| Title | : | Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #5) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 076530757X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780765307576 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published February 1, 1998 |
| Awards | : | Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Adult Literature (1999), British Fantasy Award Best Novel (1999) |
For the animal people walk among us. Native Americans call them the First People, but they have never left, and they claim the city for their own.
Not only have Hank and Lily stumbled onto a secret, they've stumbled into a war. And in this battle for the city's soul, nothing is quite as it appears.
Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #5) Reviews
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There is a myth that is as old as time. The world was created by Raven, the dark bird of mystery, as he stirred magic in an old black pot. The pot created more than the world: it created the Animal People, spirits as old as time itself. They are the First People and they roamed the land, able to change forms.
Out of the pot came the Blue Jay, the Wolf, and The Crow. There also came the Coyote, the Trickster. Always up to no good, he is the outcast of the First People. Most of his mischief is harmless, little tricks to amuse. But sometimes, he causes more trouble; enough trouble to slip through to our world.
Trouble starts when Lily, a photojournalist, goes looking for the famed “animal people” that are supposed to roam around Newford. One night while investigating the stories in a dark part of town known as the Tombs, a strange gray man attacks Lilly. Coming to her aid is Hank, no stranger to the Tombs and the rougher side of life.
He goes to her aid and the man attacks him as well. Lilly and Hank fight there attacker until something distracts him: two small girls who came from nowhere. They finish off the man with small switchblades that fell from their sleeves and Hank and Lilly are left stunned.
Tending to their wounds, pain disappearing at their touch, the two Crow girls sing a soft song with a haunting melody: The cuckoo is a pretty bird, he sings as he flies. He sucks
little birds’ eggs, and then he just dies.
Dazed from the attack and the subsequent healing of two little girls, Hank and Lilly wander way, changed forever. They can now see the world of Fey, the world of the in between. Unbeknownst to them, they are now entangled in what will become a web of mysteries, a tryst. They have stumbled upon war.
There is murder in the darker underbelly to Newford than either could have imagined. They have stumbled upon the war of the Caenid against the Corboe: Bird against Dog. This is a war where no one is safe and the fate of both worlds will be affected. Hank and Lilly must learn to fight in order to save their lives and the life of others.
And so the story goes…
Charles De Lint has created a novel for the ages. “Someplace to Be Flying” is an incredible voyage through myth, through story, through dreams. This has remained among my favorite of De Lint’s novels and perhaps one of his most eloquent. There is layer upon layer of story here and the only way to work your way through them is to become involved in the story.
More involving are all the types of myth within the story: Celtic, Native American to name just a couple. De Lint has managed to weave the story of many people and many different faiths into one whole work that just sings with magic. He has managed to create characters that you can really care about and a story that is part mystery, part myth and part comment on our time.
If you haven’t read “Someplace to be Flying,” you don’t know what you’re missing. From the moment the Crow Girls come into the story, you are drawn into a labyrinth of words and dreams. The only way out of the maze is to finish the book; but you may never be the same again -
This wonderful, magical and thought provoking novel opens with a quote from the song "Wyoming Wind" from Kiya Heartwood:
“So I asked the raven as he passed by,/ I said ‘Tell me, raven, why’d you make the sky?’/ The moon and the stars, I threw them high,/ I needed someplace to be flying".
The story starts like a thriller. Cab driver Hank see a woman being assaulted in a dark side street and stops to help her. The woman, Lily, is a reporter who is doing research on the rumoured "Animal People". The assailant beats Lilly and shoots Hank. The two are rescued by two young women who appear out of nowhere, stabbing the man with a switchblade, healing Hank and Lily's wounds by a simple touch, then disappearing as suddenly as they appeared.
A large cast of various different characters are gradually introduced; the Crow Girls, Ray, Jack, Kerry, Katy, Margaret and many others. At first their relationships and connections are not apparent, but as the story progresses, everything comes together to make a rich tapestry of a novel.
De Lint takes a creation myth and suggests how it would be if it were true.
The underlying theme is the First Nations legend of the Raven creating the world by stirring a pot.
First the "Animal People", magical beings who could change between being human and animals, come out of the pot. In this novel the premise of many of De Lint's later novels is developed. Over time many Animal People bred with humans, so that eventually many were mostly human with only traces of "Old Blood" and not not even aware of it. Many of the original animal people stay hidden or live in the margins of society.
However this is not an exact retelling of one particular myth. As De Lint's colleague writer Terri Windling puts it, "Someplace to be Flying doesn't reflect a particular myth or legend, but uses mythic tropes and archetypes to comment on real world relationships, the idea of family, the grace of forgiveness."
