...is about children's books and subway systems, gravediggers and Egyptian gods.
The Mythopoeic Society nominated Dark Cities Underground for its 2000 Mythopoeic Award
"... Lisa Goldstein has created a fine fantasy, transformed what she's seen all around her with a tincture of madness, sadness, goodness & evil. Everyday things take on mythic proportions & her continuity of time boggles your mind...." [complete review]
Carroll as rewritten by Harlan Ellison, dreamy and hard-edged at the same time."
— Norman Spinrad, Asimov's Science Fiction, April 2000
"Lisa Goldstein is the perfect, born storyteller. Her story pulls you in and wraps you round and it is hard to think of anything else until it is over."
— Diana Wynne Jones
"Dark Cities Underground could not have been written by anyone else.... I enjoyed it!"
— Stephen R. Donaldson
"A delightful excursion that's equal parts charming and harrowing ... A thoroughly enjoyable book."
— Charles de Lint
F&SF
"A marvelous and (in the old sense of the word) fabulous book....full of enchantments and illusions, wonders and delights, and the mysterious connections of a family. A highly satisfying read!"
-- F&SF
"Magical, lyrical tale with a marvelous set of characters ... There is something magical about everything Goldstein writes, and this is no exception."
— Rocky Mountain News
"The fifteen deceptively plain short stories in this collection hum with the harmonics of Goldstein's novels..." [continued: off-site link]
— Elizabeth Willey
"The fifteen stories that make up this collection of short fiction ... by one of the genre's most inventive writers demonstrates the working of a subtle mind and a gifted imagination."
— Library Journal
"The most important short-story collection I've seen this year."
— Locus
"Tightly plotted and plainly told..." [continued: off-site link]
"An impressive debut — a beautifully told, richly textured fantasy."
"Promises well for a whole career ... This is Goldstein's first novel; one hopes it won't be her last."
Winner of the American Book Award for Best First Novel.
"She has given us the kind of magic and adventure that once upon a time made us look for secret panels in the walls of wardrobes, or brush our teeth with a book held in front of our eyes, because we couldn't bear to put it down."
"Perfect blend of myth and legend ... unforgettable characters... an inventive, well-paced and witty tale, a Chinese box of endless delights."
— Booklist
The Narcissus Plague," at Infinity Plus