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Tapping the Dream Tree

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Tapping the Dream Tree (Newford -12) by Charles de Lint

Tapping the Dream Tree (Newford #12) by Charles de Lint—Artist: Charles Vess

Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) — Is the fourth collecton of stories and is #12 in the Newford Series by Charles de Lint.

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Category (YA or Adult)

Adult

Description

✤ BOOK 12 BLURB—Tapping the Dream Tree (2002): The city of Newford could be any contemporary North American city...except that magic lurks in its music, in its `art, in the shadows of its grittiest streets, where mythic beings walk disguised. And its people are like you and me, each looking for a bit of magic to shape their lives and transform their fate. Here are a bluesman hiding from the devil; a Buffalo Man at the edge of death; a murderous ghost looking for revenge; a wolf man on his first blind date; and many more. We're reunited with Jilly, Geordie, Sophie, the Crow Girls, and other characters whose lives have become part of the great Newford myth. And beyond Newford's streets, de Lint takes us to the pastoral hills north of the city, where magic and music have a flavor different but powerful still. ~ Goodreads | Tapping the Dream Tree (Newford, #12)

Themes

World-Building

Settings

  • Newford

Places:

  • Mabon
  • Dreamworld
  • hills north of the city
  • Jimmy's Billiards — Vine and Palm ("Wingless Angels")
  • Crowsea
  • Crossroads — "Ten for the Devil"
  • Otherworld

Supernatural / Mythical Elements

mythic beings, devil, Buffalo Man, ghost, wolf man, Crow Girls, werewolves, fallen angels, ghosts, spirits, pixies, bogles, Devil, magicians, two warring spirits, 

  • Littles: tiny folk, once birds, yearn to regain their ancient forms
  • Trees: Dream Tree, Bottle Tree, Tree of Tales

Glossary:

  • "Uglies": Fallen angels, small wingless creatures in the shadows; Sammy found them on film; sing with 'honey-golden voices';
  • Crossroads: There was always something waiting to take advantage of someone: ghosts, devils, at the edge of nowhere—where the road to what is and what could be cross each other—spiteful creatures just waiting for the chance to step into your life and make it hurt.
  • Spirit Fiddle: it called things to you—must keep constant vigilance or you forget it can call the bad as well as the good.

World

Details:

  • Only Witches kept a bottle tree;

Characters

Characters What Story About
Staley Cross gifted fiddle player "Ten for the Devil" her real powers: connection between her music and the Otherworld;
Robert Lonnie old hoodoo man, guitar player "Ten for the Devil" tells Staley the rabbit & the creature that she called up are shape-changing magicians; musical magic; long time ago, cmet the devil at the crossroads
William human, Staley's friend "Ten for the Devil" helps Staley find someone who might know what she called up;
Malicorne hoodoo man "Ten for the Devil" left with Jake into the Otherworld
Butch Crickmn Stacey's friend "Ten for the Devil" drops Staley off on highway against his better judgement; Wife: Kate;
Kate Crickman Roadhouse owner "Ten for the Devil" Staley played with a band there sometimes;
Moth junkyard car guy "Ten for the Devil" friend of William's; Staley won him over with kindness to his dogs, a smile and playing Boxcar Willy tunes for him; 
Kickaha native prople 'Ten for the Devil" Staley's g-mom's trailer on their land, don't mind; had understanding with her G-mom
Sammy human "Wingless Angels" find film of creatures murdering someone: future-dated; creatures are fallen angels: "Uglies"
Christina photo store clerk "Wingless Angels" Sammy's friend; helps him develop film of creatures;
Father Sully alcoholic ex-priest "Wingless Angels" tells Sammy & Christina: creatures are fallen angels
Christy Riddell writer "The Words That Remain" hears the story of a girl who used to work in the hotel, but killed off the fun-loving side of herself
Mary
Jilly Coppercorn human artist
Geordie Riddell human, fiddler
Sophie Etoile Half Fae-Human "Granny Weather" Sophie saves her boyfriend, Jeck, by using lucid dreaming, personal sacrifice and good sense
Granny Weather dreamworld witch "Granny Weather" captured by malevolent bogles, summons the aid of Sophie Etoile, in whose veins runs faerie blood
Crow Girls Zia and Maida
Holly Rue book shop owner one of the creators of the Wordwood; Vicious pixies from the Internet emerge through a computer screen to wreak havoc in her book store;
Meran Kelledy
Cerin Kelledy
Wordwood website  "Pixel Pixies"  a Web site in an imaginary city in a world reached only through dreams; created by Holly Rue, among others
Sheri Piper local children's book author "Big City Littles" encounters some Littles: were avian, until their wings turned into hands and they became very small folk;
Dick Bobbins hobgoblin "Pixel Pixies" shy but valiant; pixies from the Internet emerge through Holly Rue's computer, annoy its unsuspected tenant
Paddy Riddell human, ghost "The Witching Hour"
Judy Moore ghost "The Witching Hour" murders Michael Hill while temporarily possessed by Judy Moore who used him to kill her murderer, and then she makes Paddy hang himself—she needs his ghostly help to stop Michael's partner.
Michael Hill "The Witching Hour" murders
Susan Green partner of the serial killer "The Witching Hour" Paddy

