Spiritwalk [Hardcover]

Charles de Lint (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1994

The sequel to Moonheart reveals further adventures in the mysterious garden of a sprawling building in Ottawa--a garden that is a gateway to a magical world of native-American and Celtic mythology.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Moonheart , de Lint revisits Tamson House, the sprawling Ottawa edifice that is a reservoir of psychic power and a gateway to many spirit worlds, particularly those of Native American and Celtic mythology. The house is occupied by a shifting collection of artists and other social misfits seeking peace and protection from a society they find threatening. Emma Fenn, who can communicate with trees, is saved from a band of renegade faeries by Blue Farley, former biker and caretaker of Tamson, and by Esmeralda Foylan, a childhood friend and seeker of ancient truths. Emma and Esmeralda join Tamson's population as the house enters a time of great peril. When Albert Watkins strives for immortality by wresting control of Tamson House from its current guardian, the spirit of former owner Jamie Tamson, the building and all within it are moved into another, inimical world, which Blue, Emma, Esmeralda and Sara Kendell--Jamie's niece and the house's current owner--must use all their powers to oppose. De Lint infuses his powerful story of sacrifice, revenge and the responsibility of power with an ancient sense of human unity with the natural world.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The world of faerie intrudes on 20th-century Ottawa, Canada as a conniving, self-styled queen of the faeries threatens a young woman's soul. Tamson House--a remarkable building that spans the worlds--and its residents (familiar to readers of Moonheart , Ace, 1984) figures prominently in this set of five linked stories that combine Celtic and Amerindian mythologies into a rich and believable blend. The author of The Little Country ( LJ 2/15/91) again displays his talent for fluid cross-world fantasy. For most fantasy collections.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (October 7, 1994)
• ISBN-10: 0333637291
• ISBN-13: 978-0333637296
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,964,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, July 4, 2005

By 

Joseph Prisco "Pope Zaphod" (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritwalk (Newford) (Mass Market Paperback)

I find myself striking a balance between wanting to say, "This is not one of de Lint's best works," and "This is a thoughtful and interesting to his novel Moonheart." I found the initial structure of the book to be a bit off-setting; the book is more like three interconnected novellas instead of a solid single novel. However, by the end of the book I was emotionally vested in the characters, to the point of blurting out, "She did WHAT?" in the laundromat in the final chapter. So while not as moving nor as fantastic as Moonheart, Spiritwalk is a thought-provoking collection on life, love, relationships with the divine, and relationships with people - including ourselves.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting new kind of fantasy, March 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Spiritwalk (Newford) (Mass Market Paperback)

Spiritwalk is a sequel to Moonheart. I accidently read this book before Moonheart, but I have since corrected that error. It makes much more sense when you know who the characters are ;)

I think that de Lint's writing is decent, and his stories are good. They are a different kind of fantasy, pulling the otherworld into our world, an occurance that surprises the characters as much as the reader. They are perhaps gothic, having a dark tone to them, but good still triumphs over evil.

Moonheart is definately a better book, but those who liked it would be interested in the stories in this one. Other reviewers have compared de Lint to Tolkien and CS Lewis, but I think they were misguided. The fantasy of Tolkien and Lewis is of a different brand. For one thing, they are Christian, and this is clearly reflected in the organization of their secondary worlds. De Lint's writing is based on a different, polytheistic tradition, and this also is apparent in his writing. [In Moonheart, it is mainly Celtic w/ some Native American, in Spiritwalk it focuses more on the Native American, and in later works such as Svaha, it is a blend of Native American and Eastern mysticism]. Not that you can't like all three of these authors [I do], but I do not think that they are similar enough to be compared. I appreciate each for his merits. I would consider de Lint to be modern in his themes, and his writing to be exclusively for teenagers and adults [NOT children!] My reason for this would most likely be sex scenes, which, while I'm on the topic, tend be described in rather ridiculous terms, but then, I am no fan of romance novels. These stories are an interesting rendition of ancient rituals of magic crossing into modern Canada.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay Reading, December 20, 2008

By 

S. Mariona "Lovethefreeshipping" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritwalk (Hardcover)

This was the third DeLint book that I read. The first was Moonheart which I absolutely loved. Then I read Jack of Kirowan, which I thought was pretty good too. Spiritwalk was the book that naturally followed. I bought this book in July and just finished reading it 5.5 months later. I read Moonheart in about 2 weeks. It was hard to get into Spiritwalk, but once I got into the stories I enjoyed them. I especially liked the last 100 pages of the 398 page book, which I read in a day because the end of that story sparked my interest that much. It was nice to revisit the characters from Moonheart in this book.