines is my next favorite of his.
This is the kind of fiction that makes you wish it were real and the characters inside your very best friends.
February 20, 2015
The grimness is relentless. Although happy endings are the rule rather than the exception – or at least optimistic ones – almost every single character either is going through hell or has gone through hell. It’s nothing new with this book that the number of happy childhoods among his characters can be counted on one hand. (One character did have a happy childhood – but then her entire family was murdered when she was twelve. Another who enjoyed her childhood was made to feel guilty about it because she was such a minority.) The number of characters who were molested or beaten as children is too high to keep track of without an abacus. And a great many stories are written in the first person, which can intensify the grimness.
Also, I hesitate to say it in this age of rampant Political Correctness, but I’m not entirely happy that a very great many of characters in this collection specifically, and in his writing in general, are lesbian. (*insert Seinfeld quote here*) I feel like I have to defend the fact that I’m a little tired of it, but I refuse to, except to say that it’s kind of the same thing as if he had a great many characters who were … oh, any given demographic. If the same number of characters were bartenders or Tibetan monks I might start getting annoyed. In this case, to be honest, my feeling after the umpteenth story featuring a lesbian stripper or a lesbian dominatrix (about which world I had NO interest, and I would have skipped the story had I known – I hated that one for several reasons, and that aspect was a big one. And it was just a weak story) or a woman who “doesn’t think she waltzes, but would rather like to try” … was that if I wanted to read about sapphic relationships I’d go to the gay and lesbian section of Barnes and Noble and shop. (Or, you know, go wander through slash fanfic online. No, wait, that would just make me open a vein.) Where was I before that sea of parentheses? (“To take arms against a sea of parentheses, and by closing end them…” Hee!) Oh. Right. Either grim or gay, or, often, both.
Not to belabor it, but the population of women who start off in their stories straight and end up in bed with another woman was still growing when I put the book down. Seriously? Sir? Fantasize on your own time, if that’s what this is all about. It’s getting old.
Also, while the stories are never less than beautifully written, this lot just doesn’t satisfy for some reason. The end of the ghost story “In the Pines” was … silly, which was a true shame as that would otherwise be my favorite story among what I’ve read (“strollops”!). “Saskia” … I don’t know. Find a flesh and blood girl, man. “The Big Sky” also failed a bit in the end, to me, and I just didn’t enjoy the tenor of it; “Birds” had some really nice moments but the premise seemed too … something, or not enough something, and, yet again, I was a little annoyed by the ending; “Moonlight and Vines” had a bit of a pat ending (and did the boy in the story, who could have been a great character, really have to fondle himself quite so often?); “Shining Nowhere but in the Dark” had some great moments, but … well. “If I Close My Eyes Forever” was the S&M story (consider yourself warned); “Passing” was another “hey! I like the girls!” (to paraphrase Tara Maclay) story.
I think one thing that threads all through De Lint’s writing is what bugged the heck out of me about Edward Eager’s Magic or Not? – pick one! I much prefer something like the stories of the Crow Girls, or Bones, etc., where the magic is undeniable, even if some characters choose to continue to deny it. That was yet another reason I was put off by “Shining Nowhere”, and “Passing” too for that matter – the characters’ decisions in the end to accept the magic made them somehow weaker, in my eyes, not stronger. In a review out in the ‘verse (I really need to start making a note of where I find these things) someone pointed out that a sort of theme of these stories is “first encounters with magic”; it’s a theme of a lot of his work. It’s another groove that became a little well-worn here: “Either I’m losing my mind or something weird is going on.”
Taken individually, encountered in the original anthologies most of them were first published in, they might have been the gems I talked about last time I wrote a De Lint-centered post. But I don’t know. Taken en masse, these exemplify the reasons my first reaction to short stories is reluctance. It’s like a box of chocolates from a store that caters to a thoroughly foreign culture: you really, really never know what you’re going to get. The next thing you bite into might be a peanut butter cup or an English toffee (I wonder if I can still quote the X-Files version of “life is like a box of chocolates”?), or a chocolate-covered palm weevil grub or chili pepper. Someone, somewhere might like it, but I, emphatically, do not.
