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Kern Kedrigern is an innocent werewolf being hunted by an evil harper. (Werewolf type: can change at will, and keeps his human mind when he does.) He falls over a cliff and into a river, and washes up at an inn with the obligatory flirty barmaid (Fion) and the gentle manager Ainsley. Kern stays at the inn, works, and falls for Ainsley, knowing that if his secret is ever revealed, they'll all hate him and run him out of town. Then the most wonderful harper anyone's ever heard comes to town...
This little-known early book by de Lint feels a bit slight and minor, but it's an enjoyable read that does a good job with something hard to pull off narratively. That's the seemingly minor character who turns out to be the most important person of all. Fion the barmaid, not Kern the protagonist or Ainsley the love interest, engineers the final confrontation (okay, Kern helps) and strikes the killing blow. It's also, as far as I'm aware, the only time de Lint ever has an evil musician.
Content notes: Violence, mind control, off-page rape through mind control.
Isn't the cover great?
This little-known early book by de Lint feels a bit slight and minor, but it's an enjoyable read that does a good job with something hard to pull off narratively. That's the seemingly minor character who turns out to be the most important person of all. Fion the barmaid, not Kern the protagonist or Ainsley the love interest, engineers the final confrontation (okay, Kern helps) and strikes the killing blow. It's also, as far as I'm aware, the only time de Lint ever has an evil musician.
Content notes: Violence, mind control, off-page rape through mind control.
Isn't the cover great?
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