The Little Country

De: Charles de Lint

Narrado por: Hannah Curtis

When folk musician Janey Little finds a mysterious manuscript in an old trunk in her grandfather’s cottage, she is swept into a dangerous realm both strange and familiar. But true magic lurks within the pages of The Little Country, drawing genuine danger from across the oceans into Janey’s life, impelling her - armed only with her music - toward a terrifying confrontation.

Come walk the mist-draped hills of Cornwall, come walk the ancient standing stones. Listen to the fiddles, and the wind, and the sea. Come step with Janey Little into the pages of...The Little Country.

©1991 Charles de Lint (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

excellent when it came it out, but newer de Lint i

I really enjoyed this book when I read it more than 30 years, and I enjoyed it this time around, but de Lint's writing has improved with time, so this book is no longer a 5 star book for me as I think that he has improved each decade. This book is virtually two different stories which only touch each other even vaguely. The Janey Little half is more appealing to me, though I really do like the Jodi half the book, just not quite as much. The Jodi half reminds me more of James Blaylock's fantasies with its quirky characters and Edern as a mechanical man. While I heartily recommend this book, the Newfors series just seems superior to me.

Another wonderful story by Charles de Lint

I've been a fan of this author for a while, but his books are getting harder to find, many of his older works are out of print. Plus, while I still buy hard copies, I'm a slow reader. Point being I'm so glad this is now available as an audiobook. The villains are a bit darker than in much of his writing, but the story just as magical and eventually quite hopeful. The narrator did a wonderful job, changing voices and accents enough to easily differentiate the characters and beautifully narrating the story. The story is in a new setting than much of his writing. This time it's in both a fictional town similar to others in Cornwall and also a real town (though I didn't believe it, so Googled it) called Mousehole! He was sort a founder of Urban Fantasy, and this is another great example. Bits seeming not quite like fantasy, but the stories we hear of business people using their influence in illegal ways to make more money/power, but as with many of those sorts of tales they also use something slightly (or very) supernatural to help them. Trying not to give spoilers, just saying that there are a lot of threads in this story. As with nearly all his books is the shining thread that is a love of music.

Book with magical powers is sought after

Charles de Lint’s The Little Country is a book with magical powers. A musician and her grandfather are the custodians of the book, but a powerful, but evil individual is after the prize, sending various hired guns to retrieve the book. Meanwhile, within the book, another pair become the target of an evil witch.

De Lint maintains the parallel plots running simultaneously. Narration is reasonable with adequate character distinction. Pacing is a tad slow.

Not quite his best but...

I really don’t like Janey Little and the sex scenes are forced and a bit creepy. I do love DeLint’s later work and I’m glad I listened to it. The themes we are used to in his work are here but it lacks the heart and polish of the later books.

Never a miss

Charles deLint never misses the mark in good reading. And Hannah Curtis is simply wonderful.

Wasted time

I have read Charles De lint before. His works is what introduced me to urban fantasy. I was really looking forward to this and I am really disappointed in what I have heard so far. I will never preorder a audible book after this. Now this book will sit in my library unfinished.