Tom Deitz (1952–2009)

A quite fun american import of celtic faerie fantasy. I'm much more used to Sidhe being a portal fantasy, where by you walk around the howe the right manner and summon them, or they appear. Instead this is based on the Roads principle where differing worlds are separated by Tracks which wax and wane according to unknown principles.

On one particularly auspicious occasion the Tracks lead through the Appalachian mountains, and past the farmhouse of a family descended from an irish seer. Big Billie is just acountry hick, but his son David reads, a lot, predominantly of faerie Lore, when he can get his hands on it. Little Billie is his younger brother and much more interested in running around then books. David's been feeling strange for a least a week, but on one night it's particularly strong, and then he observers the lights proceeding along the bottom of one of the fields. He investigates of course, and observes the Sidhe Riding out in their Glory. Unfortunetly they observe him, but he manages to succeed in a Battle of Wits, by answering their questions correctly thanks to his reading. They depart leaving him a ring as a Boon, and the enmity of the Lord he bested. Fortunetly for David the Lord was only an emissary from a different Sidhe world, and so remains bound by their laws. But he delights in stretching them as much as possible. David rope sin his friends to investigate as much as he can, but they are forced to extreme measures when they discover Little Billie has been swapped for a changeling, and their foe is hastening a war between men and faerie before the iron encroachment takes too much.

It's fun. Well paced and well researched, a nice blend of traditional celtic mythology and some imports from US and Native American culture too. The friends work well together with banter and jostling when relaxed and trust and teamwork when needed. The setting allows a freedom of action that would be more constrained in an urban environment, but there are enough resources around to keep it familiar.

This is the author's debuet novel written in the 80s but has aged very well indeed. Sadly the cover bears no resemblance to the story whatsoever. Apparently the author died in the early 2000s but his work is being re-released as ebooks and I shall look out for the rest of the series.… (meer)