This isn’t going to be one of the books I don’t finish; it’ll hang out by my bed and I’ll probably read another story here and there. But I’m taking a break.
Also, I hesitate to say it in this age of rampant Political Correctness, but I’m not entirely happy that a very great many of characters in this collection specifically, and in his writing in general, are lesbian. (*insert Seinfeld quote here*) I feel like I have to defend the fact that I’m a little tired of it, but I refuse to, except to say that it’s kind of the same thing as if he had a great many characters who were … oh, any given demographic. If the same number of characters were bartenders or Tibetan monks I might start getting annoyed. In this case, to be honest, my feeling after the umpteenth story featuring a lesbian stripper or a lesbian dominatrix (about which world I had NO interest, and I would have skipped the story had I known – I hated that one for several reasons, and that aspect was a big one. And it was just a weak story) or a woman who “doesn’t think she waltzes, but would rather like to try” … was that if I wanted to read about sapphic relationships I’d go to the gay and lesbian section of Barnes and Noble and shop. (Or, you know, go wander through slash fanfic online. No, wait, that would just make me open a vein.) Where was I before that sea of parentheses? (“To take arms against a sea of parentheses, and by closing end them…” Hee!) Oh. Right. Either grim or gay, or, often, both.
Not to belabor it, but the population of women who start off in their stories straight and end up in bed with another woman was still growing when I put the book down. Seriously? Sir? Fantasize on your own time, if that’s what this is all about. It’s getting old.
Also, while the stories are never less than beautifully written, this lot just doesn’t satisfy for some reason. The end of the ghost story “In the Pines” was … silly, which was a true shame as that would otherwise be my favorite story among what I’ve read (“strollops”!). “Saskia” … I don’t know. Find a flesh and blood girl, man. “The Big Sky” also failed a bit in the end, to me, and I just didn’t enjoy the tenor of it; “Birds” had some really nice moments but the premise seemed too … something, or not enough something, and, yet again, I was a little annoyed by the ending; “Moonlight and Vines” had a bit of a pat ending (and did the boy in the story, who could have been a great character, really have to fondle himself quite so often?); “Shining Nowhere but in the Dark” had some great moments, but … well. “If I Close My Eyes Forever” was the S&M story (consider yourself warned); “Passing” was another “hey! I like the girls!” (to paraphrase Tara Maclay) story.
I think one thing that threads all through De Lint’s writing is what bugged the heck out of me about Edward Eager’s Magic or Not? – pick one! I much prefer something like the stories of the Crow Girls, or Bones, etc., where the magic is undeniable, even if some characters choose to continue to deny it. That was yet another reason I was put off by “Shining Nowhere”, and “Passing” too for that matter – the characters’ decisions in the end to accept the magic made them somehow weaker, in my eyes, not stronger. In a review out in the ‘verse (I really need to start making a note of where I find these things) someone pointed out that a sort of theme of these stories is “first encounters with magic”; it’s a theme of a lot of his work. It’s another groove that became a little well-worn here: “Either I’m losing my mind or something weird is going on.”
Taken individually, encountered in the original anthologies most of them were first published in, they might have been the gems I talked about last time I wrote a De Lint-centered post. But I don’t know. Taken en masse, these exemplify the reasons my first reaction to short stories is reluctance. It’s like a box of chocolates from a store that caters to a thoroughly foreign culture: you really, really never know what you’re going to get. The next thing you bite into might be a peanut butter cup or an English toffee (I wonder if I can still quote the X-Files version of “life is like a box of chocolates”?), or a chocolate-covered palm weevil grub or chili pepper. Someone, somewhere might like it, but I, emphatically, do not.
This isn’t going to be one of the books I don’t finish; it’ll hang out by my bed and I’ll probably read another story here and there. But I’m taking a break.
May 20, 2009
So I really like Charles de Lint. I really really do. I adored Dreams Underfoot and The Little Country and Yarrow. I love the short story that's in Ravens in the Library.
This book is mostly just... enh.
