One of the things I really like about de Lint’s Newford books is how he blends in various traditions of Fae, or other supernatural beings from various other cultures, into the present day. In this book, it’s the animal people common to many of the Native American cultures.
Raven is now the owner of an apartment building called the Rookery, where a number of the other Corbae relations live. Raven’s withdrawn from the world – you don’t really interact with him anymore – he’s a presence on the top floor. Coyote is also in this world, known as Cody, still trying to make right the wrongs he committed when he also created humans. But every time he’s tried this in the past, he screws it all up.
Into the middle of this comes a girl named Kerry, who does not know her own past, and that she carries both Corbae and Canid blood. Cody clearly wants her to do something, and the various Corbae and their friends need to figure out what that is.
This is one of those stories with several different story lines that start out seemingly separate. You know they’ll eventually merge, because that’s how this kind of story works, but the best stories are those that bring you along not knowing the end, and this book definitely fits that mold. I don’t often keep de Lint books after I read them, but this one is staying in my collection – it’s that good.