Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Tor Books (2003), Hardcover, 448 pages
Description
Charles de Lint's Newford novels, loosely linked "tales" with overlapping characters set in an imaginary modern North American city, are tales of magic and myth afoot on today's city streets. But at the center of every de Lint story is the miracle of the human heart.And at the heart of Spirits in the Wires are Saskia Madding and Christiana Tree, both of whom are tied to perennial Newford character, the writer Christy Riddell. Are either Saskia or Christiana real? Christy's girlfriend, Saskia, believes she was born in a Web site, while Christiana is Christy's "shadow-self"--all the parts of him that he cast out when he was seven years old.At a popular Newford on-line research and library Web site called the Wordwood, a mysterious "crash" occurs. Everyone visiting the site at the moment of the crash vanishes from where they were sitting in front of their computers. Saskia disappears right before Christy's eyes, along with countless others.Now Christy and his companions must journey into Newford's otherworld, where the Wordwood, it transpires, has a physical presence of its own...to rescue their missing friends and loved ones and to set this viral spirit right before it causes further harm.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member libraryofus
(Amy) I've always enjoyed stories about Christy Riddell, and in this book we get lots of them. That's really enough to recommend it right there, but de Lint's ever-fascinating storytelling is in fine form here as well.
LibraryThing member arelenriel
I really like how De Lint captures both the spirits of fairie and the spirit of the modern world in his boks. This one is an excellent tale of how the two can intertwine
LibraryThing member kewpie
I really enjoyed Blue Girl, and I wanted to try another de Lint book. The plot was roughly about a woman who gets sucked into her computer into some odd virtual realm. She discovers that she may have been born out of a man's subconsious. This book seemed to be a reunion of characters from several
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other books. There were several references that made absolutely no sense to me and it seemed really odd that they were added in the book. For example: There is a two sentence oddity where we discover that one of the main characters is jaded about dating and meeting women, because the last woman he dated fell into a time vortex and is now older than his great grandmother. What the heck? And then this is never explained in any detail or mentioned again in the book. I was very confused and wasn't totally sure what was going on in the book. Recommended: Do NOT read this book unless you have read several de Lint books. I may do another review after I have read enough of his books to meet these other characters. Show Less
LibraryThing member MillieHennessy
Despite not having read about many of the Newford gang (except Jilly in The Onion Girl), I really enjoyed this book and didn't feel lost among the references to the past that the characters have shared. As usual, when I read a de Lint book, I want to believe that there is more to life than just
I enjoyed de Lint's take on the internet being a place inside the spirit world, and that it's inhabited by spirits that seek to gain what they can in the form of devotions from people who use certain sites. The mainline of the story follows Christy Riddle and his shadow Christiana as they quest to find Saskia, Christy's girlfriend, who was sucked into cyberspace when a virus hit a site she was visiting. The point of view varies each chapter, following a different character, and I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the action, though at times I think the real sense of urgency was lacking. As usual I enjoyed de Lint's descriptions and his refrences to a mix of folklore. The idea that characters of books can come to life in the spirit world is especially appealing.
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"The World As It Is," and that there's some secret magic waiting just beyond what I can see.I enjoyed de Lint's take on the internet being a place inside the spirit world, and that it's inhabited by spirits that seek to gain what they can in the form of devotions from people who use certain sites. The mainline of the story follows Christy Riddle and his shadow Christiana as they quest to find Saskia, Christy's girlfriend, who was sucked into cyberspace when a virus hit a site she was visiting. The point of view varies each chapter, following a different character, and I really enjoyed that. I enjoyed the action, though at times I think the real sense of urgency was lacking. As usual I enjoyed de Lint's descriptions and his refrences to a mix of folklore. The idea that characters of books can come to life in the spirit world is especially appealing.
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LibraryThing member salimbol
Intelligent and perceptive as any of De Lint's works, with some particularly vivid imagery (especially in the Wordwood section), with an interesting and eclectic bunch of characters. However, some of them were *much* better fleshed out than others (and some of these others were rather randomly
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thrown in from his other Newford stories, I gather), and the story was lacking in urgency in many places. Show Less
LibraryThing member LindaWeeks
If I could I would give this book 6 stars. What an amazing story. Love the characters, love the setting, love the concept. Just WOW! I read this over the last two days and it drew me back every time I had to put it down; I just had to see what would happen next, what myth would be woven into this
Can I just say how proud I am that my hometown produced an author such as Charles De Lint.
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thoroughly modern story.Can I just say how proud I am that my hometown produced an author such as Charles De Lint.
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LibraryThing member LisCarey
This is another Newford novel, taking some the least technologically-inclined of the loose Newford network of friends and aquaintances into the internet. Literally into the net--some of them get involuntarily uploaded, and others follow in the hope of rescuing them.
Aaran Goldstein, book editor for
So is Saskia Madding.
