De LINT, Charles (Henri Diederick Hoefsmit)

(1951-)

   Canadian musician and writer, born in the Netherlands, who established himself during the 1980s as a prolific FANTASY author and as a significant and original contributor to the subgenre of contemporary fantasy, beginning with "The Fane of the Grey Rose" in Swords Against Darkness IV (anth 1979) ed Andrew J. OFFUTT. Some of CDL's short work has appeared as by Tanuki Aki, Henri Cuiscard, Jan Penalurick, Cerin Songweaver and Wendelessen, and one horror novel, Angel of Darkness (1990 US), was as by Samuel M. Key. CDL's output (see list below), which is both various and polished, merits extended consideration; and the urban fantasy sequence centred on the imaginary city of Newford (which resembles Ottawa) is of interest, and includes Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair (1987 IASFM; 1991 chap US), The Stone Drum (1989 chap), Ghosts of Wind and Shadow (1990 chap), Paperjack (1991 chap US) and Our Lady of the Harbour (1991 chap US) all assembled with other work as Dreams Underfoot: The Newford Collection (omni 1993 US); Mr.Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery (1992 chap US), The Bone Woman (1992 chap), The Wishing Well (1993 chap US) and Coyote Stories (1993 chap), all assembled with other work as The Ivory and the Horn: A Newford Collection (omni 1995 US); and Memory and Dream (1994 US). But he is mentioned here primarily for his one sf novel, Svaha (1989 US), a NEAR FUTURE tale set in enclaves established by high-tech Native Americans to fend off the barbarian world outside. A kind of sweetish simplicity sometimes overloads his fantasy tales, especially the earlier ones; it might be surmised that a writer of CDL's energy and ambition may increasingly find that genre-crossing provides him with a necessary stimulus and threat.

   JC

   Other works: The Oak King's Daughter (1979 chap), published, like several other short texts here listed, by CDL's own Triskell Press; The Moon is a Meadow (1980 chap); De Grijze Roose ("The Grey Rose") (coll trans Johan Vanhecke et al. 1983 Netherlands); The Calendar of the Trees (1984 chap); Moonheart: A Romance (1984 US) and its sequels Ascian in Rose (1987 chap US), Westlin Wind (1989 chap US),Ghostwood (1990) and Merlin Dreams in Moondream Wood (1992 chap), all four sequels assembled as Spiritwalk (omni 1992 US); The Riddle of the Wren (1984 US); The Three Plushketeers and the Garden Slugs (1985 chap); A Pattern of Silver Strings (1981 chap), the first volume in the projected Legend of Cerin Songweaver sequence which continues withGlass Eyes and Cotton Strings (1982 chap), In Mask and Motley (1983 chap), Laughter in the Leaves (1984 chap), The Badger in the Bag (1985 chap), The Harp of the Grey Rose (1979 as "The Fane of The Gray Rose"; exp 1985 US), And the Rafters Were Ringing (1986 chap) and The Lark in the Morning (1987 chap); Mulengro: A Romany Tale (1985 US); Yarrow: An Autumn Tale (1986 US); The Lark in the Morning (1987 chap); Jack, the Giant-Killer: The Jack of Kinrowan: A Novel of Urban Faerie (1987 US); The Drowned Man's Reel (1988 chap); Greenmantle (1988 US); Wolf Moon (1988 US); a contribution to the SHARED-WORLD Borderland enterprise run by Terri WINDLING, Berlin * (1989 chap); two ties - Philip Jose Farmer's The Dungeon, \#3: The Valley of Thunder * (1989 US) and \#5: The Hidden City * (1990 US); The Fair in Emain Macha (1985 Space \& Time \#68; exp 1990 dos US); The Dreaming Place (1990 US); Drink Down the Moon: A Novel of Urban Faerie (1990 US); The Little Country (1991 US); Cafe Purgatorium (coll 1991 US) with stories, separately, by Dana Anderson and Ray Garton; Hedgework and Guessery (coll 1991 US); ; Into the Green (1993); The Wild Wood

   See also: CANADA.