The Gypsy (Tor Fantasy) [Mass Market Paperback]

Steven Brust (Author), Megan Lindholm (Author)

Book Description

Series: Tor Fantasy | Publication Date: July 15, 1993

Cigany, a gypsy stalking a modern city with a cloud of magic, and Stepovich, a cop who discovers a series of dead bodies, share a common enemy--the Fair Lady who rules the underworld. Reprint. PW. AB.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Part gritty urban police procedural and part horror fable, this enthralling fantasy/mystery examines issues of life, death, love and morality. A man without memory, known as the Gypsy, wanders the streets of Lakota, Ohio, leaving death in his wake. After a clerk is murdered during a holdup, the Gypsy is booked by cop Mike Stepovich, who uncharacteristicallydb pockets the suspect's strange knife, found nearby. An apparent snafu releases the Gypsy, who comes under suspicion again when a woman fortune teller is murdered in a cheap hotel. Stepovich, with the unvoiced disapproval of his brash young partner Durand, surreptitiously looks into the murders, now out of their jurisdiction, and finds himself walking down strange paths. Meanwhile a woman known as the Fair Lady is working her spells to draw others, including Stepovich's teenage daughter's friends, into her evil web. She can be stopped only by three brothers, known as the Raven, the Owl and the Dove. As forces move to their climax, Stepovich's retired former partner plays a role, as does an old drunk known as the Coachman, who may hold the key to salvation. Brust ( The Phoenix Guards ) and Lindholm ( Wizard of the Pigeons ) have crafted a powerful and memorable fantasy.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Odd, flavorsome, sometimes irksomely nebulous hybrid of mystical fantasy and urban police thriller, from Brust (The Phoenix Guards (Brust) and Lindholm (Cloven Hooves). In Lakota, Ohio, veteran cop Stepovich and his irritating young partner Durand unwillingly become involved in a series of killings, apparently connected: in one case the murder weapon is a distinctive gypsy knife; in another the victim is an old gypsy fortuneteller. Stepovich arrests a confused suspect and takes a knife from him, but some sort of psychic connection is established: Stepovich knows the man isn't guilty and fails to turn in the knife, and soon the suspect mysteriously vanishes from jail. Turns out that the man, a Hungarian gypsy named Csucskari, exists in both the physical and spiritual worlds; he is waiting for the coming of the devil--in this instance, a horrid female devil named Luci, the Fair Lady, who has ensorcelled a number of young people and threatens to drown the world in darkness. Csucskari's purpose is to oppose her, but first he must join with his musician brothers Raymond and Daniel, and obtain a psychic assist from another necessary participant, the Coachman. Stepovich is psychically involved, too, as are Durand and Stepovich's former partner Ed; Stepovich's teenaged daughter is one of Luci's victims. The affair will result in a desperate battle on the spiritual plane, as cops and gypsies struggle to overcome Luci and her thralls and minions. Gritty and particularly convincing police work, but the conspicuously overblown mystical baggage hinders comprehension and impedes the narrative. Often absorbing and impressive, then, with outstanding characters; would that the authors had restrained their impulses toward self-indulgent ethnic embroidery. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (July 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812524985
• ISBN-13: 978-0812524987
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,892 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars eerie fantasy that drags and gallops, November 20, 2000

By 

ohshenandoah "lost in a good book" (California, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gypsy (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

While the two story elements blend together in a satisfactory way, the pacing and balance of the story are unsatisfactory. I agree with other reviewers that the first third is confusing. I wish that the story had been structured differently, so that the revelations emerged in a more straightforward manner. While I will continue to list this book as one of the most imaginative and haunting police procedurals, It is marred by the undisciplined story line.

I love the coachman.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deft blend of fantasy and detective story, March 1, 2001

By 

Kate Schafer (Highlands Ranch. CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gypsy (Hardcover)

Brust and Lindholm blend elements of Hungarian fantasy and fable with a detective story that trudges through the noir underbelly of the big city, and soars in the mythical dark woods of fairy tales. THE GYPSY is pure magic!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Read The Reviews AFTER Reading It......., November 3, 2006

By 

Pantera "bigcat" (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Gypsy (Paperback)

Thank God! I picked this up 15 years ago in a Public Library and was entranced by the mystique of gritty cop show and the otherworldliness which shrouds the characters and intricately interwoven plot. This time I bought and reread it afresh and despite a few typos and hard cop cliche notes I loved it. It is an incredibly unique and suspenseful read, but then I have a tendency to feel that magical worlds exist within our mundane world anyway. I just read the disappointed reviews and can only say this must be one of those works you either love or hate. However, now I'm intrigued enough to read more from these authors.