Spiritwalk

I like Charles de Lint`s writing, usually, and I like Tamson House a great deal, but this was such a hard book to get into. Every time I started to get a little bit involved in a storyline, the author would skip to a new one, and when he suddenly introduced two new characters in a scene with nobody we'd met before, and left one of the two nameless for several pages to conceal the fact that we'd heard of her in a previous storyline, and then it turned out that we had skipped months into the future on the same storyline and a whole lot of stuff had happened that we had to hear about secondhand... I decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

As I have said before, I love Charles de Lint, but this is a relatively early work, a sequel to "Moonheart", but not directly written as such, being made up of pieces written for various books and magazines, only related through the house which is at the centre of both books. Unsurprisingly therefore it is not wholly coherent, but the main story is still fairly typical de Lint, albeit at the darker .end of his spectrum of work.

Following up on the events that unfolded in Moonheart de Lint returns to Tamson House, allbeit with a slightly new cast of characters. We have some old staples in the form of Blue (a reformed biker) and Sara (the current owner of the house), but this new story revolves much more about Emma and Esmerelda, who are new players. Like the chaos that Taliesin and Kieran wrought in the previous story, these new characters with connections to the supernatural throw the denizens of Tamson House (and the house itself) into a frenzy of action - many seem to enjoy the protections and sense of creative calm that the house inspires, but like all magic its benefits can come at a dear cost. I was quite surprised at just how much drama unfolded in these show more 400-off pages, as de Lint has actually combined a multitude of stories into one long narrative that culminates in major life changes for all of the characters. At times this disenfranchised method got to be a bit overwhelming, as the reader has to recall a larger casdt of characters than is normally present in de Lint's work, but I guess that's the charm of having a massive and populated stage like Tamson House. When there's that much to play withm then why not go for it! By the finale we see most of the characters settle, or begin new journies, so de Lint has left readers in a good place all while leaving many of the characters open to more writing in the future. show less

Sequel to Moonheart; not quite as good, I don't think, but a great book nonetheless.

Centers on Tamson House in Ottawa, a magical nexus where Celtic and Native American mythologies meet. Residents must battle an evil force threatening to take over the house, moving it into a dangerous alternate world.

When a dark magician tries to claim the Tamson House's power, its residents, Blue Farley, a former biker, and Sarah Kendell, are forced into a dangerous alternate Otherworld. They must defend the house and themselves against an enemy, alongside creatures of that world.

spirit battles in Ottawa

*note to self. (copy from Al).