QUICKSILVER & SHADOW: Collected Early Stories Vol. 2: Contemporary & Dark Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Children's Stories

The second installment of Canadian author de Lint's collected early stories opens powerfully with haunting tales from his contemporary and dark fantasy period. "The Soft Whisper of Midnight Snow," "Scars," "We Are Dead Together" and others typify Charles Grant's "quiet horror" approach. All deal with grief and even rage at the loss of loved ones and the importance of recovery. The next section features contributions to Terri Windling's shared world Bordertown anthology series, the best of which, "May This Be Your Last Sorrow," focuses on a lonely and endearing street urchin. Closing the book is a quaint if sometimes awkward selection of what de Lint describes as "science fantasy" that comes off as pulpish, but still manages to include two brilliant jewels, "A Tattoo on Her Heart," about the importance of totems, and "Raven Sings a Medicine Way, Coyote Steals the Pollen," a retelling of a traditional Blackfoot Trickster tale. The first collection, Handful of Copper (2003), showcased heroic fantasy's influence on de Lint; this sequel highlights the Newford magician to come, who likes to "juxtapose old mythic matter with the modern world." Agent, Russell Galen. (Dec. 20)