This is a re-read for me. The first time around I was so overwhelmed I felt no words could adequately describe how the book made me feel. I still feel it deserves 5 stars because it has everything that I could want in a novel. It is fun and engaging. There was not a single section where I felt bored or tempted to skim ahead. At the same time it is deeply moving without being forced or pretentious. I would say it is spiritual without being religious. It offers magic, but at the same time real life issues are addressed.
Going into too many details regarding the story line would give away spoilers. The only thing I will give away is that after reading this I will never look at crows the same way again!
This is a fantastic book and everyone should read it!
Edited to add it's the 5 th book of the Newford series but is a standalone novel and definitely can be read without having read the other novels. -
Someplace to Be Flying is a tale of Lily, a photojournalist in search of the First People, who supposedly reside in The Tombs; The slums of Newford, a place filled with myths of The Kickaha Tribe and a place of lost dreams. Lily is brutally attacked one night while searching for "the animal people" and finds herself being rescued by knight in shining armor, or in this case in a beat up Chevrolet gypsy cab, Hank; An odd sort of man who has an odd past. Hank and Lilly soon find themselves getting caught up in a feud between animal people families. Except there's a lot more at stake here than in any typical family feud -namely the fate of the world.
But this is not just the story of Hank and Lily. We meet a mother who goes mad searching for her daughter's twin, even though only one girl was born. Twelve years after, the unborn twin shows up, searching for Kerry, the one who was born and who spent years in a mental institution trying to convince her doctors that her twin is real.....and what follows is, well, something that will stun and amaze you.
And then there are the Crow Girls. Two girls who live in an ancient Elm tree...yes an Elm tree... behind the aptly named Victorian house called The Rookery that has been turned into apartments. The same apartments where the born twin, Kerry, has moved after her release from the institution. The Crow girls, Madia and Zia are a likable pair that are constantly getting into trouble and have a taste for bacon and peaches as well as jellybean sandwiches. But are the Crow Girls as harmless as they appear to be?
We also meet Coyote, the trickster. Jack Daw, the story teller and my personal favorite. Annie, the environmental metal head musician. Rory, the innocent, lovable, jewelry designer who gets caught up in the middle of happenings he just can't understand, for the most part; And a list of characters that will charm the pants right off of you.
To say that Someplace to be Flying is an urban fantasy is like saying Moby Dick is just a book about a whale. This book is a book of magic, mystery, art and music, and love. The love between friends, the love between family, and the love that causes one to sacrifice all that they are to save a world that has not always loved them. If you believe in magic, read this book. And if you do not believe, you will after reading it. I am a great believer in the importance of storytelling, and maybe that makes me a little bit biased, however I believe this is one of the most incredible feats of storytelling I have read. Charles de Lint has written a book that will stay with you long after you finish reading it. It is a book that will stay with me for a lifetime.
"People don't know what to make of us. Most of you think we never were, or if we were at one time, we're not anymore. But we're still here, old spirits all around you, only you're not paying attention to us....you don't want to believe we could be real. Puts too much responsibility on you. Makes you uneasy remembering what you're doing to our cousins. But we don't get involved with judgments or retribution. You either live a life of kindness or you don't. The payback comes when you finish your business in this world and cross over to the next. Good people have nothing to worry about. Everybody else, well, you'll be getting yours....." ~Jack Daw -
I always feel so sad finishing one of these books. But at the same time I feel uplifted, and like magic really exists in my own world. It's an interesting mix.
Once more, this story is competely different from the other Newford books. In this one we get an interesting set of characters, characterized by their animal sides. These 'animal people' say that they were there long before us (the 'normal' people) and came from the beginning of time. It's not a new idea, but the way that de Lint integrates it into this "time to save the world again, folks" type story just works.
I love how he didn't make the animal people totems, or tie them exclusively to a Native American culture as so many authors are wont to do. They're just there; that's just them. The most prevalent of the species would be the corbae... or I suppose you'd call them birds. Not just any birds, but the most common are crows, followed by rooks, magpies, jackdaw's, blue jay's... you get the picture? We have a lovely wiley coyote character, named Cody, who's heart is in the right place, but keeps messing up trying to fix his past mistakes. And of course we have the more evil set of animals: the cuckoo's. I really love how de Lint took their nesting habits and brought those over into a people world. It makes so much sense that the cuckoo's are probably the characters I felt were most believable.
But among all the fanciful characters are also humans, like usual in these Newford books. They are realistic and possible and different and have flaws and have perfections and are just lovely to hang out with. In all, the animal characters were more memorable, but it was the human characters that kept the story together: without the human element what would be left in this world? Just the animal people, based on this book.