In most of his urban fantasy, like Deams Underfoot, de Lint creates magic in unlikely places, lets it come alive. This book forsakes creating magic in order to become extraordinarly preachy about it, increasingly so throughout the book. Stories will just stop having a plot at all so that characters can deliver page after page of monologue about how magic is TOTALLY REAL DAMMIT and even if it's not you should believe in something you can't understand even if it's inside yourself because you never know!
The first time that happened about halfway through, it was in a story that didn't even really *have* a plot; someone dies under mysterious circumstances, and the narrator character spends the second half of the story musing about it, deciding that she can, after all, believe the woman was killed by strange creatures. Yay for her! Over and over his characters drop everything, stand still and preach at us; the sudden jerk out of the story is startling at first; later it just becomes tiresome. Show, don't tell, man!
Toward the end I was only finishing the book out of sheer bloody stubbornness. The final story was the kicker; one of our familiar Newford characters, "Christy", who just happens to be an author, who just happens to write about fantastic stories that take place in a city that just happens to be a lot like where de Lint lives, just happens to be having a crisis of faith, finding he doesn't believe in fantastic stories anymore (despite his live-in girlfriend who magically came out of a computer). There's no plot at all to this one; the entire story is the author (er, the "author") talking to himself about whether he believes in things and how he lost his belief and how he can get it back and whether he wants to, while reading over his old high school journals. I mostly love de Lint's writing, but I didn't really want to take part in his therapy.
I'm still going to check out his other stuff, and would still recommend the other books I mentioned, but I really couldn't recommend this one.
This book is mostly just... enh.
In most of his urban fantasy, like Deams Underfoot, de Lint creates magic in unlikely places, lets it come alive. This book forsakes creating magic in order to become extraordinarly preachy about it, increasingly so throughout the book. Stories will just stop having a plot at all so that characters can deliver page after page of monologue about how magic is TOTALLY REAL DAMMIT and even if it's not you should believe in something you can't understand even if it's inside yourself because you never know!
The first time that happened about halfway through, it was in a story that didn't even really *have* a plot; someone dies under mysterious circumstances, and the narrator character spends the second half of the story musing about it, deciding that she can, after all, believe the woman was killed by strange creatures. Yay for her! Over and over his characters drop everything, stand still and preach at us; the sudden jerk out of the story is startling at first; later it just becomes tiresome. Show, don't tell, man!
Toward the end I was only finishing the book out of sheer bloody stubbornness. The final story was the kicker; one of our familiar Newford characters, "Christy", who just happens to be an author, who just happens to write about fantastic stories that take place in a city that just happens to be a lot like where de Lint lives, just happens to be having a crisis of faith, finding he doesn't believe in fantastic stories anymore (despite his live-in girlfriend who magically came out of a computer). There's no plot at all to this one; the entire story is the author (er, the "author") talking to himself about whether he believes in things and how he lost his belief and how he can get it back and whether he wants to, while reading over his old high school journals. I mostly love de Lint's writing, but I didn't really want to take part in his therapy.
I'm still going to check out his other stuff, and would still recommend the other books I mentioned, but I really couldn't recommend this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 4, 2015
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors from the mid-1980's through the mid-2000's. This collection of short stories are all concern his mythical town of Newford. While each book set in this world is self-contained, they are all interrelated and more enjoyable if you read them in more or less the intended order. I read this after reading several of his other Newford stories, so I cannot say for certain, but I have a suspicion one's enjoyment of this book might be constrained without reading some of the other books first. I would not recommend this as a first reading for someone new to the author, but probably after reading two or three of the other novels set in Newford.
The short stories in this collection give readers many small items of backstory and vignettes of characters that, while not critical to reading the other stories set in the town, greatly enhance your understanding of some of the characters, and their relationships to each other. Each story is a beautiful, fully featured short story. They are not all five stars, but all were solidly written, most were excellent, and some were exceptional.
I give it five stars as the exceptional ones were so exquisitely conceived and written. One of the very few short stories that has ever left me choked up I found in this collection, "The Big Sky." It is one of the few that DOES include back-story about one aspect of how de Lint's magic works that becomes critical in future stores.
