Product Description

The World Fantasy Award-winning author of Winter Tides presents the haunting story of a grieving widower, a little girl with an unusual gift, and an old house permeated by the past.

"Blaylock is a singular American fabulist."-William Gibson

"A chillingly realized tale of how the past haunts our lives."-Dallas Morning News

"Ambitious." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1458140 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-01
• Released on: 2000-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 356 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The central conceit of this elegant, accomplished contemporary ghost story is that fuentesAsprings in which children have been ritually drownedAare portals of inexact time travel. A byproduct of the ritual, and of time-traveling, is that memory is cast off in the form of a crystal stone, which allows its holder to experience the cast-off memory, which "might be transferred to living flesh." Hale Appleton, leader of the Societas Fraternia, a spiritualist cult, creates one such crystal in 1884. The stone is then stolen, and pursued to the present day. Timelines and characters overlap here. Scenes from previous centuries take place on the periphery of the present story line, wherein Phil Ainsworth, an insular photographer who lives in Southern California, where Appleton made his sacrifice, gains custody of his niece. People from the past and present converge on Ainsworth in an attempt to get the crystal, or to block the portalAa well on his propertyAfrom being neutralized. Ambitious plotting and characterization augment Blaylock's (Winter Tide) lush language (ripples in a well "cast a hundred shifting shadows... crisscrossing in geometric confusion"). This is one ghostly tale that stands on very solid ground. (Aug.) ("Paper Dragons," 1986) and one for best short story ("Thirteen Phantasms," 1997).
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The coming of the rains to California's mission country releases a torrent of unusual activities surrounding a century-old mystery. Photographer Phil Ainsworth finds his life altered by the adoption of his late sister's child and the legacy she brings with her. As ghosts and strangers from the past seek redress for old grievances, a young girl's life hinges on the possession of a strange crystal and a magical well. The author of Winter Tides continues to display an uncanny talent for low-key, off-kilter drama, infusing the modern world with a supernatural tint. Blaylock's evocative prose and studied pacing make him one of the most distinctive contributors to American magical realism. Recommended for most libraries.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Blaylock continues to extend his range, this time with a novel of quiet--but not entirely psychological--horror. In southern California, underground aquifers may lie hidden for years, and in a rainy season, vanished pools and springs may suddenly reappear or even flood. One such pool turns out to hold more than water. Those who wade into it may thereafter wade out of their own proper time and not always be lucky enough to ever wade back. Inevitably, once what is happening by accident is understood, the foolhardy and the corrupt try to use the pool deliberately, with lethal results for themselves and others. Blaylock constructs what might be described as a leisurely page-turner: one wants to find out what comes next but doesn't feel compelled to rush onward to do so. Fans of horror in general--especially those who don't demand a high body count--as well as dedicated Blaylock fans will be well pleased. Roland Green

Customer Reviews

Fantasy that lives down your street
Blaylock's books in the last few years have slowly taken on a different tone and direction . . . all for the better, I say. Gone are the goofy scenarios with almost ridiculously comedic characters and bizarre fantasy situations that just happened to be set in a world we all might happen to recognize . . . those were darn entertaining but I think Blaylock would have undermined himself had he continued to write in that style. Instead he evolved and grew to the point where he's at now, writing a sort of "fantastic realism" where engagingly real people interact just barely with a world they barely understand and come into contact with things that don't make a whole lot of sense. The "magic" stuff is kept as far into the background as possible and the focus is squarely on people and how they treat each other and what makes them tick and what separates a "good" decision from a "bad" decision. In this novel, Phil Ainsworth winds up with custody of his niece after her mother dies but along the way becomes embroiled in an ongoing scenario a century old that might have something to do with the odd well on his land. The plot is gripping but not all that frightening, it's more tense than anything else and it's fascinating to watch people undone by simple obsessions and the lengths that those obsessions will drive them . . . by the end you're just reading rapidly, watching as they people circle each other and close in, ready to collide in something you know is going to be ugly. Blaylock evokes both the mystique and the wonder at the heart of magic while bringing to life a little corner of California. Night Relics is probably still his best book, the psychology cuts much deeper there, the characters have slightly more depth and the evil just a teensy bit more frightening but you would have a hard time going wrong here and it's really not that bad a place to start with him. I'll be looking forward to seeing what he does next.

Blaylock writes ghost stories the way they should be
It's a nice change to read a ghost story that mixes in a healthy dose of the magical and mysterious, instead of the bloody splatter kind of jump-out-and-get-you horror that seems so pervasive these days. Blaylock is a master of the eerie and moody chill, rather than the cheap thrill. He writes about haunted houses so evocatively that you long to visit them, to savor the charged atmosphere for yourself. Add to this a convoluted plot full of many disparate elements that couldn't possibly go together, but somehow do, and you have one of his best novels since The Paper Grail.

If you read this book, you will believe that Blaylock has been touched by magic at some point in his life, to describe it in words so evocatively.

A contemporary fantasy full of mystery, suspense, and heart
It's an unusually rainy winter in southern California, with water brimming the usually dry well on Phil Ainsworth's property, when he learns of the death of his sister and accepts guardianship of her orphaned daughter, Betsy. What he has yet to learn is that rain awakens strange forces in a landscape that hides scars of loss, twisted love, greed, and human sacrifice. Unknowingly, Phil is bringing Betsy into the heart of a supernatural struggle for memories trapped in crystal -- and in this conflict, those who play for love are almost as cruel as those who play for greed.

In this beautifully written book, Blaylock has created believable characters -- notably including a believable 10-year-old, a feat beyond most authors of adult-oriented fiction -- and expressed truths of the heart in evocative symbols. That's what I think a fantasy should do, and that's why Blaylock is one of my favorite authors.