[Book review] Walking the Tree by Kaaron Warren

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This review contains minor spoilers.

Once in a while, I’ll come across a book that’s hard to describe.  This may be because it doesn’t neatly fit into one genre, or because the story has lots of twists and turns, or just because I don’t want to give away too much of the plot.  It’s not that I don’t like these books, but something in them defies easy description.  I find myself at a loss to figure out how to review Kaaron Warren’s Walking the Tree, because so much of what I got from the book is tied to emotion rather than logical ideas.

Lillah wants more than anything to be a teacher, to walk the Tree with other girls her age and escort the younger children on their five year journey.  When she’s picked, her excitement is tempered by a request from one of the village mothers: she is dying, and she fears that her son Morace is also ill.  In this society, illness is feared above anything else, and what they call “treatment” ends in death.  Lillah agrees to not only watch over Morace, but to hide his possible condition until the school reaches his relatives’ village.

On her journey, Lillah will come face to face with beliefs and cultures that differ wildly from her own.  The school’s purpose is to teach tolerance and understanding, but such ideals don’t come easily.  And would anyone be understanding of Lillah’s actions in protecting Morace if they are found out?

I initially thought of this novel as a fantasy, but as it progressed, I changed my thinking and began mentally labeling it as science fiction.  The spirit of exploration shown by the schools, as they make their way to every community around the great Tree, reminds me vividly of first contact stories.  Even though the places that the schools go are not unknown, they are new experiences for the young children.  For the males, this will be the only time they leave their home village, and for most of the females, it may be years before they have the chance to set out again.  Even the older girls, acting as teachers, see the communities through the eyes of adults rather than children, and so it’s a new experience for them as well.

The spirit of tolerance shown in Walking the Tree is commendable, but I was impressed that the author didn’t shy away from presenting the characters with situations where they have to decide if tolerance goes too far.  For example, one community allows men to force women to their will, and it’s not considered to be wrong.  When one of the teachers decides to stay there (for reasons of her own), the others react in varying ways.  Lillah is appalled at the thought, but others tell her not to judge what another person might need or want in their lives.  At the same time, part of the reason that others aren’t judgmental is because they don’t like the teacher in question—so they’re simply judgmental in a different way.  It’s a tricky tightrope to walk, but Warren pulls it off well.  It’s certainly food for thought.

Readers should watch the story for little hints as to how this world came to be the way that it was.  The unfolding history is eventually explained, but there are tantalizing details that I’d love to know more about.  I wonder if the author might do a sequel to this book, as there seems to be so much more that could be done with this unique world.

And in fact, it’s the world itself that forms the main impetus in the story.  Readers follow Lillah and her friends and the children that she’s watching, but the vast majority of life here is dictated by the Tree.  It gives food and shelter, it forms the backdrop of their mythology, and sometimes it’s even an antagonist.  The Tree is a presence in the tale, much in the same way that Middle-Earth forms such an integral part of The Lord of the Rings.  By the end of the book, you won’t be able to imagine this story taking place anywhere else.

While there is a plot—Lillah protecting Morace and hoping that they won’t die as a result—I found this novel to be much more about the worldbuilding.  In fact, I had moments of wondering where the plot had gotten off to.  It didn’t much bother me, though, as the tone set by the novel carries a great deal of weight.  Actually, I’d say that the plot is less about Morace and Lillah and more just about Lillah and her personal journey of discovery.  Morace is a part of that, but seems more of an impetus to push Lillah into more questioning than she might otherwise have done herself.  I think that if readers just go by the back cover copy, they might feel a little disappointed when the tale they’d been led to believe was there is more just a part of a vaster whole.  Personally, I wasn’t disappointed at all, but I’ve learned that cover copy can make or break a book for some people.

In the end, I found myself simply enchanted by the world Warren has built and enjoying the journey through it just as much as any plot put forth to guide my way.  Readers who are looking for action and adventure probably won’t like this novel, but readers who value the path as much as the destination will surely love this tale.  I’d love to see a reading group guide created to go along with it.  Curious readers will also want to note that there is a novella online following the story from Morace’s point of view.  You can get the info on that in the back of the novel.

Walking the Tree is a complex novel that has much to say to the discerning reader who is willing to let a story unfold in slow and deliberate layers.  Immersive and lovely, it’s a book to savor and revisit.

This book was provided by the publisher.