Plus, it does it in a beautiful way that deals with death and the afterlife while connecting both to sadness and the joy. It explains the reason for the existence of ghosts in the stories, and what it means. The ending of it stirs the heart, and also deals with some concepts that traditional stories and even some theology struggle with.
The short stories in this collection give readers many small items of backstory and vignettes of characters that, while not critical to reading the other stories set in the town, greatly enhance your understanding of some of the characters, and their relationships to each other. Each story is a beautiful, fully featured short story. They are not all five stars, but all were solidly written, most were excellent, and some were exceptional.
I give it five stars as the exceptional ones were so exquisitely conceived and written. One of the very few short stories that has ever left me choked up I found in this collection, "The Big Sky." It is one of the few that DOES include back-story about one aspect of how de Lint's magic works that becomes critical in future stores.
Plus, it does it in a beautiful way that deals with death and the afterlife while connecting both to sadness and the joy. It explains the reason for the existence of ghosts in the stories, and what it means. The ending of it stirs the heart, and also deals with some concepts that traditional stories and even some theology struggle with.
December 31, 2018
I usually really enjoy reading short story collections, but I was so happy to get to the end of this book of short stories by Charles de Lint. Jilly was in almost every story, which was okay, although I didn't really learn anything more about her. And I love birds, but every story seemed to have something about crows in it and by the time I got to the last story, I was pretty tired of reading about crows, people who thought they were crows or the two girls who turned into crows (The Crow Sisters). There were 22 short stories and I think I only really enjoyed one of them, which was Wild Horses. This was a Newford collection, so there were ghosts, unicorns and pennypeople, but, except for Wild Horses, none of them really seemed to go anywhere or have any kind of an ending. And some of them just seemed kind of preachy about artists – writers, painters, musicians. I am none of those things. Perhaps one has to be artsy to enjoy these stories and I’m just not artsy. I read. And I like to read stories with some substance and a beginning and an end. I will read more of de Lint’s books, but I’m just not sure that I’ll read any more of his short stories. Perhaps I’m spoiled, as I like Stephen King short stories a lot. Charles de Lint is just no Stephen King.
April 13, 2014
The denizens of Newford inhabit an off-kilter world, one where magic is not only possible but actually occurs. But magic is a slippery entity, not entirely there when you want it or in any recognizable form. The people of Newford are special and wonderful, too, in their own unique ways. They contain a kind of magic that makes them stick like a burr in your memory. The irrepressible Jilly, e.g., firmly believes in magic—in seers, crow girls, pennymen, wish-granting dwarves, what have you—but she’s just one of a panoply of interesting people who dot these pages. Magic, according to Mr. de Lint, isn’t what it does for you, but what it does to you and each of these individuals, once touched by it, are never quite the same afterwards. When Mr. de Lint writes, you not only believe that magic exists but wish that it might happen, no matter what form it takes.
May 24, 2017
I should be upfront about being a huge fan of this author and Newford - the place he bases what I believe to be an idealized Ottawa (with a subway!).
I can't say I liked all the stories equally. But I have to hand it to the author to have narrating voices that appeal and other different that are just not for me.
The underlying theme in these stories that keeps me coming back to deLint's books is about staying open to see the magic in everyday life. I can't get enough of the Crow Girls or Geordie. These stories also had a lot about homelessness.
I can't say I liked all the stories equally. But I have to hand it to the author to have narrating voices that appeal and other different that are just not for me.
The underlying theme in these stories that keeps me coming back to deLint's books is about staying open to see the magic in everyday life. I can't get enough of the Crow Girls or Geordie. These stories also had a lot about homelessness.
September 4, 2021
Another of the Newford anthologies, Moonlight and Vines takes us out of the ordinary and into a world where magic and myth walk hand in hand with the everyday. I never get tired of Charles de Lint.
May 6, 2023
"Jilly's always saying that magic's never what you expect to be, but it's often what you need. I think she's right. And it doesn't matter if the experience comes from outside or inside. Where it comes from isn't important at all. What's important is that it does come---and that we're receptive enough to recognize and accept it."
