Dingo by Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint paved the road for contemporary/urban fantasy. And his most recent novel, Dingo, received the World Fantasy Award. My only question is...why?

Dingoes are wolf-dogs that are native to Australia. But that is the last piece of trivia on Miguel's mind when the beautiful and sun-swept Lainey walks into his dad's music shop. All Miguel can think about is "why in the world would a girl like this be flirting with a guy like me." His shock is enough to carry him through a whirlwind three days of she likes me-she likes me not mind games. And when his infatuation turns into loyalty he must test the boundaries of his belief to the supernatural world and back. Because Lainey has a sister named Em. And Em is a dog (technically, a dingo). Surprise surprise. Lainey is TOO! *collective gasp from crowd* On the run from a creepy ancient sacrifice requiring their blood, they can only be saved by betrothal. And Miguel is Lainey's lucky man.

Dingo was very short, the sort of book you might overlook as a juvenile read. But it most certainly is not. Random acts of swearing pop up here and there, as well as some crude comments (mostly about women) from a bully protagonist. But those weren't really my major complaints with the story. Miguel and Lainey fell for each other too fast, the action was too quick, and all the history and details seemed to be crushed together to allow for time. To synopsize: Sprintaroundindizzylove... stop/fight ancient creature.... sprintaroundsomemoreindizzylove...The end. I honestly feel that this book could have been much more enjoyable if prolonged and am somewhat disappointed in Mr. de Lint's latest creation.

4.5 out of 7 Lightnings for this light, afternoon read.

Perusing the local pound,

'Tis Swordy...

When the first two pages of a book have to do with rabid animal-types and the cover shows a focused warrior you know that you’ve picked up a sword book. I am perhaps a little obsessed with sword books. These are the novels that have saber/rapier/broadsword/general Drizzt typhonicism. And to add to the brilliant, it was just one element of the first novel in The Twelve Kingdoms series, entitled the Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono.

Thankfully the novel lived up to both cover and sword. Yoko is a somewhat normal Japanese girl (other than that crimson hair), haunted by dreams beyond her comprehension and perfectly satisfied with playing the innocent daughter and gifted schoolmate. But then a strange man arrives, shoves a sword in her hand, touches her foot to his head, and implodes the windows of the teacher’s conference room with a storm of glass shards that leave her hardly scratched. Things will never be the same again.

Yoko finds herself battling it out with demons and transported to a world she doesn’t understand. A world where 12 kingdoms (no. really?) exist that haven’t even heard of Japan and blame the recent destructive storms on Yoko’s arrival. The people appear to speak her language but are decidedly not Japanese in features and want nothing more than to deliver her to the nearest magistrate for a fate worse than death. No one can be trusted. As intrigue builds around our heroine and she seeks out the truth in a universe where children grow on trees, she unknowingly enters into a glorious destiny.

The culture built by Fuyumi Ono is detailed and spun with silver thread into the lore of China and Japan. Impressive fight scenes abound, beautifully described creatures crawl from every page corner, and the heroine develops admirably through the upheaval. Originally written in a manga-like form there is that constant underlying sense of the epic legend, accompanied by fantastic inked drawings that appear every now and again. Happily, the sequel comes out *checks calendar* TOMORROW! If it counts for anything, I am quite eager.

KRRRRRACK! SWHOOM! 6.5 Lightnings out of 7! Cheerz...the sound effects are back!!

I wantz a sword,

*Aella Siofra*