The
latest in Charles de Lint’s Newford novels, Spirits in the Wires,
returns to the Wordwood, an internet site de Lint first explored in the
short story “Saskia” which immediately showed signs of becoming a
powerful force in his mythic world. In
this work, the godlike Wordwood is set upon by a malicious virus set upon
it by a blackmailed computer programmer and a vindictive book reviewer,
Aaran Goldstein..
In
his recent novel The Onion Girl, de Lint’s protagonist was the
pivotal, but seldom featured Jilly Coppercorn, the equally pivotal, and
equally background character Christy
Riddell. Of course, little in
one of de Lint’s novels is as it appears, and Christy also makes an
appearance as Christiana Tree, a shadowy figure made up of those parts of
Christy’s personality which he felt were unnecessary and he cast off
when he was seven. In the years since, Christy has been only vaguely aware of
his, to him, nameless shadow, while Christiana went on to develop a life
of her own.
In
addition to the familiar characters, de Lint introduces new ones as well,
most notably the aforementioned book reviewer, Aaran, and the strange
street person he befriends, Suzi. Their
relationship forms a central part of the novel, although for much of it it
does not appear to make a whole lot of sense.
De Lint does explain Suzi’s presence and, perhaps, Aaran’s
attraction to her, as the novel progresses.
In
fact, certain aspects of the novel eventually take on the feel of
predeterminism, notably when de Lint reveals more of Suzi’s background
and explains why she makes the various other characters feel uncomfortable
and lack trust in her. However,
this is predeterminism as a force on the universe, not as simply an
unwieldy form of literary dues ex machina.
The
internet, as well as computers generally, are portrayed as a
technophobe’s nightmare in Spirits in the Wire, building on their
portrayal in other de Lint stories, some of which, such as “Saskia”
and “Pixel Pixies” form the background of Spirits in the Wires.
Nevertheless, de Lint does not allow them to be completely
mysterious. While his primary
characters may not have an understanding of computers, they have friends
who have the skills and knowledge that they need and are able to call upon
them for help.
If
the novel and relationships between the various characters tie up a little
too neatly, it is a frequent fault of de Lint’s work, but does not
detract from the quality of the novel.
At the same time, de Lint only hints at the direction several of
those relationships are going, and frequently, as is the case for
Christy’s brother, Geordie, or bookseller Holly Rue, their stories may
well provide a springboard for future stories or novels.
De Lint is a strong story teller and has found
his niche and his style. While
his novels do not often surprise, they never disappoint. The reader knows, in general terms what a de Lint novel will
deliver, and can take pleasure is finding out how de Lint will transport
the reader and characters through magical realms which touch upon our own.