That above paragraph was said by one of the main characters in the short story, In The Quiet After Midnight from the Moonlight & Vines short story collection by Charles de Lint. The character in that story, Angela, is telling Hannah about how magic can come in someone's life when you least expected it. But can we accept that magic as real? That quote could be the major theme for the entire short story collection. de Lint wants to show in his fictional city of Newford that the supernatural exists and will people open their minds and hearts to it.
Moonlight & Vines is the third short story collection and sixth book published chronologically in the Newford series. As with most short story collections, there are some stories that connect with me more than others. My favorites from this collection are Saskia, In The Pines, Crow Girls, Wild Horses, The Pennymen, and the aforementioned story, In the Quiet After Midnight. de Lint links the characters from these short stories throughout the collection and as a reader you get an unique perspective into a fictional city unlike anything I've read in the fantasy genre.
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite writers and reading his brand of contemporary, urban fantasy has been a breath of fresh air in a genre (I love reading) that has needed to expand its range of stories beyond endless epic quests or grimdark stories trying to make the genre hyperrealistic. Ursula Le Guin writes in her The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction essay collection that fake realism is the escapist literature of our time. I agree with that sentiment. However, de Lint shows repeatedly that fantasy can be set in the everyday world and feel more real than what is commercially accepted and celebrated in the genre.
Moonlight & Vines is a short story collection that can be an entry point for new readers to Charles de Lint. I would prefer Dreams Underfoot over this one. However, it is another enjoyable read that adds another layer to the city of Newford.
That above paragraph was said by one of the main characters in the short story, In The Quiet After Midnight from the Moonlight & Vines short story collection by Charles de Lint. The character in that story, Angela, is telling Hannah about how magic can come in someone's life when you least expected it. But can we accept that magic as real? That quote could be the major theme for the entire short story collection. de Lint wants to show in his fictional city of Newford that the supernatural exists and will people open their minds and hearts to it.
Moonlight & Vines is the third short story collection and sixth book published chronologically in the Newford series. As with most short story collections, there are some stories that connect with me more than others. My favorites from this collection are Saskia, In The Pines, Crow Girls, Wild Horses, The Pennymen, and the aforementioned story, In the Quiet After Midnight. de Lint links the characters from these short stories throughout the collection and as a reader you get an unique perspective into a fictional city unlike anything I've read in the fantasy genre.
Charles de Lint is one of my favorite writers and reading his brand of contemporary, urban fantasy has been a breath of fresh air in a genre (I love reading) that has needed to expand its range of stories beyond endless epic quests or grimdark stories trying to make the genre hyperrealistic. Ursula Le Guin writes in her The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction essay collection that fake realism is the escapist literature of our time. I agree with that sentiment. However, de Lint shows repeatedly that fantasy can be set in the everyday world and feel more real than what is commercially accepted and celebrated in the genre.
Moonlight & Vines is a short story collection that can be an entry point for new readers to Charles de Lint. I would prefer Dreams Underfoot over this one. However, it is another enjoyable read that adds another layer to the city of Newford.
December 24, 2017
I always find it challenging to write a review for collections. To me, the best collections of short stories or essays are like jewelry boxes filled with individually precious and unique pieces of art that I enjoy for different reasons. How to talk about them as one? Well, let’s try. First I’ll say that Moonlight & Vines did not disappoint—indeed each story was beautiful, magical, romantic, and interesting in its own way. Overall a testament to the care with which author Charles de Lint shapes his urban fantasy setting of Newford and the people in it. The stories are sometimes connected through theme or characters (if you don’t come away realizing de Lint’s got a serious thing for crows, you aren’t paying attention) and sometimes they stand completely alone, though all are set in the same city of Newford. While the fantastical is always present in these tales, I was surprised to find it wasn’t always at the heart of them. Indeed many stories are really just about people and our mundane but universal struggles: loneliness, belonging, what really matters and what doesn’t, how to hold on to love once you’ve managed to find it. As a writer, I particularly enjoyed that several stories are directly or indirectly about making art and expressing yourself through your chosen medium. (De Lint has a unique way of writing about art and self-expression that never feels indulgent or whiny, and I really love these moments most of all.) And yet they all have that romantic notion of magic—it’s philosophical really—that de Lint brings to all the stories of his that I’ve read so far. There’s always that sense that all things are possible if you choose to believe they are, and that choice alone is what will set you free. Overall a lovely book full of stories you can dip into whenever you need a dose of magic and spirit.
