Toby Dexter. Il habite Bradford-sur-Avon, une vieille ville où il ne se passe rien. Tous les jours il va à son travail en prenant le train. Tous les jours il ouvre la porte de la librairie Gandalf pour travailler « ranger des retours, garnir des etageres, brancher l’aspirateur ». Tous les jours il reprend le train pour voir en face de lui, La femme à la bouche parfaite, la femme inacessible. Tous les jours il essaie de lui parler mais n’y arrive pas.Pourtant ce soir là, une averse va en décider autrement…Voulant proposer l’abri precaire de son parapluie, il voit cette femme, a la bouche parfaite, disparaître par une porte. Porte qui n’existait pas avant ! Ne voulant pas laisser passer cette chance, il s’engouffre dans cette « porte »..Pour atterrir en Mysterie ! Toby Dexter sera t’il le champion de la terre ? Celui qui fera que Mysterie et Veritie seront sauvées ?Notre monde a deux facettes… Veritie, notre monde tel que nous le connaissons. Mysterie, est pareil, sauf que la magie et les êtres fantastiques y regnent. Et Toby Dexter va se reveler un point focal ! Celui de pouvoir voyager entre les deux mondes. Sauf que Toby ne veut qu’une chose ! L’amour de la femme à la bouche parfaite ! C’aurait pu être sympathique, sirupeux et ultra glamour, de la part de l’Atalante de nous faire un Harlequin fantastique. Mais Simon R Green ne verse pas dans le sirupeux. Il prefere que le vin soit à point pour qu’on puisse le boire… Jusqu’àpres minuit. Complots fous, êtres semi divins voulant êtres humains, objets magiques ayant des etats d’âmes, voire des caprices. Voici une aventure d’un libraire qui aurait voulu être normal s’il n’avait pas emprunté la porte. Magie, humour corrosif et sympathique. Ecriture aisée, ce roman se deguste avec un blanc moelleux, une musique de John Williams en fond sonore…Et un clappement de langue à la fin. LE VIN DE MINUITAuteur : Simon R GreenCollection : La dentelle du cygneEdition : L'Atalante
I have read this story a few times now and have enjoyed it everytime.This book represents a turning point for Simon R. Green.Before this book came out, he had been writing his Deathstalker (space opera) series and his Blue Moon (sword and sorcery fantasy) series.This book is his first foray into urban fantasy.It is the embryonic Nightside in some ways.Toby Dexter becomes a focal point when he follows the beautiful Gayle through a strange door into Mysterie.Toby seems to be an early (and more innocent) version of John Taylor.The way he faces down the talking mirror and The King of Cats is very much in the falvor of John Taylor.Leo Morn, Nicholas Hob, Jimmy Thunder, Jessica Sorrow the Unbeliever,Lord of Thorns,the Walking Man and even Strangefellows make their first appearance(or at least mention) here.While they may be slightly different than when they appear in the Nightside, they take their first steps here.Leo Morn is much more powerful in this story than he is in the Nightside especially with his Brother Under the Hill giving him guidance.But even with his increased powers , he is still outclassed by the Powers and Dominations in the story.The fights between Angel and Jimmy Thunder are awesome.The Mice are great fun, even if they are just a bunch of old hippies
Do You like book Drinking Midnight Wine (2002)?
checked this out from the library not too long after settling in to Chicago [the suburbs, really]. i was starting a game of Mage: The Awakening with a new group of friends. my first role-playing game ever, and for some reason this book was the perfect book to pick up on a whim.i'll always have fond memories of riding the Metra train, commuting to the city while reading this book. something about the combination of this book, the crisp Fall air, the magic and mystery of things coming together. electric and ethereal.plus, the writing is kitschy humor. if you like reading Jim Butcher, you'll like this guy.coincidentally, a former room-mate left this behind, so i'm adding this to my permanent collection!
—Roger
Simon R. Green lives in Bradford-on-Avon in real life, and I'll wager a guess as to how Drinking Midnight Wine came to be written. I think Green has met some eccentric folks and seen some weird places in the time he has lived in that town, and so it occurred to him to make up magical explanations for them, and build a fantasy novel around them.Green does a great job of creating engaging characters and vivid scenery. Our hero is Toby, a thirtysomething bookstore clerk who loves books and the pretty lady on the train, and hates exercise and mornings. We also run into the lady-on-the-train herself, aloof Gayle, and her half-crazy sister Luna, both of whom are more than they seem, as well as a minor Norse god, a reluctant werewolf, a gossipy yet mysterious gypsy called the Waking Beauty, and a colony of hippie mice. They are set in a town ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
—Fantasy Literature
"There is a world beyond the world, a place of magics and mysteries, evils and enchantments, marvels and wonders. and you are never more than a breath away from all of it. Open the right door, walk down the wrong street, and you can find waiting for you every dream you ever had, including all the bad ones. Secrets and mysteries will open themselves to you, if something more or less human doesn't find you first. Magic is real, and so are gods and monsters."I liked this book, but not nearly as much as Green's Nightside books. I may keep reading this series, then again, I may not...
—Sally Bisbee
