Canadian Charles de Lint is a pioneer of modern fantasy, melding Faerie with the inner city. No fey, upland greenery for him; no cavorting elves or fire-breathing dragons. De Lint blends a potent brew of contemporary realism, characters that live and breathe right off the page, fast-paced plotting, and thought-provoking messages that has captured a wide and loyal readership as well as critical raves. Gary Westfahl, in a Los Angeles Times Book Review piece on de Lint's The Little Country, warns the reader off easy assumptions vis-á-vis fantasy: "In a genre choking to death on regurgitated Tolkien, de Lint does research and imbues his story with an unusual, authentic atmosphere." Westfahl continued, "In a genre of elaborately mapped Neverlands," de Lint's tales take place in a "contemporary world" that is "no less magical." No Neverland for de Lint, but he has created an intricately mapped region...