April 14, 2019
Това се пада хронологично тр��тият сборник с нюфордски разкази от де Линт. Търсих го дълго време, единствено той ми липсваше в колекцията. Разказите събрани вътре са писани приблизително десет години, като подборката е доста тематична. Подчинена е на посвещението в началото:
„За тези, които търсят светлина в мрака.
За тези, които разпръскват светлина в мрака“
Въпреки познатата обстановка и доста герои, тук де Линт се е съсредоточил върху социалния аспект на разказите си и е оставил магическия на второ място (в предходните сборници е обратното). Благодарение на това разбираме доста за нерадостното минало на някой от регулярните му герои, съответно и мотивите зад постъпките им, както и защо са такива. Ала някак самата магия, самата вяра ввъ вълшебствата, дори отново да присъства навсякъде, тук добива някаква терапевтична функция, която не ми допада.
Понеже съм дръпнал малко по-напред в серията, тук открих доста липсващи парченца от мозайката на нюфордския живот. А имаше и срещи със стари познайници от предходни книги. И все пак ми дойде една идея по-наставническа и до някъде мелодраматична, от колкото предпочитам. А може би, защото се връщам назад, а авторът се е развивал през годините (ама предишните два сборника ми харесаха повече, така че не е това).
И все пак има поне 7-8 разказа, които са разкошни, а останалите са много добри, да не кажа, че ако си пада някой по по-конвенционални сюжети - онази скопена атмосфера между реалното и самозаблудата, която ни пласират като магически реализъм и нито е с едните, нито с другите - този сборник добре ще им пасне.
„За тези, които търсят светлина в мрака.
За тези, които разпръскват светлина в мрака“
Въпреки познатата обстановка и доста герои, тук де Линт се е съсредоточил върху социалния аспект на разказите си и е оставил магическия на второ място (в предходните сборници е обратното). Благодарение на това разбираме доста за нерадостното минало на някой от регулярните му герои, съответно и мотивите зад постъпките им, както и защо са такива. Ала някак самата магия, самата вяра ввъ вълшебствата, дори отново да присъства навсякъде, тук добива някаква терапевтична функция, която не ми допада.
Понеже съм дръпнал малко по-напред в серията, тук открих доста липсващи парченца от мозайката на нюфордския живот. А имаше и срещи със стари познайници от предходни книги. И все пак ми дойде една идея по-наставническа и до някъде мелодраматична, от колкото предпочитам. А може би, защото се връщам назад, а авторът се е развивал през годините (ама предишните два сборника ми харесаха повече, така че не е това).
И все пак има поне 7-8 разказа, които са разкошни, а останалите са много добри, да не кажа, че ако си пада някой по по-конвенционални сюжети - онази скопена атмосфера между реалното и самозаблудата, която ни пласират като магически реализъм и нито е с едните, нито с другите - този сборник добре ще им пасне.
November 10, 2021
4.5 stars
This is De Lint's best work so far, filled with the kind of stories he does best: short stories about an incident that changes everything a person knows. In general the pieces published by others are the strongest.
Favorite stories are In the Pines, about a country singer visited by the ghost of her favorite aunt, and Wild Horses, about a woman with a pack of magical cards helps find a missing person. I got the feeling that these were based on people De Lint actually knew. Versus my least favorite, If I close my eyes forever, just doesn't ring true for me. Like there are lots of problems with kinky queers but this problem seemed manufactured and somewhat artificial. That's the main reason why I can't whole-heartedly recommend the book/give it 5 stars.
