Books › Dreams Underfoot
Dreams Underfoot
A Newford Collection
First published 1993 · 480 pages
A lyrical wander through city streets where ancient myths and modern margins collide.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like wandering through a shadowed, rain-slicked city where magic hides in the margins. The pace is meandering, inviting you to linger in music clubs and alleyways alongside the fey, the poor, and the lost. It balances a gritty urban reality with a wistful, ethereal mood, finding profound wonder in abandoned cars and grey harbor waters. The prose is lyrical and deeply empathetic, painting a world where art, music, and ancient myths spill into contemporary life. It is a perfect fit for readers who crave character-driven magical realism and urban fantasy that prioritizes atmosphere and emotional resonance over high-octane action, offering a tender look at the magic surviving in the rough edges of the modern world.
- Mood
- ethereal
- gritty
- wistful
- shadowed
- Tone
- earnest
- empathetic
- wondrous
- melancholic
- Pace
- meandering
- Themes
- urban magic · finding beauty in the rough · marginalized communities · myth in modernity · art and music as magic
- The writing
- Lyrical and atmospheric, blending the harsh realities of urban life with the delicate beauty of folklore.
- The arc
- Moves from the gritty reality of the streets into a sense of wondrous, hard-won enchantment.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love character-driven urban fantasy where myth bleeds into the margins of modern city life.
Content notes
- poverty
- homelessness
About the book
Welcome to Newford...
Welcome to the music clubs, the waterfront, the alleyways where ancient myths and magic spill into the modern world. Come meet Jilly, painting wonders in the rough city streets; and Geordie, playing fiddle while he dreams of a ghost; and the Angel of Grasso Street gathering the fey and the wild and the poor and the lost. Gemmins live in abandoned cars and skells traverse the tunnels below, while mermaids swim in the grey harbor waters and fill the cold night with their song.
Description from Open Library.
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