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Charles De Lint Paul Michael Garcia Tai Sammons Fantasy English

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by Charles De Lint,Paul Michael Garcia,Tai Sammons

Author:	Charles De Lint,Paul Michael Garcia,Tai Sammons
Subcategory:	Fantasy
Language:	English
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.; Unabridged MP3CD edition (September 1, 2009)
Category:	Fantasy and Science Fiction
Rating:	4.8
Other formats:	lit lrf mobi rtf

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Published March 17th 2009 by Tor Books. Charles de Lint (Goodreads Author), Tai Sammons (Read by).

Published March 17th 2009 by Tor Books. Author(s): Charles de Lint (Goodreads Author). Author(s): Charles de Lint (Goodreads Author), Paul Michael Garcia (Narrator). Tai Sammons (Narrator). ISBN: 1433294664 (ISBN13: 9781433294662)., Paul Michael Garcia (Read by). ISBN: 1433294737 (ISBN13: 9781433294730).

Charles de Lint (Goodreads Author), Tai Sammons. The Mystery of Grace is a perfect de Lint novel. Paul Michael Garcia. It has fully fleshed out characters I really cared about, the author's familiar treatment of spirit worlds and the ordinary people who encounter them, and the easy-going voice I've come to love over the years. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who hasn't yet read a de Lint novel. It does differ from his others in that the spirit world in this book is a limbo where people are trapped after they die. There aren't any of his usual fairies The Mystery of Grace is a perfect de Lint novel.

Charles de Lint has helped to popularize the genres of urban fantasy and mythic fiction and has earned a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction in the tradition of storytellers like John Crowley, Jonathan Carroll, Alice Hoffman, Ray Bradbury, and Isabel Allende. Many of his novels, including Dreams Underfoot, Memory and Dream, The Onion Girl, and Widdershins are set in the mythical North American city of Newford. He and his wife, artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

The Mystery of Grace. 4 5 Author: Charles de Lint Narrator: Paul Michael Garcia, Tai Sammons. On the Day of the Dead, at the Solona Music Hall, Altagracia Quintero meets John Burns-just two weeks too late. Grace, as her friends call her, has a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg and grease worked deep into her hands. She works at Sanchez Motorworks customizing hot rods.

Sammons has a warm, rich voice; her Grace is tough, smart, and likable, while her John is tender and reserved. Garcia's gentle tenor has sharp edges that keep one riveted. Between them, they make this a charming love story. Library Ed., Blackstone Audio, 2009.

I have been anxiously anticipating this newest novel, and I was not disappointed.

The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). It seems that I lose interest in a lot of urban fantasies at some point and then don't have enough interest to finish them, probably because they are cliches based on cliches. I have been anxiously anticipating this newest novel, and I was not disappointed.

The Mystery of Grace is my first Charles de Lint book and I loved the characters, the way it was written and told. The ending could have been a little more tidy but what the heck. I loved it and will be reading more by de Lint.

1st ed. by Charles de Lint. Published 2009 by Tor in New York. 1st ed. In library, Protected DAISY, Magic, Fiction. A Tom Doherty Associates book. allen countydonation. External-identifier. urn:acs6::pdf:d8d-7789c5d74c15 urn:acs6::epub:fb4-c46892f502c7 urn:oclc:record:1013880295. Brown University Library.

By (author) Charles de Lint, Translated by Paul Michael Garcia and Tai Sammons. Close X. Learn about new offers and get more deals by joining our newsletter.

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On the Day of the Dead, the Solona Music Hall is jumping. That's where Altagracia Quintero meets John Burns, just two weeks too late.Altagracia her friends call her Grace has a tattoo of Nuestra Señora de Altagracia on her shoulder, she's got a Ford Motor Company tattoo running down her leg, and she has grease worked so deep into her hands that it'll never wash out. Grace works at Sanchez Motorworks, customizing hot rods. Finding the line in a classic car is her calling. Now Grace has to find the line in her own life. A few blocks around the Alverson Arms is all her world -- from the little grocery store where she buys beans, tamales, and cigarettes ( cigarettes can kill you, they tell her, but she smokes them anyway) to the record shop, to the library where Henry, a black man confined to a wheelchair, researches the mystery of life in death but she s got unfinished business keeping her close to home. Grace loves John, and John loves her, and that would be wonderful, except that John, like Grace, has unfinished business he s haunted by the childhood death of his younger brother. He's never stopped feeling responsible. Like Grace in her way, John is an artist, and before their relationship can find its resolution, the two of them will have to teach each other about life and love, about hot rods and Elvis Presley, and about why it's necessary to let some things go.

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Comments:

Butius

Charles De Lint "The Mystery of Grace" kept me entertained all the way to the end, which is why I gave it 4 stars. It seems that I lose interest in a lot of urban fantasies at some point and then don't have enough interest to finish them, probably because they are cliches based on cliches.