The plot was a tad mundane... the whole, let's save the world now. But for all that it was still interesting to see how events unfolded. These stories live for their characters, not necessarily the plot, although I really do love the recurring themes strewn throughout all the Newford books.
One of the themes used strongly in this novel was the idea of storytelling and how vital it is. It makes me want to start collecting stories and setting them down, or just sharing them. I do have my own personal store, but why not expand a bit? Although, the sheer amount of stories that I've encountered in all the books I've read is a pretty impressive amount.
What's left to be said? De Lint is a genius and he can't publish enough books by my standard! I love being drawn into his world and probably wouldn't mind staying in Newford for an extended period of time either! -
This book could have been good. The premise, that "animal people" live around us in some fantasy world that intersects with the real world, was intriguing.
Ok, so there are about 200 characters (slight hyperbole), and de Lint gets so bogged down by trying to make them all interesting that he fails to make *any* of them interesting.
Then there's the plot: apparently some of the animal people want to reclaim some holy relic and take over the world. Um... I guess? The actual climax of the story is *yawn* and I skimmed through the last thirty pages or so, because I barely cared what happened to any of these one-dimensional people and "non people."
Charles de Lint could really benefit from a creative writing class. Plot graph: rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Not a big uninteresting clusterfuck that doesn't go anywhere, mmkay? -
in the middle of this mess, don't judge just yet!
Though I'd never read Charles de Lint before, I liked Someplace to Be Flying so much that I went out and bought three more of his books when I finished. De Lint's prose had some thin spots where the story stretched to transparency and I could see his hand moving the characters and action, but the tale was so entertaining that I barely cared. He created a very compelling world that I didn't want to end with the book.
Someplace to Be Flying combines myth and urban grit to tell the story of the ancient rivalries between clans of animal people. When photographer Lily goes in search of these folkloric beings, she quickly finds herself enmeshed in their struggles. She is attacked by a cuckoo and saved by the crow girls and a man named Hank. Hank is just as confused as Lily, and when it becomes clear that her brush with them is not just coincidental, together they embark on a mision to find out what they want with her. Hank, an illegal cab driver from downtown is part of a close knit family of people living on the fring of society. Their story teller, Jack Daw, weaves the tales that seem to hold the whole situation together. Meanwhile, Kerry, a mental hospital release tries to make it on her own in a house full of corbae while her shadow like twin sister slowly disappears. Raven, eldest of the Corbae has lost his pot, primordial shaker of the universe, while Cody, the first coyote and the Couteaus, a clan of cuckoos try to get their hands on it.
He uses repetition in the way ancient epics and sometimes folk tales do, but fits it into the story in a more modern fashion. I simultaneously liked the way this created a layered, textured atmosphere as slight variations echoed off of each other and also found it annoying to hear the same thing over and over again.
There was a long line of stories, the theme is how stories tie the world together and make the world. This is shown in many ways
This theme seems to be pulled right from de Lint's experience as a writer. Many of the characters in Someplace to Be Flying come from a cast featured in many of his novels. The setting too, the city of Newford, serves as the background for many of his tales. The author clearly knows this place well and he acheives a depth of setting that seems effortless. For the most part, even his background characters seem to have depth. A fine web of connections runs between characters and events in the novel and outside of it's realm so that the world seems expasnisive and real.
Although all the characters felt 3D, they ranged from original and interesting to interestingly dressed stereotypes. The tough-but-sensitive Hank and the womanly, smart, but occasionally in need of rescue Lily were the least interesting to me. So, while they might be considered main characters, I liked that de Lint told the story by circling it through the eyes of a large cast. Though he kept disappointing me, I thought Rory was a well written, original character. I want to know more about him. I also wanted to know more about Margaret. Wanted to hear more from the canids too. Fortunately, de Lint has written many other books set in the same world and featuring some of the same characters. I've started in on Spirits in the Wires and look forward to enjoying a romp through the authors world over the next several months. Just hope that I don't break the bank picking up all of his books so quickly! -
Lily, a photographer, is searching for the rumored animal people when she's attacked, and Hank, a cab-driver for criminals, stops to help her. But instead of helping he's attacked as well, and then two crow girls drop from the sky.
According to some Native American mythology, the world began when Raven stirred his pot, pulling out the earth, the sky, and the animal people. In Newford, the animal people still walk the earth. And some humans have animal people blood running through their veins.
Someplace to Be Flying has a sprawling cast of characters: Jack the storyteller, twins Kerry and Katy, Hank and Lily, Jack's love Nettie, Lily's friend Rory, as well as a handful of animal people, my favorites being the two crow girls Zia and Maida. What I like best is that each character has their own motivations and story, and the stories intersect and crisscross in ways that never feel contrived. Is Kerry mad, or does she really have a twin that no one else sees? Can Jack ever assuage his past guilt, and connect with the humans he's created?
