[.ca] Spirits in The Wires (ISBN 0312869711)

This One Just Didn't Grab Me:
In his latest novel featuring an ensemble cast of Newford-ites, Charles DeLint attempts to explore the idea that Cyberspace is the modern equivalent of the Hollow Hills -- an otherworld that can be physically accessed -- and that some of the older denizens of the spirit world may have already become interested in this psychic real estate. Or, at least, that's what he says he's doing in his introduction. When a virus disrupts the Wordwood site and a whole lot of people disappear into virtual reality, a disparate group of magic users and mundanes must use whatever means they can come up with to go to the rescue. Christy Riddell is one of the central characters, as his partner Saskia is one of the ones who has disappeared. We also get to see Holly Rue, Robert Lonnie, Geordie and a supporting cast of Newford's literary citizens (as opposed to Newford's painting citizens) as well as the usual faeries, sprites and elemental spirits. And that's what kind of bothered me about this book. We had the usual suspects doing the usual things in pretty much the usual way; only the setting was somewhat altered, and that not by much. I think the question of spirits in cyberspace, so much a part of a lot of cyberpunk fiction, is a really interesting one. But I didn't find it addressed here in any interesting way. Rather, the idea seemed taken for granted and from there the novel read like a Michael Crichton action piece, with lots of fireworks and explosions, told from so many points of view that it was hard to care about any of them. I'm also disappointed that DeLint's books seem to have lost the edginess that grabbed me in many of his earlier works. There aren't any great villains here, so the conflict is a little pale. There isn't any real sense of danger. Although the characters constantly must remember that "The otherworld is dangerous place," we don't see any real danger. Nothing really bad happens to anyone. It's all a walk in the park and the ending no surprise. We're told anything can happen, but it rings false. In reality "anything" CAN'T happen, because the heroes always come through safe and sound with very few scars. Call me bloodthirsty, but I think at this point DeLint's work could benefit from killing someone dead -- someone major. This is another book that will probably be lost on anyone who hasn't read several of DeLint's short story collections. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone new to this writer or this genre. Although it's always interesting to see what's going on in Newford with these characters, I considered this one of their less thrilling adventures. Get it out of the library or wait for paper.

Not bad, but not de Lint's best:
This book wasn't that bad. However, I found it lacked some of the excitement of de Lint's other books. The ending sort of fell flat for me. Although I liked the premise (a spirit that takes over a website and begins to literally suck people in), I thought that it could have been done a little better. De Lint has left the ending open for a sequel (I don't know if that's what he has planned), but I think the loose ends could have been tied up a little better, and with more excitement (I'm used to more explosive crescendos from de Lint). I'd recommend de Lint's "Trader", "Yarrow", or "Jack of Kinrowan" over this book. None of the three feature the Internet as a main player, but they are better examples of the urban fantasy for which de Lint is famous.

