The Dream Tree

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales review
Review: By TT reviewer and author Shannah Biondine

This is a very different book. It doesn't offer the traditional plotline and structure of a novel; rather it's comprised of a series of dark vignettes, loosely connected around a central theme. Strangers gather around the base of The Dream Tree and tell their own unique tales.

Ms. Burns has concocted a dark brew, swirled in glimpses and flashes. There is a man who writes his own fortunes--and they come to pass. A woman re-enacts the witch from Hansel and Gretel, ensnaring children into her mobile home. A desperate boy and his crazed uncle. Death, loss and love, aliens, Santa Claus, religious fanatics, the sudden assault of the bogeyman....

Readers who enjoy programs like "Tales from the Crypt" or "Night Gallery" will find this a similar eclectic mix. Dark metaphors and humor are interwoven with the sad and the scary, sacred and profane. I can't recommend The Dream Tree for the faint of heart, or readers who like stories tied up in a concise resolution. The metaphors and similes which abound here don't always lead to logical conclusions, and much is left dangling. Perhaps that's the point: readers may choose what's real and what's merely dark illusion.

Readers looking for the avant-garde and original, take note of The Dream Tree.

Rating:
Summary: A Mesmerizing Journey
Review: This book flows like poetry, and it is irresistable. The characters are human and flawed, and while they are sometimes beyond the scope of our understanding, it is that which makes them so intriguing. Ms. Burns has written a beautiful tale woven with lyrical descriptions and chilling detail that provokes thoughts of our own haunting dreams.

Rating:
Summary: A Mesmerizing Journey
Review: This book flows like poetry, and it is irresistable. The characters are human and flawed, and while they are sometimes beyond the scope of our understanding, it is that which makes them so intriguing. Ms. Burns has written a beautiful tale woven with lyrical descriptions and chilling detail that provokes thoughts of our own haunting dreams.