Botanica is an island, but almost all of the island is taken up by the Tree.Little knowing how they came to be here, small communities live around the coast line. The Tree provides them shelter, kindling, medicine – and a place of legends, for there are ghosts within the trees who snatch children and the dying.Lillah has come of age and is now ready to leave her community and walk the tree for five years, learning all Botanica has to teach her. Before setting off, Lillah is asked by the dying mother of a young boy to take him with her. In a country where a plague killed half the population, Morace will otherwise be killed in case he has the same disease. But can Lillah keep the boy’s secret, or will she have to resort to breaking the oldest taboo on Botanica?Another astonishingly imaginative novel from the acclaimed author of Slights.--“Like walking from a dream into a mythical land both familiar and delightfully strange. A tale of tolerance and survival, in a fascinating and beautifully realised world.”– Trudi Canavan, author of the Black Magician Trilogy“Kaaron Warren is a fresh, amazingly talented voice out of Australia. You must read her work.”– Ellen Datlow“It is the setting that really makes the story and keeps the reader interested. The various communities of Botanica are well thought out and intriguing, and their differing attitudes towards disease, sex and the Tree constantly challenge Lillah’s thoughts and beliefs. It also draws on our own awareness of humanity’s evolution, and adds a sense of reality to the already convincing setting.”- Total SciFi Online
Description:
Botanica is an island, but almost all of the island is taken up by the Tree.Little knowing how they came to be here, small communities live around the coast line. The Tree provides them shelter, kindling, medicine – and a place of legends, for there are ghosts within the trees who snatch children and the dying.Lillah has come of age and is now ready to leave her community and walk the tree for five years, learning all Botanica has to teach her. Before setting off, Lillah is asked by the dying mother of a young boy to take him with her. In a country where a plague killed half the population, Morace will otherwise be killed in case he has the same disease. But can Lillah keep the boy’s secret, or will she have to resort to breaking the oldest taboo on Botanica?Another astonishingly imaginative novel from the acclaimed author of Slights.--“Like walking from a dream into a mythical land both familiar and delightfully strange. A tale of tolerance and survival, in a fascinating and beautifully realised world.”– Trudi Canavan, author of the Black Magician Trilogy“Kaaron Warren is a fresh, amazingly talented voice out of Australia. You must read her work.”– Ellen Datlow“It is the setting that really makes the story and keeps the reader interested. The various communities of Botanica are well thought out and intriguing, and their differing attitudes towards disease, sex and the Tree constantly challenge Lillah’s thoughts and beliefs. It also draws on our own awareness of humanity’s evolution, and adds a sense of reality to the already convincing setting.”- Total SciFi Online