To expand the table, right-press on a row of the table or (Control-press on a Mac)—choose add

Story Synosis

—13 • Author's Note (Tapping the Dream Tree) • essay


1—19 • "Ten for the Devil" (1998) • novelette (first appeared in Battle Magic, anthology)

✥ A fiddle player sends two warring spirits away, so that she can deal with the devil herself. ✥ Music is a very important part of Robert Lonnie's character—this is an introduction to him. The story centers around is Staley, a woman that is very gifted in her music, but was unaware of her real powers. She has a connection between her music and the Otherworld.

✥ Staley Cross is a loner, living in a trailer on the Kickaha reservation near Newford who has the ability to call various animals to her with her blue fiddle. When Staley accidently calls across two feuding spirits, she finds herself pulled into the world of fairy and her own encounter with the devil at a crossroads.


2—57 • Wingless Angels (2000) • novelette — (previously printed in Black Gate, mag, Spring 2001)

  • Characters, Supes, Places: fallen angels, Sammy, Christina, Father Sully, Jimmy's billards (Vine & Palm),

✥ The story of two people—Sammy and Christina—who discover pictures of monsters that destroyed a man on the streets of Newford. Deciding to get involved, they get more than they bargained for, when the monsters find them, when they find the monsters' intended victim, and when they find each other.

✥ Sammy finds a canister of undeveloped film on the street. Being someone who hates litter, he puts it in his pocket and forgets about it. A week later, he finds it and gets it developed by his friend, Christina. The pictures reveal monsters killing someone the the date stamp is for a date that hasn't happened yet. Against their better judgement, they decide to get involve to save that man. A friend, Father Sully, a former priest, advises them that the creatures—"Uglies"— are fallen angels and the best way to help the man is to find him and figure out why they want to kill him. 

✥ A short, but tightly written story of hope for redemption, even among the unredeemable. It’s remarkable not only for its excellent characterization, but also for what must unfortunately be described as an unconventional approach to traditional Western religion, treating it as a mere basis for the plot rather than an editorial. ~ Black Gate


3—75 • "The Words That Remain" (2000) • shortstory

✥ Christy Riddell is on a book tour when he speaks to a night clerk at his hotel and hears the story of a girl who used to work in the hotel, but killed off the fun-loving side of herself, leaving only the hardworking person. ✥ (Mary told Christy that he was speaking like a writer).

