I’ve frequently praised Charles de Lint on this platform; he’s my favorite author, and The Little Country and Memory & Dream rank among my most beloved novels. I’ve discovered yet another reason de Lint is my favorite author. I’ve just completed “Tapping the Dream Tree,” the fourth short story collection in his Newford series. The Newford series—a collection of novels and short stories with recurring characters and a shared imaginary North American city setting—laid the groundwork for modern urban fantasy from the mid-1990s onward.

This author’s prolific output of short stories has converted me into a devoted fan and made them a staple of my reading. Short story collections are a fantastic way to boost your reading skills and break through reading ruts, ideal for infrequent or reluctant readers. Short stories constitute a distinct art form; therefore, they should be read and analyzed differently than novels.

De Lint writes in his Author’s Note at the beginning of the book, that these stories take place chronologically before the novel, The Onion Girl, and the setting extends beyond Newford’s city limits north of the city. I am reading the Newford series in chronological order and after reading this collection, I can see how they take place before The Onion Girl.

My favorite stories in the collection of eighteen were those that stood out, especially “Ten for the Devil,” which initially portrays a musician who seemingly sold his soul to the devil (reminiscent of Robert Johnson) but then unfolds in a wonderfully surprising way. “The Buffalo Man,” the following remarkable story, delves into Native American mythology and questions of identity. “Second Chances” was a wonderful story about a romance getting a second chance. The story that captivated me most in the collection was “Masking Indian,” which follows a young biracial woman as she discovers her connection to a Black Indian tribe, tracing their history from New Orleans to Newford.

Tapping the Dream Tree was a solid collection throughout and added more depth to the Newford characters that have populated the stories since Dreams Underfoot. This is a must read for de Lint fans and I would write not the best entry point for newcomers. However, if you read stories like Ten for the Devil and Buffalo Man will give you a sense of a master storyteller at work.