Reviews for Widdershins

The average rating for Widdershins based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2007-09-30 00:00:00 Mark Cross This book disappointed me. I have enjoyed other books by the author and in this series. I loved the Onion Girl, and waited eagerly for its sequel. But I thought the plot of Widdershins was too fragmented. DeLint introduced too many new characters, used too many different points of view and tried to tell too many stories at the same time. Half a dozen new characters were introduced, most of whom got point-of-view chapters, and just as many minor characters from previous books made an appearance. Several old characters were pulled out as Dei-ex-machina, seemingly just so they could get in a cameo. There were at least three or four loosely entertwined plots, each of which deserved a whole book to themselves. Several sin-and-redemption arcs took place simultaneously, but they weren't well enough connected to really complement each other. And Jilly's story, supposedly the focus of the book, was relegated to the status of an unrelated subplot. Was this a book about Jilly that got hijacked by a subplot that the author found too interesting to ignore? Was it a book about a war between Fairy and Native spirits that DeLint added some Jilly material to in order to sell it to a romance-hungry audience? Was it a parable of redemption where the elements were not sufficiently connected to make a coherent narrative? I couldn't figure it out. And, in the end, this book left me with the same bad taste in my mouth that had almost tainted my enjoyment of the Onion Girl. Jilly, once more, seeks redemption for the evil she had inadvertently done in trying to escape her own abuse. DeLint's poor raped Jilly says too many times: "I was just a kid, I didn't know what I was doing." Neither she nor, I suspect, the author, entirely believe it. I do. The character is not responsible for leaving her sister behind when she ran away from their sadistic brother, and she's not responsible for creating thought-forms to take her abuse in her place. So why did she spend two books trying to atone for it-- without, apparently, ever learning that it really wasn't her fault?

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-12 00:00:00 Janet Dayringer A sweet and charming fantasy, this rather hefty volume is in many ways a lighter version of Neil Gaiman's classic "American Gods." It is lighter in tone, being more of a romance than a horror tale, and lighter in impact as well. "American Gods" haunted my thoughts and dreames for weeks after I finished it. "Widdershins" has almost entirely faded from my conscious slightly more than 24 hours after I read the last page. This is not meant to be dismissive. I enjoyed de Lint's story and universe thoroughly and am quite likely to re-read this book in the future or to dip into others of his Newford books. But there were only a few points at which I felt that the story might not end well -- I can't say more without spoilers -- whereas "American Gods" kept me guessing about resolutions from beginning to end. The story is like "American Gods" in that it brings together ancient spirit beings from a number of mythologies and puts them together along with humans from the current age. Not all humans can see (or admit they see) the spirit beings but they are thoroughly a part of our post-modern world nonetheless. The human characters are sympathetic without exception; the spirit beings nearly so. We find redemptive qualities even in the most antagonistic of the latter. Still, even with the quality of mercy being unstrained, raw justice is also applied and it is left to the reader to decide which is more satisfying. I should add that I found one aspect of this book frustrating, similar to my reaction to the previously-reviewed "Tigana" by Guy Gavriel Kay: the set-up to the world of the book seems too long. Can these modern fantasy authors really not find better ways to jump into the story and provide us with necessary backstory interwoven into the adventure? I don't remember this as a problem with Tolkein, for example.