✥ A woman literally casts off the part of her nature that was free spirited and creative to focus on the mundane reality of running her family's hotel only to have that free spirt become a ghost of the person she was. ~ Goodreads


4—89 • "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" (2000) • shortstory

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Spyboy

✥ de Lint’s take on the many worlds theory of cosmology in which Spyboy, on the lam from gangsters who he finally said no to, has the opportunity to reconsider his actions throughout the story, trying to find a path which will work to his benefit and provide him with the life he would like to lead free of the fear of retribution. ✥


5—103 • "The Buffalo Man" (1999) • novelette (Originally written and published as one of de Lint's Christmas chapbooks)

✥ A story mixing Native American and Celtic myth elements. It is the story of saving a spirit that lives as a homeless man. He is dying. Meran, an oak king’s daughter, and her bard husband Cerin Kelledy try to help with their magic, which draws the young girl Jilly into a dangerous situation. ✥ An examination of Jilly's eternal optimism in juxtaposition of the eternal pessimism of the titular character. Whith the Buffalo Man dying and Jilly having a need to help him, the two of them find themselves in an untenable situation in which Jilly's optimism appears to be the only chance they have of surviving. ✥


6—133 • "Second Chances" (1998) • shortstory

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Joey Straw,

✥ A story about Joey Straw who elected to separate himself from society following his brother's murder of his own family. "Second Chances" reunited Joey with a former girlfriend and gives him the understanding that saying the right words can invoke magic without any spells involved.


7—143 • "Forest of Stone" (1999) • shortstory

✥ Geordie faces changes with his life that he is not ready to undergo. His story coincides with a homeless who has lived a strange life. He wants to go to a Celtic heaven but can’t until he dies. Geordie is torn about his long distance relationship and deciding to join his girlfriend. He must meet the request of the homeless man—Woody—that helps him make a decision. A vivid story of characters dealing with change and the magic in the world.

✥ The tale of making commitments and following through with them. Geordie Riddell is a fiddle player whose girlfriend, Tanya, has moved out to Los Angeles to make a career as an actress. Although Geordie loves Tanya and wants to be with her, the idea of leaving the comforts of home and family in Newford scare him. Talking to Jilly Coppercorn and a mysterious homeless man called Woody, however, help Geordie realize the importance of standing by a commitment even when there are things which appear easier to do. ✥


8—161 • "Embracing the Mystery" (2000) • novelette

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Sue Ash, Gina, Mabon, Fritzie, talking dog, Wordwood

✥ Sue Ash is presented with a variety of strange occurrences, from a talking dog to a sentient website, the Wordwood, which appeared in "Saskia." Despite holding onto her beliefs in the rational, Sue is pulled into the world of the occult as she seeks comfort and closure over the suicide of her friend, Gina, whose dog she has adopted. ✥ Sue wants to hear her friend’s dog speak again. She does not believe in magic, but explores ways to reconcile her friend’s suicide. Along the way she encounters a living Internet web site—Wordwood—and the dream city of Mabon.

✥ It has been years since Gina committed suicide and her dog, Fritzie, has come to live with Sue. They actually conversed once, on Christmas Eve all those years ago, and talked about the one person who had meant so much to them both, the recently deceased Gina. Now Sue is missing Gina very much and fears that Fritzie may soon follow her. She goes searching for the magic to allow Fritzie to talk once again, and the trail leads her to the Wordwood, a very special web site. ~ Linear Reflections


9—189 • "Masking Indian" (2000) • shortstory

✥ As with so many of de Lint’s tales, this one starts with a ghostly appearance, in this case the ghost of a costume worn by Chief Larry. As Marley comes to discuss the appearance with Wendy and Jilly, she also learns that the costume is representative of the roots which she has long turned her back on, but can still reclaim. ✥


10—209 • "Granny Weather"  (2000) • novelette

✥ The story of Sophie Etoile. Her friends keep telling her that she has fairy blood, but she does not believe it. She is a true dreamer and can enter another world of magic. Sophie is drawn into the dream world to save a witch and her boyfriend, but is not sure how to do it.