Except that, while all the other uploaded go directly to the Wordwood website, Saskia manages to resist effectively enough to reach Christy's "shadow," Christiana, who was born from the parts of Christy that he discarded when he was seven. Saskia and Christiana have recently been discussing whether they are "real" or not--Christiana, of course, because she's a shadow, and Saskia because, as far as she can tell, she was born in the Wordwood. She has a paper trail showing a fairly normal life going back to a normal birth, but her real, substantial memories go back only a few years, to shortly before she met Aaran Goldstein, and Christy, and the others. When she resists the Wordwood spirit that's trying to reclaim her, she reaches Christiana on her borderlands-capable cellphone, and enters Christianarquote s head. For most of the remainder of the book, they are literally inseparable.
Christy, Geordie, Holly, and others (including, eventually, a somewhat chastened Aaran Goldstein), search for a solution and conclude that they need to go to the spiritworld, where the Wordwood is apparently located now, and cure the virus there in order to get their missing friends back. Along the way, they encounter hellhounds and other dangers of the spiritworld. Christiana, Saskia, and eventually Jackson Hart, head for the heart of the Wordwood, also to tackle the virus. Along the way, they find a Disneyesque Sleeping Beauty coffin, displaying, rather alarmingly, Saskia's unoccupied body. They also find Librarius, formerly a servant of the being that controlled the Wordwood, now in rebellion against it. The virus gave him his opportunity, and he's not interested in any solutions that don't leave him in charge.
There are some oddities in the story. On the detail level, it seems odd, even with this relatively non-techie crowd, that no one except Jackson Hart has a either DSL or a cable modem. On the story level, Librarius' vengefulness towards the people responsible for the virus that gave him his shot at taking control of the Wordwood doesn't quite make sense. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable visit with the Newford crowd.
Aaran Goldstein, book editor for
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the local newspaper and mild pain in neck to Christy Riddle, Saskia Madding, and others of literary bent in our old familiar crowd, hits upon a relatively harmless means of revenge upon Saskia for the offense of having realized almost imme diately what a jerk and a loser he is. He blackmails one of the I.T. staff at the paper into uploading a virus that will temporarily take down the Wordwood website, so beloved of Saskia and her friends. Unfortunately, the damage isn't as temporary or as limited as intended. The Wordwood hasn't been a normal website for quite a while now--it vanished from the machines that originally hosted it, and started doing things its original creators couldn't explain. So when Jackson Hart's virus takes it down, they have no idea how to get it back up. And when Jackson is overcome by the moral doubts that had plagued him from the beginning, and emails the webmaster at the Wordwood instructions on how to recover from the virus, the real trouble starts, as the Wordwood responds by aggressively uploading hundreds of people, whose disappearances naturally alarm and disturb even more people. Jackson's among the uploaded.So is Saskia Madding.
Except that, while all the other uploaded go directly to the Wordwood website, Saskia manages to resist effectively enough to reach Christy's "shadow," Christiana, who was born from the parts of Christy that he discarded when he was seven. Saskia and Christiana have recently been discussing whether they are "real" or not--Christiana, of course, because she's a shadow, and Saskia because, as far as she can tell, she was born in the Wordwood. She has a paper trail showing a fairly normal life going back to a normal birth, but her real, substantial memories go back only a few years, to shortly before she met Aaran Goldstein, and Christy, and the others. When she resists the Wordwood spirit that's trying to reclaim her, she reaches Christiana on her borderlands-capable cellphone, and enters Christianarquote s head. For most of the remainder of the book, they are literally inseparable.
Christy, Geordie, Holly, and others (including, eventually, a somewhat chastened Aaran Goldstein), search for a solution and conclude that they need to go to the spiritworld, where the Wordwood is apparently located now, and cure the virus there in order to get their missing friends back. Along the way, they encounter hellhounds and other dangers of the spiritworld. Christiana, Saskia, and eventually Jackson Hart, head for the heart of the Wordwood, also to tackle the virus. Along the way, they find a Disneyesque Sleeping Beauty coffin, displaying, rather alarmingly, Saskia's unoccupied body. They also find Librarius, formerly a servant of the being that controlled the Wordwood, now in rebellion against it. The virus gave him his opportunity, and he's not interested in any solutions that don't leave him in charge.
There are some oddities in the story. On the detail level, it seems odd, even with this relatively non-techie crowd, that no one except Jackson Hart has a either DSL or a cable modem. On the story level, Librarius' vengefulness towards the people responsible for the virus that gave him his shot at taking control of the Wordwood doesn't quite make sense. Nevertheless, it's an enjoyable visit with the Newford crowd.
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LibraryThing member cindywho
I'm more used to these kind of stories told in a cyberpunky vein rather than the softer edged urban fantasy mode. I was going to leave some space between the de Lint readings, but there it was on the new book shelf... It was enjoyable as a gripping story that made me want to know what happens next,
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but there were so many characters, I never felt like I spent enough time with one to identify much. I do like his fusions of voudou, faerie & otherworlds that take on cyberspace. Why not? (May 21, 2004) Show Less
Original publication date
2003
Physical description
448 p.; 9 inches
ISBN
0312873980 / 9780312873981