Mulengro

By Charles de Lint

Book Overview

A tale of magic and murder

The increasingly bizarre murders have baffled the police--but each death is somehow connected with the city's elusive Gypsy community. The police are searching for a human killer, but the Romany know better. They know the name of the darkness that hunts them down, one by one: Mulengro.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312873999
• ISBN13: 9780312873998
• Release Date: December 2003
• Publisher: Tor Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Different Read

I am a devoted De Lint reader. I have read nearly all of his books and plan to keep them as a collection. This man is just the best! His books almost have me looking out of the corner of my eye hoping to see one of his characters. This book was different than the others I've read, but never the less, an excellent read!!

Gypsy Catharsis

This book stands out from most of de Lint's canon of work by being mainly a horror novel. Okay, dark fantasy really, but it scares you badly and reminds you why you love being alive, because it could disappear so quickly. This book, first released in 1985, predates Newford, but one could imagine it fitting in with that setting. When Ottawa's close-knit Gypsy community begins dying violently, several independent story threads originate, convering on a cabin in the woods where an apocalyptic showdown determines whether the punishments of the Third Reich continue into the contemporary world. Briggs and Sandler, Ottawa municipal police, want to bring the killer to justice. Janfri la Yayal, a Gypsy fiddler, wants to clear his name. Ola Pifer knows she's an imminent target. Jeff Owen, Dr. Rainbow, and Yojo la Kore want to stand up for the people they love. And the mysterious Mulengro wants to purge his people. This reads like something Stephen King might have written back before his work became tiresome and repetetive. The further along you get, the harder it becomes to put the book down. Nothing feels extraneous, nothing feels like a misfire. This is a prime book for people who have never touched fantasy, horror, or Charles de Lint in their lives. The substantial Gypsy content is key to the story. Many people demand accuracy in this sort of thing, but the Gypsies are so notoriously secretive that fact-checking isn't an issue. What matters is this: I can imagine these characters, in these situations, performing exactly these actions. It's amazing, with the slim amount of narrative and the beautifully cinematic characters and situations, that this hasn't been adapted before now. Perhaps soon. Modern technology could turn this into the most beautiful dark fantasy film in history, no problem. Easily readable and worth a second look, this book is one that will become a treasured part of your library in short order.

Edge-of-your-seat horror

Mulengro, a long out-of-print novel by Charles de Lint, has been reissued -- and it's about time. The story focuses on the Rom, modern gypsies living in Canada, who -- despite some modern adaptations, such as big, gas-guzzling cars instead of caravan wagons -- continue to live outside the mainstream: secretive, mysterious and distrustful of strangers. But, insular or not, de Lint has written about the Rom society like a native, delving deeply into customs, traditions and psyches -- and mysticism, an exotic belief system very different from the Celtic and Native American mythologies more frequently tapped in de Lint's work.The novel unfolds as a killer stalks Rom and Gaje alike; the murders grow increasingly horrific and bloody, and a solution to the threat he presents seems increasingly elusive. The climax is a whirlwind of violence -- readers may be shocked by some plot developments along the way -- but the ultimate closure comes abruptly. The final twist is startling and is not the ending I expected -- but de Lint knows what he's doing, and the desperation of the concluding pages feels appropriate to the circumstance.

Exceptional work and a compulsive read.

Mulengro like all of Charles De Lint's novels speaks to the enigmatic, mysterious and magical in an utterly believable way. But perhaps more than any other of his books, the magic in Mulengro is dark and disturbing. Horror fans would not be disappointed but it is far more sophisticated than even the finest horror story. There are even elements that would appeal to lovers of Crime and Thriller books. More accurately, however, Mulengro is a tale of two opposing cultures, peoples, moralities and ways of life that are forced by circumstances to face the unthinkable together. Mulengro is a journey of the soul into the dark, the light and the nether world between. I would be surprised if the reader remained untouched by the experience of reading Mulengro. I thoroughly recommend it.

Mulengro is Fantastic!

One of Charles de Lints' best to date. It's hard to fine but worth it. I recently found copies imported from the UK after search for it for several years. It was worth the wait.