✥ "Granny Weather" tells of one of Sophie Etoile’s adventures in her dreamland of Mabon and the associated fairytale world. When bogles come to her for help against Granny Weather, who Sophie has previously helped with against the bogles, Sophie ventures into the dreamlands to hear Granny Weather’s side of the story. Although Jilly Coppercorn has been a spiritual focus for so many of de Lint’s stories, he has recently been building up Sophie’s abilities and "Granny Weather" seems to be another step on Sophie’s road to becoming a yet more powerful force. ✥


11—239 • ""The Witching Hour"" () • short story (only original story, previously unpublished)

  • Characters, Supes, Places: ghost, Paddy Riddell, Michael Hill, Judy Moore, Michael's partner

✥ Macabre tale of a ghost's revenge on the serial killers who murdered her, ✥ Paddy Riddell murders Michael Hill while temporarily possessed. In prison, the ghost of Judy Moore explains to him why she used him to kill her murderer, and then she makes Paddy hang himself. She needs his ghostly help to stop Michael's partner.

✥ A tale that makes you think about the realities of right and wrong. When the ghost of a victim takes over Paddy Riddell in order to achieve her vengeance, she has no idea that he has some good left in him and isn’t just a wasted shell. Paddy’s life is over before he even has a chance to really live it—taken from him so that he can exact payment for the wrongs against a victim. Perhaps it really isn’t so bad being dead, though. There is a chance that he can make up for the wrongs he did himself and rebalance the scales, but it’s risky and failure will be worse than hell. ~ Linear Reflections

✥ SPOILER WARNING—Geordie Riddell didn't kill himself of his own free will. His body was taken over by the spirit of a girl, Judy Moore who had been killed by a serial killer. Judy had also possessed him to shoot her killer in a gas bar holdup. She came to see him in prison and "rode" his body to make him hang himself so he would become a ghost and help her kill Susan Green, the partner of the serial killer who had killed her. He took years to decide to help Judy and when he did Susan Green and her new freak partner had just killed and tortured another young girl. So Paddy took over the body of the new partner, knocked Susan Green out, poured gasoline over both of them and lit the place on fire. The spirit of Judy went free and Paddy's spirit was doomed to haunt that area of The Tombs where the building had burned. He can see the flames when he closes his eyes and hear the Screams.


12—259 • "Pixel Pixies" (1999) • novelette (a return to Holly Rue's bookstore, previously seen in "Saskia")

✥ Holly Rue is plagued by pixies who have managed to enter her store via her internet connection. Although Holly turns to Meran Kelledy for assistance, she already has help in the form of Dick Bobbins, a hobgoblins who long ago turned his back on the farms of Cornwall and took up residence in bookstore after bookstore until he finally landed at Holly's. ✥ The resident hob Dick Bobbins cleans up Holly Rue Used Books store during the night hours. He notices critters coming out of her PC and helps her hunt them in "Pixel Pixies."


13—291 • "Trading Hearts at the Half Kaffe Café" (2001) • novelette

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Mona, Lyle, vampire, werewolf

✥ A look at attempting to find the right mate. On one side is a Bohemian artist whose relationships have all fizzled and she’s afraid of scaring off someone new. On the other is a vampire who wants to meet a person with a normal lifespan who is just enjoying each day as it comes. Although de Lint doesn’t usually deal with creatures as pedestrian as werewolf, his version of a werewolf is as far removed from the traditional Lon Chaney werewolf as you can get without becoming an annoying romantic creature. The story is told from both Mona and Lyle’s points of view, providing insight into the insecurities everyone has on a first date, along with the hope that keeps people trying to make a connection, even when a person seems hopelessly strange and different.


14—321 • "Making a Noise in This World" (2000) • novelette

  • Characters, Supes, Places: James Raven, John Walking Elk, Tom McGurk

✥ Points to the futility of violence even when it seems to be the right thing to do. Following the murder of John Walking Elk by a brutal Newford policeman, James Raven seeks to avenge Walking Elk by murdering Tom McGurk.