But at the same time, the huge cast of characters sometimes made it difficult to establish motivations for all characters. Why is Lily searching for the Animal People? What are her motivations in the story? And Hank can sometimes come across as two dimensional. Yet, it's a beautiful story, and a lovely mythology I'm eager to read more of. Some of the characters that pop in here and there were so interesting, and I hear that his characters often appear in other novels, so I'm looking forward to finding these characters in other books in the series. While this is listed as #5, de Lint's novels can be read in any order. This is the 2nd of his adult novels I've read. Anyone who likes complex urban fantasy or fiction where the mythic and mundane intersect should read de Lint. -
Yet another amazing book in Charles de Lint's Newford series. This was my first introduction to the Crow Girls, Raven and the rest of that crew and I have to say I love them.... especially Maggie and the Crow Girls.
Before I read Someplace to be Flying, if you had asked me what I loved about the Newford series, I would have mentioned characters like Jilly and Geordie and Christy but I would have focused on what a great world de Lint has created. Now that I have read Someplace to Be Flying, I have to say that Charles de Lint is a master at creating both an interesting fantasy world and great characters. -
This is a re-read for me.
Oddly enough, for the longest time, I thought this was a book about a teenage boy, and figured I must not have liked it as much as his others since I didn't remember anything about it besides that. A year or two ago, I somehow realized that I'd gotten books confused (I do this all the time with de Lint for some reason), and that it wasn't entirely sure which one this one was.
So, I was really, really happy when I got started reading and realized that this was the one that features the Crow Girls so heavily. They're some of my favorite Newford characters! -
Crow Girls! Really, that's it. They make the book for me. :)
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This is my favorite of the Newford books thus far. I hope they keep getting better and better. I loved this one so much.
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"When we understand each other's stories, we understand everything a little better--even ourselves." (66)
This book was a mixed bag for me. I liked some of the characters quite a bit (particularly Jack, Katy, and Kerry), I liked the premise, and there are several passages where I particularly liked the writing and the ideas, but I just could not get into the plot and I had a hard time keeping track of who all the very, very many characters were. It took me more than twice as long as it should have to read the book because I just kept finding myself not caring about what happened.
"If you don't believe in magic, then it won't happen for you. If you don't believe that the world has a heart, then you won't hear it beating, you won't think it's alive and you won't consider what you're doing to it. . . . But just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it's not real. Sometimes it just sneaks up on you all the same. Like love." (492)
Really, I felt like this would be a better book if it were focused on fewer characters and on a more localized set of events. It works best when focused on individuals and family relations rather than on world-shaking cosmic events.
"I guess what it comes down to in the end . . . is that I don't want to live in the kind of world where we don't try to look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anyone who needs a helping hand. I can't change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit. . . . I know there's crap out there, waiting to fall down on me. I know there are people looking to take advantage of me, who'd rob me blind and leave me to die in an alleyway. I just don't want to be like them." (530) -
Reading books like this make me wonder why certain readers have such a hissy fit over the fantasy genre, saying it can't be literary or it has nothing to offer in terms of social reflections. Clearly, they haven't read books like this, or if they have, they simply don't care for using magic, mythology, and folklore as a means to explore humanity. If that's the case, it's a shame. Someplace to be Flying is a beautiful book, something to break all those stereotypes of what people seem to think urban fantasy is. And now that I've finally been initiated into de Lint's writing, I can't wait to get my hands on more. There's a lot to learn and a lot to enjoy from this guy.[return][return]For a full review, which may or may not include spoilers, please click here:
http://calico-reaction.livejournal.co... -
Lovely Newford entry. The crow girls are back, and for small pages Christy. Raven, Coyote, Magpie and other corbae tell us about magic from their view. And humans too. And don't forget those with just a little canid and corbae blood (or both) see the world just a little bit differently. And the little cousins.
"What makes people not believe?" she asked. "Not believe in what?" "Corbae. Magic. The Grace. All of it." Katy shrugged. "Maybe the same thing that makes them not believe in love. Because it scares them. Or they don't want to be laughed at for believing it can be real."
Okay, in print. I believe. I wish to be more like Hank, compassion. I wish to be more like Zia and Maida, magical and in Zen time. I wish to be more like Katy, and even Kerry, who can see. I believe in the Grace, magic, mystery and love.
