Na'amen Gobert Tilahun

The Tree is the sequel to urban fantasy/portal fantasy hybrid novel, The Root. Like a lot of series, this one needs to be read in order! Trust me, you’ll be so confused otherwise.

Earth is at war, but most of humanity doesn’t know it yet. Demonic beings from an alternate dimension, Corpiliu, have been making inroads into our world. Their world is being devoured by a strange and powerful darkness, and defeat looks inevitable. So they are in need of a new world, and their sights are pinned on Earth.

Erik, at only eighteen years old, is now head of the Agency, one of two secret organizations that deals with magic, alternate dimensions, demonic beings, and Blooded (the descendants of ancient gods, gifted with some of their powers). He and some of his friends and allies plan a diplomatic trip to Zebub, the alternate version of San Francisco. Meanwhile, his mother and grandmother will manage San Francisco, trying to unite different fractions of Blooded and keep the city and its people safe.

Of course, Erik is one of two main protagonists. Lil, a young woman from Zebub, is in dire straits. She’s been badly injured, although she’s healing, and due to the loss of her tongue no longer has the ability to speak Bable, the language of power. She’s apart from the younger siblings she wishes desperately to protect, and she’s reliant on a group of humans who claim to be a resistance to Zebub’s demonic overlords. Also, the darkness is still advancing on Lil’s city.

The biggest flaw with The Tree is the same one I had with The Root: there are just so many POV characters. It feels like practically everyone with a name gets a POV chapter. It’s a lot to keep track of! Also, the narrative would leave one character in a cliffhanger situation, and by the time it circles back through POV characters to get to them, I would have completely forgotten that they were in trouble. I think The Tree would have been a stronger novel if the POV characters were narrowed down some. We don’t need to know every detail of what’s happening to everyone.

However, The Tree has this key success: I care about the characters and the conflict. I love the complicated dynamics of Erik’s family, how he’s growing into his own, how Lil is so determined to save her siblings and how she’s finding her own worth and strength. In my review of The Root, I talked about how wonderfully diverse the cast is. That continues to be true here, and I think it covers some different aspects of diversity, since Lil is now disabled after the end of The Root. And she’s as badass as ever, if not more so.

While I would have appreciated a tighter narrative focus, The Tree continues to bring me everything I loved about The Root. In addition, I finally get to see Erik and Lil’s sections intertwine! It’s a beautifully inventive series, and I plan on following it to the end.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.

I received an ARC in exchange for a free and honest review.… (més)

The Root is an intriguing blend of urban and portal fantasy with a wonderfully diverse cast.

Erik’s a former teen star living in San Francisco. He thought his life was complicated enough, but now he’s finding out that he’s Blooded – descended from gods and gifted with powers he doesn’t understand. He also finds himself in the middle of a secret battle, between Blooded and a government organization kidnapping them and trading them off to an alternate dimension.

Lil’s an apprentice archivist in said alternate dimension, where humans are subservient to demonic beings. Yet a strange and powerful darkness is taking over her city, and the rulers are turning to the human archivists to look for answers. Lil’s life will soon become a tightrope walk between her demonic rulers and her power hungry fellow archivists.

The Root has some of the usual urban fantasy tropes, but the portal fantasy aspect and the alternate world really helped it feel fresh. I loved the inventiveness of the demonic world! Organic buildings and insect-like transportation… It actually reminded me a bit of the work of Max Gladstone, which is high praise indeed.

Erik is eighteen years old, and I think Lil is around the same age. While reading it, I didn’t think of The Root as being YA, but it might make for a good cross over. It just didn’t fit into the structure or tropes I typically expect from YA literature. I did like that Erik’s parents were actually alive, present, and played a role in the narrative. It’s a more interesting decision than having them be mysteriously dead or vanished. Plus, those are already over used in fantasy fiction.

Most of the cast are people of color and queer characters. Erik’s gay and his career dissolved due to a scandal involving his ex-boyfriend. We don’t learn the details until later into the book, and it made for a nice personal mystery. I think Lil may be bisexual? She hasn’t had any confirmed romantic interest of yet. The supporting cast includes plenty of other queer characters, including a trans boy and a f/f couple. If you’re looking for inclusive urban fantasy, The Root would be a good bet.

However, I do think The Root would have benefited from narrowing its use of POVs. Practically every significant character has at least one POV section. It’s a bit overwhelming at times. Off the top of my head, I can remember at least fourteen, but there’s probably some I’m missing. I felt like so many POV sections cluttered the narrative.

The only other criticism I have regarding structure is that I expected more out of the climax. I guess I assumed that Lil and Erik’s sections would intertwine by then? It looks like that’s not going to happen until the next book. Other than those two criticisms, I found The Root to be generally well executed, especially for a debut novel. It’s a strong start, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.… (més)