15—347 • "Freak" (2001) • shortstory

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Bernie, telepathy,

✥ Bernie murders a man in order to protect a charitable woman who the man is planning on killing. Because he knew of the man's intentions through a strange form of telepathy, Bernie refuses to explain his actions. Although he does appear heroic, the fact that he also has information which could help the police close the cases on several disappearances, but doesn't, does tend to assuage the sense of his heroism. ~ SF Site

✥ A twisted kind of schizophrenia, where thoughts are heard as voices, and danger becomes all too real for one whom fate has already been overly cruel to. Blood is spilled, the attack averted and the evil dealt with before he can harm a hair. A hero walks in the guise of a freak, and is dealt a vicious hand when justice is supposed to be served. Perhaps if the full tale were known, mercy could be found within the judgment. ~ Linear Reflections


16—357 • "Big City Littles"  (2000) • shortstory

✥ The story of the children's author Sheri Piper and Jenky Wood, the Traveling Little who appears one morning on her pillow looking for help. Twenty years earlier, Sheri related the story of the Littles in a book, thinking it merely a tale told by her grandfather. Now, the Littles have tracked her down and want her help to return to their life as birds.

✥ The story follows children's book author Sheri Piper, whose faithful retelling of a story once told by her grandfather earns her the attention of a miniature man, one of the mythical Littles. All her new friend wants to know is, how can he and his tribe become birds again, like they were originally? The answer lies in a spot of old magic, and Sheri's own willingness to help. ~ The SF Site Featured Review: Triskell Tales 2

✥ Charming tale of wee ones and the impact one of them has upon a woman—Sheri Piper—who thinks that she's quite sensible. Now, given that she's a fantasy writer, that's amazing! Once the Littles of this story were avian in nature, until they made themselves far too fat and became too heavy to fly! Their wings turned into hands and they became very small folk. Or so Sheri Piper, author of the children's fantasy "The Travelling Littles," believes... But what happens when a Little is eye to eye with her? Let's just say that Sheri's life will never be quite as simple again. ~ Greenman ✥


17—381 • "Sign Here" () • shortstory

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Devil, soul deal, magic

✥ A deal with the Devil story in which the protagonist trades his soul, which he doesn’t believe in, for the ability to do magic, starting with simple fire conjuration tricks. What makes this story so different from other deal with the Devil stories is that Peter and his friend Robert not only try to figure out how to outwit the Devil, but also try to figure out what the Devil is getting from the deal and what souls are actually good for. In the process, Robert and Peter learn about themselves and each other, not always for the best.


18—397 • "Seven Wild Sisters" (2002) • novel (longest in the book) (144 page novella) (Annt Lillian as Lily in de Lint’s recent story “Somewhere in My Mind is a Painting Box.”

  • Characters, Supes, Places: Sarah Jane Dillard, Lillian Kindred, witch, spirits of the woods, Faerie (land), ‘sangman, bee faeries,

✥ The story of seven sisters whose family is touched by the world of Faerie. Sarah Jane Dillard helps the older woman Lillian who lives in the hills behind her home. She hears stories about fairies from Lillian but does not believe in their existence. One day she finds a little man made of roots full of tiny arrows, taking him to Lillian. This drags her six sisters inadvertently into a struggle between two different groups. ~ more: Seven Wild Sisters

✥ A sequel to “Somewhere in My Mind is a Painting Box” in which a West Virginia mountain girl, Lillian Kindred, finds a painting box. In “Seven Wild Sisters” she’s an old woman with another teenager, Sarah Jane, learning from her. Lillian Kindred is a mysterious witch figure to Sarah Jane and her six sisters. Sarah Jane begins to help Aunt Lillian around her farm and listens in rapt attention to Aunt Lillian’s stories of the spirits of the woods.

One of the chores Sarah Jane helps with is the gathering of the root ‘sang. She finds herself in the middle of a fairy feud when she saves a ‘sangman from the arrows shot at it by bee fairies. When Sarah Jane disappears into the land of fairy to resolve her issues with the bee fairies, the points of view changes to her sisters. Once the world of fairy gains a toehold into the Dillard family, it seems that all of the sisters are affected by it as Sarah Jane’s six sisters are taken captives by the bee fairies and the ‘sangmen to be used as pawns. ✥

~ Source: 

