Although Charles de Lint is a prolific fantasy and horror/thriller writer, this is the first time I've read one of his books. Even though I'm a fan of fantasy and science fiction books, I tend to read more regular novels because it seems like there a lot of BAD fantasy and sci-fi books out there. I'm all for aliens, out of body experiences, and giant insects, but it's got to be well written and justified.
De Lint achieves this ideal by balancing his fantastic story lines with pragmatic characters who are untrusting of anything unexplainable or supernatural.
In Trader, the main character, Max Trader wakes up in someone else's body, that of an unemployed conman, Johnny Delvin. Delvin, in turn, wakes up in Trader's body. Trader must figure out how to get his body and life back while dealing with the all the negative consequences that come with walking around looking like the lowlife Delvin who happens to owe three months rent and have a tribe of angry ex-girlfriends looking for him. The characters explore aspects of their lives like, restlessness, complacency and the difference between merely existing and truly living.
De Lint is an excellent author. This book is written in first and third person, with a host of lively and vivid characters. Even the women characters are believable and lifelike, which is a relief, especially in the fantasy genre of writing. The only thing I didn't enjoy was that the multiple characters sometimes slowed down the pace of the book. Sometimes I was practically skipping paragraphs to get past the internal, emotional struggle a character was experiencing and get to the action. Which is sad because De Lint is excellent at expressing those things, but sometimes enough is enough.
Anyway- it was good, but I don't know if I'll go out of my way to read his other books.
2 comments:
I like the new design and colors. Makes me want to curl up on the couch with a book - or a nap. Very soothing.
I don't read many sci-fi books but this one sounds interesting...I might give it a try.
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