Magic on the Internet:
I don't generally read fantasy, as most of it tends to fall under the "sword and sorcery" style that does nothing for me. Then I read a few stories Charles de Lint wrote in Tapping the Dream Tree. Two of them in particular struck a chord with me. "Pixel Pixies" and "Embracing the Mystery" both concern magic and computers. This was the kind of "urban fantasy" I was looking for. Not Emma Bull's War for the Oaks that spends half its time in Fairy Land, but de Lint's vision that brings the magic into the modern world, even to the internet. When I could tell that de Lint's new novel Spirits in the Wires was going to build on these two stories, I got excited. Was I finally going to get to immerse myself in a fantasy world that I could enjoy? Spirits in the Wires concerns a Web site called the Wordwood, which is like a search engine but you can ask it any question and it will answer you in a style familiar to you, such as a beloved family member. It also concerns two of the women in the life of writer Christy Riddell: his girlfriend Saskia Madding, who believes she was born from the Wordwood; and his "shadow self," whom he calls "Mystery" but who has given herself the name Christiana Tree (Miss Tree=Mystery). Christiana is made up of aspects of Christy that he threw off himself when he was seven years old, but she has made herself over the years into her own person. When a man spurned by Saskia wants revenge, he has a virus sent into the Wordwood, which causes everyone logged on to the site at that moment to disappear--including Saskia, who disappears right in front of Christy, who is helpless to do anything about it. This leads to a pursuit of those disappeared, a trip into the website, and teamwork from people who variously love and hate each other. Once I got past de Lint's strange naming convention ("Christy" for a man, "Aaran" with no "o," in addition to just an uncommon selection of names in general), I realized that this made it easier to keep characters separated, as opposed to some writers who don't take that into consideration and have characters named Fred and Frank (or Jo and Joy) in the same book. Probably the most interesting aspect of the book is that the characters carry over from other books. I met most of the people in Spirits in the Wires somewhere in Tapping the Dream Tree. So, it's like a series book where you already know the characters and can just get on with the story. But on the other hand, some of the characters I didn't know were introduced fully with the plot so I didn't feel left out. I feel sure that a newcomer could pick up Spirits in the Wires and not feel lost. De Lint has quite a story here to tell and writes with apparent ease. He is familiar with the technology (one aspect of the book that could have been done badly) enough to give enough information to understand the plot, but not bog his audience (already tech-savvy, to judge by his vast internet following) down with unnecessary details. But the details of the land inside the Wordwood are perfection. The idea that a fantasy land could, at its core, be run by a computer program is ingenious and I was swept up in the plot and the characters' relationships with each other in spite of myself. I couldn't wait to get back to the book after having to handle my daily responsibilities. The ending was a little talky and took a while to wrap everything up, but in general, this is a solid novel that I enjoyed a lot. I don't believe that de Lint's other books are this well geared toward me but, hopefully, wanting to revisit these characters will carry me through any stories that aren't quite my cup of chai.

Charming urban fantasy:
When a book reviewer blackmails a hacker into sending a computer virus into the wordwood website, things get ugly. Because wordwood left the simple world of computing long before and migrated into the spirit workd. A virus there is a lot more serious, and hundreds of people getting sucked into their computers is just the start of the problems. When his girlfriend is one of those sucked in, Christy Riddell resolves to go after her--even if it means entering into the spirit world. Of course he's never actually been in the spirit world and isn't even sure he believes in it, but he's willing to do whatever it takes to save her. Gathering a group of friends and questionable allies, he sets off. But things have gone downhill in wordwood and its problems are starting to spread even more widely. If he and his band don't succeed, the problems may become a lot more serious than just a few missing persons. Author Charles de Lint brings new life to the concept of merging the computer and fantasy world. The fairy people aren't all involved with computers, but many shadows are given strength by people's belief in them and lots of people believe what computers tell them. de Lint's writing is lyrical, engaging the reader and giving the story a tang of its own. The power of this novel comes not from the conclusions, although there are some charming twists there as well, but from the progression through adventure, from de Lint's descriptions and concepts, and from the way he paints his story rather than simply telling it. SPIRITS IN THE WIRES takes a fairly standard concept and really breaths light into it. de Lint fans will be happy to see many familiar characters return, as well as enjoy meeting some of the new characters and concepts that de Lint brings to the light. It's a charming story. Well done.

A good choice for de Lint fans:
This is a solid novel, set in Newford but mostly featuring characters not much developed thus far. It displays de Lint's excellent tight pacing and explores some interesting ideas about magic and the electric/digital world he's alluded to in short stories but never really gone for. Unfortunately, after a wonderful build up, it resolves...just a little too easily. Stephen King occasionaly displays the same weakness. It's as if the author tires of the game and sweeps the board clean just when things are as engrossing and fantastic as they can get. The story does advance the development of some great characters, including the two living Riddel brothers and the delightful Holly Rue - who gets a love interest! If you're a fan of this author and of urban fantasy, pick this one up - in hardback, even. Not his best - I can only give it four stars, he's so much better than this - but still very, very good.