Wizard of the Pigeons

By Megan Lindholm and Robin Hobb

Book Overview

A gorgeously illustrated 35th anniversary edition of the urban fantasy classic, featuring a new foreword by Megan Lindholm and illustrations by Tommy Arnold.

Seattle: a place as magical as the Emerald City. Subtle magic seeps through the cracks in the paving stones of the sprawling metropolis. But only the inhabitants who possess special gifts are open to the city's consciousness; finding portents in the graffiti, reading messages in the rubbish or listening to warnings in the skipping-rope chants of children.

Wizard is bound to Seattle and her magic. His gift is the Knowing -- a powerful enchantment allowing him to know the truth of things; to hear the life-stories of ancient mummies locked behind glass cabinets, to receive true fortunes from the carnival machines, to reveal to ordinary people the answers to their troubles and to safeguard the city's equilibrium. The magic has its price; Wizard must never have more than a dollar in his pocket, must remain celibate, and he must feed and protect the pigeons.

But a threat to Seattle has begun to emerge in the portents. A malevolent force born of Wizard's forgotten past has returned to prey upon his power and taunt him with images of his obscure history; and he is the only wizard in Seattle who can face the evil and save the city, his friends and himself.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1944145591
• ISBN13: 9781944145590
• Release Date: December 2020
• Publisher: Grim Oak Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A deep fantasy ABOUT fantasy

This seems, at first, to be a good work of magical realism - Charles de Lint with a twist - but it turns out to be much more. We first see a fantasy world, where magic is real, but then we also see a more realistic worldview, where the main character is psychotic. Both of these views are allowed their integrity, and neither is shattered. This is a very difficult balance, and the tension between these two views casts some light on what fantasy is, and why each of us reads it.

Why is this out of print?

I was in college when my boyfriend, another sci fi fiend from Seattle, turned me on to this book. I have read it several times since and have always come away with something more. Well written, good story, interesting twist at the end. Some say it was too slow - I felt the pacing just fine. Read this book, and pass it on to others. Maybe someone will get the hint and print up more copies!

Oh, how I love this book!

Why is this book out of print?! Aside from that, the only problem with this book is that there's nothing else like it. I want more. This is a truly unique novel, in part about the magic that is a city, in part about the wonder that is true magic. Schizophrenia, eternal love, and a time that's out of joint are only minor notes in a word-symphony of the human spirit... Looking back on what I've written, I realize that my words cannot begin to justly describe the wondrousness of this book. Buy it and read it. 'Nuff said.

Wish she'd write more in this vein.

When I finished Wizard of the Pigeons, I immediately went looking for more by Megan Lindholm. I was sad to find that most of what she's written is out of print. She has the same skill at finding the magic, that sense of Other, in unexpected places as Charles De Lint does. Who'd think there'd be magic in a flock of city pigeons and an almost empty bag of popcorn?

Beautiful, haunting book

Wizard of the Pigeons is an exquistely written book. It's well crafted, perfectly carried out. Also read her other books under the name Robin Hobb.Summary on the back cover:The other street people called him Wizard. He just wanted to be left alone.He came back from Vietnam thinking he'd left its evils behind forever; he never wanted to feel the intoxicating rush of battle again.But something wicked was drifting through the streets, a black magic that threatened the entire city--and only Wizard had the power to stop it.Soon he would have to make a choice: To stand and fight, or turn and run. To be a wizard, or just a man.The time had come to choose...