In general De Lint tones down his "the world is terrible and only getting worse" narrative which is especially aggravating in aggregate. I also think that one or more queers gave him a good talking-to because this collection features more queer characters with less homophobic writing on De Lint's part. However, this collection continues with De Lint's clear preference for thin people, with a majority of his protagonists being described as willowy or slender. Although at least none of the antagonists were described as being fat? There's also some outdated language for people of Asian descent.
This is De Lint's best work so far, filled with the kind of stories he does best: short stories about an incident that changes everything a person knows. In general the pieces published by others are the strongest.
Favorite stories are In the Pines, about a country singer visited by the ghost of her favorite aunt, and Wild Horses, about a woman with a pack of magical cards helps find a missing person. I got the feeling that these were based on people De Lint actually knew. Versus my least favorite, If I close my eyes forever, just doesn't ring true for me. Like there are lots of problems with kinky queers but this problem seemed manufactured and somewhat artificial. That's the main reason why I can't whole-heartedly recommend the book/give it 5 stars.
In general De Lint tones down his "the world is terrible and only getting worse" narrative which is especially aggravating in aggregate. I also think that one or more queers gave him a good talking-to because this collection features more queer characters with less homophobic writing on De Lint's part. However, this collection continues with De Lint's clear preference for thin people, with a majority of his protagonists being described as willowy or slender. Although at least none of the antagonists were described as being fat? There's also some outdated language for people of Asian descent.
May 1, 2024
Another collection of stories taking place in Newford, de Lint's fictional city somewhere in Canada. These stories range from being very good to meh... They are decidedly unified in their outlook and their optimism. Unlike his earlier stories, in these the magic always works to a somewhat positive effect. And it becomes so insistent that it begins to feel like he's preaching: "It doesn't matter whether its real or not, what matters is your attitude towards it and whether that attitude leads you to opening up your life or closing yourself off to possibilities."
It's a nice message, and I probably would have liked it more had I encountered one of these stories in its original publication. As a collection, however, it started to become a bit heavy handed.
On the plus side, the writing is graceful as ever. I continue to enjoy the appearances of his continuing characters. I'm not entirely sure about his insistence on writing from the perspective of female characters, but it seems to me that he does it quite well And there were a few stories here I found touching.
Not my favorite de Lint so far, but worth reading, especially since I've basically decided I will read at least all of the Newford books, if not everything he wrote.
It's a nice message, and I probably would have liked it more had I encountered one of these stories in its original publication. As a collection, however, it started to become a bit heavy handed.
On the plus side, the writing is graceful as ever. I continue to enjoy the appearances of his continuing characters. I'm not entirely sure about his insistence on writing from the perspective of female characters, but it seems to me that he does it quite well And there were a few stories here I found touching.
Not my favorite de Lint so far, but worth reading, especially since I've basically decided I will read at least all of the Newford books, if not everything he wrote.
September 25, 2021
I'm not generally a fan of short stories, and I think that was part of the problem here. I read a lot of de Lint at one time, but never managed to read them in the right order and somehow I drifted away. When he's good he's fabulous. I love the world he created with its mix of faerie from the old world and the new. But these stories seemed too repetitive, too many sad sack narrators, people with horrific childhoods, people with broken dreams. The stories all ended up seeming the same even when they weren't. But you know, there are women (even artists!) who don't wear combat boots. De Lint is brilliant - I still remember the way Memory and Dream made me feel and Trader haunted me for years. Weirdly I can barely remember the plots of these stories having just finished the collection. It's still an amazing world he's created though.
September 11, 2019
Had it not been for a good friend of mine seeing this book and convincing me to buy it, I don't think I would have ever stumbled upon the work of Charles de Lint. One reason being that I don't typically read collections of short stories. Boy, I am glad I took the plunge!
The main theme of this collection is that of magic and the soul...or what one might consider the soul. He also seems to be fond of lesbians as more than one of the stories features them quite heavily. Not that that is a bad thing, just something I noticed and it put a smile on my face.
