Updating to 5 stars. This is an absolute classic in urban fantasy, set in Ottawa (the Glebe) where I used to live. It's truly a delight, and I return to it every 7-8 years or so. I do enjoy CdL's work a great deal. ( )

This novel is of course magical, because other wise it wouldn't be an Urban Fantasy, but it's also very musical.

From the Author's Note.
" this book was written under the influence of Alan Stivell, Andreas Vollenweider, Neville Marriner, An Triskell, Edgar Froese, Klaus Schultz, Radio Silence, Robin Williamson, Silly Wizard, the Fureys, and Kate Bush-to name the most prominent"

I too had my mp3 player dancing with Celtic tunes as I read the book, the music references peppered throughout the novel are almost a subliminal influence forcing you to listen to some Celtic tunes as you read.
Aside from that I loved the way that the author has integrated European legends and mythology with North American mythology, throwing in a healthy does of Taoism to boot makes for a very satisfying setting and story. The main characters are both believable and likeable; the human villains are a little one dimensional but that’s a small quibble for such a terrific novel. ( )

Everybody smokes!!

( )

Bis 10% habe ich durchgehalten bei diesem Buch, für mehr hat's nicht gereicht. Es ist einfach zu 80er Jahre! Obwohl ich mit vielen der kulturellen Zitate durchaus was anfangen kann: ich habe selber einige Silly Wizard LPs im Regal stehen und ich habe Carlos Castaneda gelesen. Aber irgendwie sind alle Charakterisierungen so dick aufgetragen, dass sie schon zur Karikatur verkommen. ( )

Where do I begin with this review of one of the most influential books in my life? It is splendid. I have read and re-read it for (literally) decades, and I always find something new in it. Whether it's the explanation of the magick that resides in music, to the idea of an Otherworld that exists next to our own, the chance finding of magical items, there are elements that continue to draw me in.

The basic premise is a house in Ottawa built by the grandfather of the current owner that is massive and takes up one entire city block. It houses Jamie Tams and his orphaned niece, Sara. They have an inheritance and run a little flea market where Sara finds some interesting artifacts in a box in the back. Concurrently, the local RCMP are running an operation looking into the paranormal, but behind those scenes is a rich, evil business man who craves absolute power.

Woven into this tale of music and mystery is the feud between the Welsh bard Taliesin, the druid he cast into stone before being set off across the Atlantic in a coracle, and the mythical beings who inhabit the New World, a seemingly ageless sorcerer's apprentice, and the Ottawa folk music scene, and the tale-telling abilities of a master story teller, and you have a classic urban fantasy. ( )