The strength of "The Mystery of Grace" is that there is a bona fide mystery in the story that I wanted explained, namely why does Grace's after-life world only extend several blocks from the Alverson Arms apartment where she lived before her death. This mystery does get explained and resolved in a satisfactory way.

A further strength is de Lint's use of the Southwest as the setting for the development of the characters and their worldview, which includes abuelos and saints and Our Lady of Altagracia.

The opening was very effective, where de Lint set up the mystery of the disappearing tattooed girl.

Finally, de Lint is technically a good writer, and his prose is satisfying and pleasant to follow.

On the other hand, the story was disappointing in the mundaneness of life after death. When Grace returns for her twice a year jaunt, when the spirits haunt the living, it's not very haunting, and Grace is the same person she was before she died. I take it that the banality of the supernatural world followed from de Lint's decision to write the story from Grace's perspective. It is undoubtedly very hard (or impossible) to write a story where the first person narrator is mysterious and spooky to herself.

Likewise, de Lint's nods to multi-culturalism, where everyone is right in their understanding of the mystery of life, so long as they believe in their own faith, to me strenthened the shallowness of Grace's after-life world - it was as if we are finally given the answer to the great mystery of life after death and find out that the answer is the slogan "do your own thing." For example the scene where the residents of the Alverson Arms world confront the McGuffin of the story with their own objects of faith, which for one person - an atheist, I assume - was a copy of Darwin's Descent of Man for me pointed to the problem of a contentless supernatural world, i.e., for heaven's sake, this guy is dead, and he has empirical, experiential proof of a reality beyond the material world, and he is still an atheist?

De Lint was much better, in my opinion, when he was writing from the perspective of the Grace and Conchita's folk Catholicism, because at least, then, there seemed to be some rules for the supernatural world that might have provided a depth and texture to that world. At least when Grace was asking for Our Lady's protection, I had a sense of a mysterious supernatural world that beckoned to my imagination.

Nonetheless, it was a fun book and I felt that I got my money's worth of entertainment value from it.

Anarius

Charles de Lint is one of my favorite authors. I have been anxiously anticipating this newest novel, and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed that CdL explored a different world than he usually does, but he stayed true to the urban fantasy genre. He also wrote about many of the themes he has tackled in the past - mystery, spirit, grace, hope, and one of the big questions - what happens when we die?

I somewhat agree with the other reviewer who said that Grace is somewhat one (three) -dimensional. You feel for her situation, and you feel for John, but you don't LOVE either of them, like you do with Jilly or some of CdL's other characters.

I gave "Grace" four stars instead of five because it's not as powerful as some of his other work, but it's a great book.

Bearus

Not DeLint's best, maybe one of the worst. Flat, uninspired writing. Boring. Seemed like he was just trying to fill up the page. I am honestly one of his biggest fans so I purchased this on my Kindle and it was not cheap. I regretted it about a quarter of the way into the book as it was just not getting any better.
It lacks believability, which was one of the best qualities of earlier work. It also lacks emotional depth between the characters, until about the last tenth of the book, where it suddenly gets much better.
I love Charles DeLint and will continue to track his work, some of which is still stellar. All I'm saying is if you have a limited budget and you want to splurge on one of his Kindle edition books, think twice about this one.

Hanad

I've been a fan of Charles De Lint since his first books came out in the '80's and grabbed this book as soon as it was available on Kindle. At first glance, The Mystery of Grace didn't grab me as much as some of the others had. It's a little slower and gentler than most of his other books. By the time I finished the book, I had changed my opinion. When I finished the book, my only response was "Wow". It really made me think and I can see re-reading this a number of times.

Grace wasn't a "heroine", but she felt very real - flaws and all. Ultimately, the story was a character-based story revolving around Grace and her growth over a relatively short period of time. As such, it's definitely slower than most of Mr. De Lint's novels. Other than John & Conchita, there's very little interaction with other characters and there's very little traditional adventure. Most of the adventure and growth was internal. It's a very sweet & magical story and definitely worth the read.

Mot

Never read a book like this; it is a great book with a great finally. Love the book and it has been written in a great way! Love it

lets go baby

There is a blurb on this book by Alice Hoffman. She said "Nobody does it better".
I don't usually put much stock in these author blurbs, but I have to say that I agree with this one.
I don't remember how I found Charles De Lint, but I am grateful that I did, because as Ms Hoffman says, nobody does it better.

This is the story of Grace. It is a story of live and love and faith, or the loss of it.
It is a story of friendship and commitment and death. Most of all, it is a story that reminds us, as do all of De Lint's books of the magic within us all.

Grace with her tattoos and her grease and her family, the good and the bad,, is each one of us. Grace is more aptly named than you might think at first look. Grace learns to open her heart wider than she ever believed that she could, and see truth.

This is yet another must read in a long line of must reads by this magical author.

Lahorns Gods

Charles de Lint best writer brings your soul back to earth while sending your spirit to the stars

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