Someplace to Be Flying (1998) — The eighth book in Newford series written by Charles de Lint.
Category (Adult or YA)[]
Adult
Description[]
✤ BOOK 8 BLURB—Someplace to Be Flying (1998): They say that Raven created our world to have someplace to be flying.
Lily is a photojournalist in search of the "animal people" who supposedly haunt the city's darkest slums. Hank is a slumdweller who knows the bad streets all too well. One night, in a brutal incident, their two lives collide—uptown Lily and downtown Hank, each with a quest and a role to play in the secret drama of the city's oldest inhabitants. For the animal people walk among us. Native Americans call them the First People, but they have never left, and they claim the city for their own. Not only have Hank and Lily stumbled onto a secret, they've stumbled into a war. And in this battle for the city's soul, nothing is quite as it appears. ~ GR | Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8)
Excerpt[]
Charles de Lint: Someplace to be Flying (1998) Excerpt
Themes[]
World-Building[]
Someplace to Be Flying is set in Newford and environs, and is steeped in corvid (crow family) mythology—a Trickster tale involving Raven and Coyote, and a flock of punky "crow girls" on modern city streets, detailing the effect of their presence on a group of ordinary people. While some of the characters previously introduced in the short stories "Heartfires," "Crow Girls" and "Twa Corbies" make return appearances, most of the cast is new. ~ Charles de Lint: Someplace to be Flying (1998) Description and The Newford Wiki / Someplace To Be Flying
Settings[]
Places:
- The Rookery
- The Tombs
- Moth's Junkyard
- The Combat Zone
Supernatural / Mythical Elements[]
"animal people", native mythology, Coyote, Raven,
Glossary:
- "Animal People": haunt the city's darkest slums;
- First People: city's oldest inhabitants, aka "animal people"
- Corbae: avian animal people who have been around since the creation of the world: Crows, Ravens, jays, rooks, jackdaws, and magpies.
- Canid: canine-type animal people: wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals, dingoes, and domestic dogs
- Cuckoos:
Characters[]
List: The Newford Wiki / Someplace To Be Flying
Characters | What | About |
---|---|---|
Lily Carson | photojournalist | "uptown Lily"; |
Hank Walker | slumdweller | "downtown Hank"; jazz-loving cab driver; knows the bad streets all too well; saves woman being assaulted; |
Kerry | young woman | comes to live in Newford; has Old Blood in her veins, dating back to the First People. She thinks she may be crazy, but is she? |
Jack | storyteller; homeless man; | more then he appears to be; keeps the stories of the Long Ago and tells them to all who'll listen |
Lucius Portsmouth | Raven | |
To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add
Cover Artists[]
- Martha E. Sedgwick — 1998 HC & 1999 PB by Tor
- Fletcher Sibthorp — 1998 HC, Macmillan UK & 1999 pb, Pan Books
- John Jude Palencar — 2005 Trade-pb by Orb
~ Source: Bibliography: Someplace to Be Flying
Publishing Information[]
Publishers: Tor Books, Pan Books, Tor Fantasy, Orb Books
- Hardcover, First Ed., 380 pages, Pub: February 1st 1998 by Tor Books—ISBN:0312858493
- Paperback, 544 pages, Pub: March 15th 1999 by Tor Fantasy—ISBN: 0812551583
- MM-Paperback, 620 pages, Pub: 1999 by Pan Books—ISBN: 0330368702
- Paperback, 384 pages, Pub: August 1st 2005 by Orb Books—ISBN: 076530757X
- eBook: 457 pages, Pub: October 27th 2013 by Smashwords Edition—ISBN13: 9780920623275
Author publishing notes: The hardcover edition of Someplace to Be Flying was published by Tor Books in February 1998. Macmillan published the U.K. hardcover edition in March of the same year. Mass market editions became available in March 1999 from Tor Books in North America and Pan Books in the United Kingdom. ~ Charles de Lint: Someplace to be Flying (1998) Description
Table of Contents[]
- Poetry in a Tree
- A Piece of Nowhere
- The House on Stanton Street
- In a Field of Grace
- Tarnished Mirrors
- The Lonesome Death of Nettie Bean
- City of Crows
- The Light Will Stay On
First Sentence[]
The streets were still wet but the storm clouds had moved on as Hank drove south on Yoors waiting for a fare. ~ Shelfari
Quotes[]
Goodreads | Charles de Lint Quotes
- “"That's a peaceful dark, he said. There's not an ounce of loneliness in it."” ~ Jsck
Awards[]
1999 World Fantasy award nominee ~ Wikipedia
Place | Year | Award Category |
---|---|---|
Nomination | 1999 | Aurora Best Long-Form Work in English / Meilleur livre en anglais |
Nomination | 1999 | BFA August Derleth Fantasy Award (Best Novel) |
8 | 1999 | Locus Best Fantasy Novel |
Nomination | 1999 | Mythopoeic Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature |
Nomination | 1999 | World Fantasy Best Novel |
~ Source: ISFdb Bibliography: Someplace to Be Flying
Trivia[]
- Lists That Contain Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8) by Charles de Lint ~ GR
- This is book #41 of 98 in Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: Reader's List. ~ Shelfari
Notes[]
See Also[]
- Next book: Moonlight and Vines (1999)
- Previous book: Trader (1997)
- John Jude Palencar ~ Artist
- Newford Series
- Category: Characters - Newford Wiki
External Links[]
Book:
- Charles de Lint: Someplace to be Flying (1998) Description ~ Author
- Someplace to Be Flying (Newford, #8) ~ Goodreads
- Newford series - Urban Fantasy Wiki ~ Wikia
- Bibliography: Someplace to Be Flying~ ISFdb
- Someplace To Be Flying by Charles de Lint ~ Shelfari (Characters, etc)
- The Newford Wiki / Someplace To Be Flying
World:
Artists:
- Martha E. Sedgwick - Summary Bibliography
- Fletcher Sibthorp - Summary Bibliography
- John Jude Palencar - Summary Bibliography
Reviews:
- Goodreads | Jamieson's review of Someplace to Be Flying
- Someplace To Be Flying by Charles de Lint | The Book Pedler
- Neth Space: Mini-Review: Someplace to be Flying by Charles de Lint
- Review: Someplace to Be Flying by Charles de Lint
- SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint | Kirkus
- booksofafeather | Special guest review: Someplace to be Flying
- Charles de Lint: Someplace To Be Flying