One thing I noticed pretty quickly is just how vast de Lint's style is. He doesn't stick to one style or subgenre, but rather encompasses all of them in this book. While not all of the stories were completely engaging, only a small few found me waiting for the end to come so I could delve into the next one. None were enough to detract any stars in my rating. All together, it is still a 5 star from me.
The main theme of this collection is that of magic and the soul...or what one might consider the soul. He also seems to be fond of lesbians as more than one of the stories features them quite heavily. Not that that is a bad thing, just something I noticed and it put a smile on my face.
One thing I noticed pretty quickly is just how vast de Lint's style is. He doesn't stick to one style or subgenre, but rather encompasses all of them in this book. While not all of the stories were completely engaging, only a small few found me waiting for the end to come so I could delve into the next one. None were enough to detract any stars in my rating. All together, it is still a 5 star from me.
March 9, 2018
I loved it. Charles De Lint produces modern and strong characters in an all too real way that makes the magic of Newford float off the pages. I, especially, loved In This Soul of a Woman. The story brings together a vampire who is sick of living and a stripper who may lose her child in a messy custody battle. The odd couple sums up something that Charles de Lint does very well. By bringing two vastly different women together to bond over two completely different problems, showing their similar strengths, and the strength it takes to be a woman. He has a unique way of bringing a bird's eye view to everyday problems by giving them a magical larger than life touch that make you really think.
June 24, 2020
This is probably my favorite of the Newford short story collections. I pretty much have really enjoyed everything in this series so far. Memory and Dream and Someplace to Be Flying were stand outs as far as novels. But as far as the short stories these particulars really grabbed me both emotionally and magically. The Crow Girls are becoming a favorite of mine. They were prominent in this collection and they just really add to magical character of this unique setting. These are stories are largely about dealing with relationships, loss, over coming obstacles like fear, and these magical tales were just wonderfully constructed.
January 17, 2021
Another short story collection, good but less universally strong than Dreams Underfoot, and with less of a continuing arc. I find it interesting that the more "normie" the character de Lint is describing, the more he struggles to make them three-dimensional and vivid. It's like suffering brings character and, for instance, simple emotional suffering, like a bad marriage or uncertain career, is not enough for de Lint.
Read
April 28, 2024some of these are actively bad and some of these are great (the “short story collection experience”) and on no less than 3 occasions a woman who is in love with another woman makes sure to explain that she is NOT a lesbian. the endings are a little too pat and the “theme” is stated aloud at least once in every story. the first ghost one is good. fun as a snapshot of 90s urban fantasy but a lot if it feels like stuff i aged out of a while ago
July 12, 2018
The only reason this gets a 4* and not a 5* is that I'm not a great short story reader, I prefer novels, something I can get my teeth into. Charles de Lint is one of the very few authors who's short stories I will read. because each one is like a mini novel. They also have the same intertwining characters and/or background of Newford.
June 28, 2024
Builds to great joy and wonder
This is my first de Lint book. I discovered him as one of the short story authors in The Green Man. His stories began as delightful entertainments. They grew to touch my heart and soul. Eventually they took my old breath away and inspired me to breathe fresh and anew.
This is my first de Lint book. I discovered him as one of the short story authors in The Green Man. His stories began as delightful entertainments. They grew to touch my heart and soul. Eventually they took my old breath away and inspired me to breathe fresh and anew.
February 25, 2018
For some reason, I didn't much care for this collection of short stories which was disappointing as I have loved some of the other Newford collections (such as Dreams Underfoot, the first one). I guess that I found them all a bit too similar to each other in the gritty & bleak lives of the main characters even though the magic bits were varied. Oh well, I am not giving up on the series but I hope that the next one I read I like better...
July 12, 2019
A collection of short stories taking place in the fictional urban fantasy world of Newford. Though I really enjoy his novels, de Lint's short stories don't really pull me into his world, it feels more like peeking through a window than walking through a door.
December 23, 2021
I have read this collection twice. Once when it was gifted to me, many years ago. Then again, this year, when I challenged myself to read every book on my bookshelf. I loved the stories in this book and can relate. This is a book that I will treasure for years to come.
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