Street Magic [Hardcover]

Michael Reaves (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1991

Skeptical of magic in general, San Francisco street kid Danny finds his skepticism waning when he encounters a Scatterling--one of the elves trapped in the mortal realms when the Queen of Fairie locked the gates of her land. Original.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A teenage runaway on the streets of San Francisco discovers a hitherto unseen world of fairy creatures, many of them runaways like himself, and joins them in a search for the portal that will allow them to return to their magical home. Like De Haven (above), Reaves's ( The Shattered World , LJ 3/15/84) latest fantasy turns to society's outcasts for its heroes and to the rich and powerful for its villains. Part allegory, part fantasy, this coming-of-age story is a suitable, though not essential, purchase for fantasy and YA collections.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Reaves (The Shattered World) has done some respectable work in fantasy and other genres, but his latest novel is a lifeless, by- the-numbers urban fantasy that goes through the prescribed motions with little innovation or depth. Teen-age runaway Danny Thayer lives on the streets of San Francisco, eating out of dumpsters and dreaming of a paradisiacal fantasy land to which he might escape when he encounters Robin, an authentic fairy. As Danny's abusive father searches for him, and a hapless detective and his tabloid-reporter girlfriend close in from another angle, Robin and the other ``scatterlings''trapped in our world--entreat Danny to tap the magic within himself that will open a gateway for them all to return to Faerie. Contemporary fantasy is full these days with punk elves haunting our city streets, and Reaves adds nothing to this essentially hollow formula. His characters are born of shallow TV series stock; his Faerie, barely glimpsed, is an anemic utopian realm out of Disney or Steven Spielberg (``a finer, purer one, a world of beauty and adventure and perhaps even love''); and his sugarcoated scatterlings never evoke the eeriness of their ancient legendary precursors. With a fast pace and references to a wide range of popular fantasy books, movies, and comics, this is likely to appeal to an undiscerning readership. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 246 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (July 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312851251
• ISBN-13: 978-0312851255
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,598,743 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elves in San Francisco, with a twist, February 25, 2003

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Street Magic (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

Street Magic is the first novel in a series of urban fantasies based on different magic traditions, but with a twist. Moreover, these stories are all hard-boiled mysteries. This novel invokes the tradition of Tir Nan Og, the land of the Irish Faery.

Scott Russell is an unemployed detective agency operative in San Francisco who has been hired by an old college chum, Ed Thayer, to find his runaway son, Danny. however, Danny has absolutely no desire to return to his father; he only wants who wants to go home to Fairyland. His wishes seem to be coming true when he meets a young woman, Robin, with pointed ears and the ability to use glamour to conceal or disguise herself and others.

Robin is a scatterling, a drifter from Tir Nan Og, who moves in and out of the human's world as the mood strikes her. However, she and her fellow scatterlings can no longer cross back to Tir Nan Og without the assistance of a Full Blooded Sidhe. When Danny sees through her glamour, she begins to think that he is a Full Blooded changling, a Keymaster, and her ticket home if only he can remember how to open the gallitrap.

Scott is assisted in the case by Liz Gallegher, a reporter on the Midnight Star, who is tired of making up crazy articles and wants to properly investigate a real story for a change. They are greatly helped in their efforts by a fantasy novel, The City Under the Hill, which tells of the restrictions placed on the gallitraps between Tir Nan Og and the world of humans.

Recommended for Reaves fans and anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale with a different ending.

-Arthur W. Jordin

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful combination of reality and fantasy..., August 23, 1998

By 

Sophia ([e-mail] (SF, Ca. of US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Street Magic (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

This wonderful book, set in the city San Francisco, is of exciting adventure with a run-away teenage boy, and many other characters that you learn about through out the book, the whole thing is almost directed like from a movie point of view. Great book, wonderful for young-adults, though, yes there's profanity in it... but, it's only neccessary for details... READ IT!

5.0 out of 5 stars Freak Kirkus P. Associates - this book rocks!, April 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Street Magic (Tor Fantasy) (Mass Market Paperback)

I found this book a few years ago in the library. I read it. I LOVED it. And then, like a good library person I turned it in, thinking that I would be able to read it again some day. The brilliant colors of its imagery are still emblazoned on my mind many years later. Unforunately, the next person to check out the book did not feel obligated to return it at all, the library never purchased another copy, and now it has gone out of print. If I could get my hands on a copy of this book today I would snatch it up soooooooo fast..... Be warned, however, that it has extensive profanity. Wouldn't want anybody to be offended. = )