“Beautiful, elegant, and remarkably kind, this is the work of a storyteller at the peak of his abilities. With de Lint, there’s no need to say, “I can’t wait to see what he does next.” What he does now is always enough to take my breath away.”
—Seanan McGuire, best selling Nebula and Hugo award-winning author
Ottawa author Charles de Lint has finally returned to adult fiction with the release of his first major fantasy novel in eight years. The Wind in His Heart has arrived on the shelves on September 19th in conjunction with de Lint being named to the Canadian SF and Fantasy Association’s Hall of Fame. Renowned as a trailblazer of the modern fantasy genre, de Lint has won the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others.
The SFFN readers can win a Kobo digital copy of The Wind in his Heart by Charles de Lint Click To Tweet– see the end of the article for details.
In recent years de Lint took a break from adult fiction to focus on juvenile books, which were weathering the rocky publishing business with greater stability. His young adult Wildlings trilogy earned him two Aurora awards; his middle-grade novel The Cats of Tanglewood Forest won the Starburst award and was also chosen by the New York Times as one of the top six children’s books of 2013. 
With The Wind in His Heart, de Lint reminds his fans that his success was built on the strength of his adult work. This stellar 545-page novel took de Lint three years to write. Rather than go the traditional route with a major publisher—which he says would have been simpler and probably far more lucrative—de Lint prefers the creative freedom of independent publishing. He sent his final draft of the novel to several other well-known authors, inviting their feedback before the book underwent the rounds of professional editing, copy editing and so on. The book is being published under his own imprint, Triskell Press, but it has ended up as a hybrid indie/traditional release since Recorded Books, the “Rolls Royce of audiobook publishers” snapped up the audio rights when the editor read and loved the novel, and British specialty publisher PS Publishing grabbed limited edition hardcover rights.
“With this gently rolling, lyrical composition of a book, the godfather of urban fantasy flows back to where he’s most needed. If there’s one thing today’s world can gain from literature, surely it’s de Lint’s signature sense of unsullied wonder and devotion to the best within us.”
—Melissa F. Olson, author of the Scarlett Bernard series and other novels
“Charles’ new book filled me with joy! From the first line to the last, I was completely involved. A book about those “outside” who think they want to get “in,” there are good lessons to be learned—painlessly—from beginning to end.”
—Janis Ian, songwriter & musician
“I just now came to the end, and I’m stunned and overwhelmed and deeply moved. Thank you Charles for the humanity and beauty of the story. The world is a brighter place having read The Wind in His Heart.”
—Neil Wilson, Development Director, Ottawa International Writers Festival
Charles de Lint’s first adult fantasy novel in eight years weaves a rich tapestry of story with classic CdL elegance. Young Thomas Corn Eyes sees into the otherworld, but all he wants to do is get off the rez. Steve Cole escaped from his rock star life to disappear into the desert and mountains. Fifteen-year-old barrio kid Sadie Higgins has been discarded once too often. Blogger Leah Hardin needs to leave Newford, come to terms with the suicide of her best friend, and actually engage with her life. When these lives collide in the Hierro Maderas Mountains, they must struggle to escape their messy pasts and find a way to carve a future for themselves.
They don’t just have to learn how to survive. They have to learn how to fly.
Charles de Lint is the author of more than seventy adult, young adult, and children’s books. Renowned as one of the trailblazers of the modern fantasy genre, he is the recipient of the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library’s Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, conducted by Random House and voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint’s books among the top 100.
De Lint is a poet, folklorist, artist, songwriter and performer. He has written critical essays, music reviews, opinion columns and entries to encyclopedias, and he’s been the main book reviewer for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction since 1987. De Lint served as Writer-in-residence for two public libraries in Ottawa and has taught creative writing workshops for adults and children in Canada and the United States. He’s been a judge for several prominent awards, including the Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon and Bram Stoker.
Charles de Lint is best described as a romantic: a believer in compassion, hope and human potential. His skilled portrayal of character and settings has earned him a loyal readership and glowing praise from peers, reviewers and readers. 
“Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.”
—Holly Black (bestselling author)
“Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint’s vivid, original world. No one does it better.” —Alice Hoffman (bestselling author)
“To read de Lint is to fall under the spell of a master storyteller, to be reminded of the greatness of life, of the beauty and majesty lurking in shadows and empty doorways.”
—Quill & Quire
His Newford books, which make up most of de Lint’s body of work between 1993 and 2009, confirmed his reputation for bringing a vivid setting and repertory cast of characters to life on the page. Though not a consecutive series, the twenty-five standalone books set in (or connected to) Newford give readers a feeling of visiting a favourite city and seeing old friends.
More recently, his young adult Wildlings trilogy—Under My Skin, Over My Head, and Out of This World—came out from Penguin Canada and Triskell Press in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Under My Skin won the 2013 Aurora Award, as did Out of This World, in 2015. A novel for middle-grade readers, The Cats of Tanglewood Forest, published by Little Brown in 2013, won the Sunburst Award, earned starred reviews in both Publishers Weekly and Quill & Quire, and was chosen by the New York Times as one of the top six children’s books for 2013. His most recent adult novel, The Mystery of Grace (2009), was a finalist for both the Sunburst and Evergreen awards. More information about Charles can be found at his website: www.charlesdelint.com
We have 2 free Kobo digital copies to give away.
You don’t need a Kobo device or app, although that’s certainly the easiest route. The book is in epub format so it can be downloaded to a computer and read on any device except for a Kindle. But there’s no DRM on the file so it can be easily converted (using something like the free app Calibre) into a mobi file for Kindle apps and devices.
Email prizes at thesffn . com to enter! The giveaway closes on the 15th of October. The winners will be contacted via email.
