My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Man, I wanted to like this book. Really, really wanted to…and I almost did.
The plot, the characters, the world de Lint built…were all so close to being good, to being right what I was looking for, but ultimately missed it.
The elements are all there for something great: a mix of the real world, a secret government program, Celtic mythology and Native American tales–oh, yeah, and a magic house. Who could want more? Not me. Unless you count a plot that moves faster than a glacier and well-developed characters that get the chance to do something.
There are just far too many characters moving around this book — it’s honestly difficult at times to keep track of some of them. And tracking is essential, because the book is essentially 320 pages of introducing players and moving them around to set up the last 90 pages (don’t have the book with me, so my page counts are estimates).
Nice try, but nowhere near as good as his straight fantasy that preceded it.
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