Jack of Kinrowan: Jack the Giant-Killer and Drink Down the Moon [Paperback]

The biggest, first twist is that the Jack is actually Jacky Rowan - a young woman who has just been dumped by her jerk boyfriend and is facing a crisis when she unwittingly crosses into faerie.

This is the best of Charles de Lint's fanstasy Urban Faerie work. Here the world we know lies cheek to jowl with the fantastic realm of faerie. And he makes it work so congruently, it's just great stuff. This is the writing that made his fame.

And it's a great story. Jacky and her pals are loveable, interesting people in fantastic circumstances. There are giants to be dealt with, the Unseelie court to be fought and the laird's daughter to be rescued - all against terrible odds. The pacing is very tight, signature de Lint, and it's literally a story you just can't put down until you read the last word. The second story is pretty good, too.

I'm a great fan of this author, and this is one of my all-time favorites. Five stars and a pat on the back for some excellent story-telling.

Unfortunately, _Drink Down the Moon_ is a little bit of a letdown after _Jack the Giant Killer_. It's still a three- or four-star book in its own right, but it wouldn't stand very well on its own, and Jacky and Kate have too-small roles. The novel's finest moments are those in which Jacky or Kate or both are present, but in _Drink Down the Moon_, Jacky herself has become the "rescue-fodder", and center stage is taken by characters that fail to engage the reader quite as much. I had hoped to see more of Eilian as well. What I really want is for de Lint to write a third installment, in which Jacky and Kate are prominent again, and perhaps challenge the Seelie Court itself, and ask the Laird a few hard questions--like why he's always out of town when he's needed most.