Come to Newford. Things ARE what they seem, only more so. -
When I read a Charles De Lint Newford book many years ago, the feel of the magic stayed with me. Some place I visit seem to have echoes of Newford, De Lint's version of worlds existing before, during and around the current physical one seem real there, I step into the magic.
However, I sometimes forget about his world, or remember the sad things that happen and the difficulties his characters have or the scarcity of his books in UK libraries and I don't read him for a while.
I slipped back into this fantastic world easily, loved the warmth and strength of the characters, despite the challenges in their lives. The exploration of reality, magic, what is real, what is right or wrong, the power of stories, of nature and its corruption in the city, animals and creation stories, gave me so many things to muse on and consider, I look forward to reading another one soon. -
After devouring "Trader," "The Mystery of Grace" and "Little Grrl Lost," earlier this year, I was hoping for a similar experience when I picked up "Someplace to Be Flying."
And while this novel certainly had its moments of being just as absorbing as all of those, I still feel like it fell a bit short of my expectations.
It's not that it's a bad story. But the story takes so long for various elements to come together that I found myself taken out of the novel too much. One thing I found missing was De Lint's usual pattern of having alternating sections told in third-person and then first-person narration.
This is a good starting point for De Lint but not my favorite of his works that I've read. However, it doesn't discourage me from wanting to read more. -
For a great many years my Canadian friends (well they would be Canadian, wouldn't they?) have been urging me to read some of de Lint's crow girls stories. Jackpot. You were utterly right, my friends. I should have read these earlier, though I could argue that my need for the urban fantasy of the 1990s comes and goes — mostly going, these days.
Add one for the stack of "books I would give my teenage self, had I a time machine." -
The people who become birds, which noone knows about. My first experience with de Lint, this book has a stronger plot, and some very disquieting elements, which nonetheless feel exactly right. Upside-down kind of fantasy. More about people and their strengths showing in adversity, the values of de Lint are very real, despite the magic below the surface.
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I hadn't meant to read the Newford series out of order, but when I picked up this audiobook I hadn't been aware that it was a Newford book. However, once I started it, I fell in love with the story and didn't want to pause it again. I highly recommend this one, even if you haven't read the rest of the series.
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This is one of my favoritist fantasy books today. The old gods may still walk the earth, but what if even they have forgotten who they are.
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Still love this book just as much as the first time I read it.
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Oh, I love Newford so so much. Another beautiful glimpse into De Lint's world
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One of my 2 favorite de Lint novels.
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An excellent story with wonderful characters and a blend of fantasy and myth.
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This is a book to crow about (groan). De Lint takes a turn more towards overt magic in this book. Previous books in the Newford series emphasized urban/social concerns through a slight magic/fantasy lens - which I did enjoy. In fact in some books, the uncanny doesn't make an entrance for about a hundred pages!
Not in "Someplace to be Flying". I think the magic happens in the first page, when we are introduced to the "Crow Girls" who intervene in a mugging/assault. De Lint's conceit in this book is that there are primordial beings that existed before all other beings, the corbae (corvids, or the crow family) and now are shapeshifting into human shape at will. But they keep their crow behavior.
Other animal families soon came after - most notably the fox/coyote/cuckoos who are the other main magical elements in this book - and they are either hostile or just wary towards each other. And because when they are human these animal spirits can breed, then we get a slew of half/quarter/eighth/miniscule breeds where the being only has a trace of bird or fox blood and has forgotten their "genetic" background.
Anyway, the book is both a quest and turf-war kind of fantasy, with humans/spirits/spirit-humans all mixed in together but aligning towards their animal characteristics. The only problem I had with it was that there were two many prominent secondary characters - you had to know their human side, but also their animal traits and I always got confused in remembering whether this guy was a raven or a fox or what. De Lint was mostly admirably subtle, but I think it got in his way! -
Someplace to Be Flying was a pretty good book. Going into it, I had very mixed feelings. My dad recommended this to me, and said it was one of his favorites, but it didn't quite seem like my type of book. I probably wouldn't have picked this out to read if I was, say, scrolling through books at the library, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. The characters were all a lot of fun, and oh my, there were so many characters! I liked Kerry and Katy and the Crow Girls and Jack and more that I can't even remember the names of because I couldn't keep track of them all! The story was ver interesting, and I quite enjoyed this book.
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Urban fantasy with more literary writing and quiet character moments than most, but a plot that was too slow for me to stay hooked. Coyote people and bird people and rivalry and nice guys and mysterious women and plain-named characters like Jack and Cody and Katy and Kerry and Hank that I couldn't keep up with.
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Finished this in December last year :) De Lint's writing is therapeutic and his unwavering faith in human relations--by blood and by choice--is reassuring. I'll be reading The Onion Girl next.