Contributors

Cover Artists

~ Source: ISFdb: Cover: Tapping the Dream Tree

Other Contributors

Publishing Information

Publishers: Tor Books

  • Hardcover, First Ed., 544 pages, Pub: November 23rd 2002 by Tor Books—ISBN: 0312874014
  • Paperback, 541 pages, Pub: September 1st 2003 by Tor Books—ISBN: 0312868405

TOC

Contents (view Concise Listing)

  • 13 • Author's Note (Tapping the Dream Tree) • essay
  1. 19 • Ten for the Devil • [Newford] • (1998) • novelette
  2. 57 • Wingless Angels • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette
  3. 75 • The Words That Remain • [Newford] • (2000) • shortstory
  4. 89 • Many Worlds Are Born Tonight • [Newford] • (2000) • shortstory
  5. 103 • The Buffalo Man • [Newford] • (1999) • novelette
  6. 133 • Second Chances • [Newford] • (1998) • shortstory
  7. 143 • Forest of Stone • [Newford] • (1999) • shortstory
  8. 161 • Embracing the Mystery • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette
  9. 189 • Masking Indian • [Newford] • (2000) • shortstory
  10. 209 • Granny Weather • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette
  11. 239 • The Witching Hour • [Newford] • shortstory
  12. 259 • Pixel Pixies • [Newford] • (1999) • novelette
  13. 291 • Trading Hearts at the Half Kaffe Café • [Newford] • (2001) • novelette
  14. 321 • Making a Noise in This World • [Newford] • (2000) • novelette
  15. 347 • Freak • [Newford] • (2001) • shortstory
  16. 357 • Big City Littles • [Newford] • (2000) • shortstory
  17. 381 • Sign Here • [Newford] • shortstory
  18. 397 • Seven Wild Sisters • (2002) • novel

~ Source: ISFdb

First Sentence

"Are you sure you want off here?" ~ Shelfari

Quotes

Goodreads | Charles de Lint Quotes

"I'm aware of what's wrong. I just try to balance it with something good. I know I can't solve every problem in the world, but if I try to help the ones I come upon as I come upon them, I think it makes a difference. And you know, most people aren't really bad. They're just kind of thoughtless at times." — Jilly Coppercorn, "The Buffalo Man" ~ Rambles
You’d be surprised how much satisfaction you can get from the simplest task if you impart it with meaning.” ~ Shelfari
"I lived in a tree," he said. "Not in some little house nestled up in its branches, but deep inside the trunk itself where the sap flows and old secrets cluster. It was a time, let me tell you, but long gone now. Then I was a king in a forest of green, now I live like a beggar in a forest of stone." ~

Awards

Triva

Lists That Contain Tapping the Dream Tree (Newford, #12) by Charles de Lint

Notes

✥ AUTHOR: Tapping the Dream Tree (Tor Books, hardcover, November 2002) is my 50th book and collects a new batch of Newford stories written after those that appeared in Moonlight and Vines. As in the previous three Newford collections (which also include Dreams Underfoot and The Ivory and the Horn), you'll meet old friends and hopefully make some new ones. It includes one previously unpublished story, "The Witching Hour." The cover art is by my pal Charles Vess.

For readers who don't live in North America, there are no plans for a foreign edition of this collection at the moment. But happily with the Internet, it can be readily ordered and shipped anywhere in the world. ~ Charles de Lint: Tapping the Dream Tree (2002) Description

✥ The collection is notable throughout for experimentation with narrative and point of view. "Ten for the Devil," "Forest of Stone" and "Masking Indian," for example, mix first and third person. The most experimental work in the collection, "Sign Here," is told entirely in dialogue. ~ SF Review

Author's Note — in back of book

Lastly, some notes on a couple of stories. In "Big City Littles," Sheri's story of the Traveling Littles is adapted from an Appalachian story detailing the origin of Gypsies; I found my version in Virginia Folk Legends, edited by Thomas E. Barden. Thanks to Charles Vess for introducing me to this delightful book. And in its initial publication, Seven Wild Sisters was dedicated to the red rock girls, Anna Annabelle and Her Julieness, and it still is. —Charles de Lint

See Also

Other Newford Collections: 

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