Promises to Keep by Charles deLint

Promises to Keep is the story of the early Jilly Coppercorn, how she meets so many of the other central characters from the Newford stories, and the adventure that results when she unexpectedly bumps into Donna, a friend from her past who she had met while in the Home for Wayward Girls. Jilly used to be a victim of abuse, a junkie, and a hooker, but she’s changed her life, is clean, and is attending college and working. What change will this friend from her damaged past bring with her?

Promises to Keep is really a prequel to the Newford stories. While it does not necessarily assume a familiarity with the other stories set in this fictional city, the reader would benefit from having read at least some of the other bo... Read More

New Spring by Robert Jordan

With New Spring, Robert Jordan offers himself up to two major criticisms up front. One is for releasing a prequel when you haven't finished the first series yet and the other is for trying to grab a quick book by just padding out an already published first story. With regard to the first, I think it's pretty silly to complain about an author's choice of subject — perhaps he became inspired with something in terms of the back story and is excited to write it, perhaps he needs to flesh out the backstory before continuing with the original series, maybe he just has writer's block and is using this as a tool to work through it. Whatever his reasons, fans have no claim as to what an author writes, frustrating as that choice may be.

As for the second criticism, I haven't read the original short, so I can't speak as to how much this is "padded" and how much is reall... Read More