Svaha [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles de Lint (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 1994

Out beyond the Enclaves, in the desolation between the cities, an Indian flyer has been downed. A chip encoded with vital secrets is missing. Only Gahzee can venture forth to find him--walking the line between the Dreamtime and the Realtime, bringing his people's ancient magic to bear on the poisoned world of tomorrow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"De Lint is as engaging a stylist as Stephen King, but considerably more inventive and ambitious." --The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

"Opening de Lint's work is like stepping through a mirror." --Los Angeles Daily News

"De Lint is a romantic; he believes in the great things, faith, hope, and charity (especially if love is included in that last), but he also believes in the power of magic--or at least the magic of fiction--to open our eyes to the world." --Edmonton Journal

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

About the Author

Born in Holland in 1951, Charles de Lint grew up in Canada, with a few years off in Turkey, Lebanon, and Switzerland.

Although his first novel was 1984's The Riddle of the Wren, it was with Moonheart, published later that same year, that de Lint made his mark, and established him at the forefront of "urban fantasy," modern fantasy storytelling set on contemporary city streets. Moonheart was set in and around "Newford," an imaginary modern North American city, and many of de Lint's subsequent novels have been set in Newford as well, with a growing cast of characters who weave their way in and out of the stories. The Newford novels include Spirit Walk, Memory and Dream, Trader, Someplace To Be Flying, Forests of the Heart, The Onion Girl, and Spirits in the Wires. In addition, de Lint has published several collections of Newford short stories, including Moonlight and Vines, for which he won the World Fantasy Award. Among de Lint's many other novels are Mulengro, Jack the Giant-Killer, and The Little Country.

Married since 1980 to his fellow musician MaryAnn Harris, Charles de Lint lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

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

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (November 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812534093
• ISBN-13: 978-0812534092
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,571,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A mystical sf adventure that works, October 27, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Svaha (Paperback)

As the twenty-first century is half way through its final decade, the world is a terrible place to live except for the Enclaves. Most of the residents of the planet live in polluted communities ruled totally by money and greed with things turning worse all the time as the world nears collapse under the weight of destruction and devastation and dissolution. On the other hand, the Enclave is a clean environment where the tribes thrive in peace. The powers of the disease ridden environs outside the Enclave blame the problems on the Tribes as a means of diverting accountability by using a convenient scapegoat to silent the masses.

A flyer containing an Enclave technological chip that could help cleanse the world crashes in the outside. Afraid that it will be misused, the Enclavers send Gahzee into the precarious mess to retrieve the chip before the outside world begins encroachment on the Enclaves.

SVAHA is a reprint of the classic tale of Native American magic mingling in a world on the eve of destruction caused by self-interests polluting the environment and the minds of the people. The story line is fast-paced, filled with action, and loaded with fully developed characters representing different sides of the conflict. This novel shows why Charles de Lint has been so highly regarded by fans of science fiction and fantasy for well over a decade. Readers of HIERO'S JOURNEY will fully relish this great tale.

Harriet Klausner

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book! Get it before it disappears again!, January 17, 2001

By 

Julia Walter (Cobleskill, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Svaha (Paperback)

I really like de Lint's urban fantasy for its grittiness and despair which exists alongside its hope and beauty. I would call this book science fiction-- it takes place in the future and deals with technology we clearly don't have. It also deals with Native American/ Aboriginal spirituality and Dreamtime. It's a beautiful quest book about creating community in an awful time and place between people who are not terrible and not immediately identifiable as 'community.' I am very glad to see this book is now in print again, it deserves a large audience. I had to wait for years to find a copy, you won't have to.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so sure about this., January 22, 2003

By 

Kieri "Kieri" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Svaha (Paperback)

I love, love, LOVE de Lint. But Svaha...Svaha left me a little cold. I enjoyed reading it, sure, but it didn't affect me the way his books usually do. Part of the problem, I think, is that I don't think even de Lint knew what he wanted this book to be about. There is an element of Japanese culture, the cliched wastelands, the mandatory Native spirituality...but nothing really tying any of them together. The book revs up an adrenaline high early on, keeps it going, and then just ENDS. In, like, a page, the story reaches its climax and conclusion, and the reader is left thinking, "What? It's DONE?" The story doesn't feel finished to me. There is also the annoying gratuitous character death, which is really atypical for de Lint. He keeps introducing these characters, mostly walking sci-fi charicatures, and then kills them off. Also, there was what I have come to call the "Wyrd Science" problem--the panoramic view of the future, the technology--basically, all the sci-fi stuff just sounded sort of off to me.

Don't get me wrong, here...the writing is pretty damn good, and a bad de Lint is better than a great Nina Kiriki Whatsername any day. But this just didn't quite work for me.