Mary Victoria

Chronicles of the Tree — (2010-2011) Publisher: The World Tree rises up out of the seething clouds like a green mountain. All creation nestles in its green branches. There is no world besides this one... or so the people believe. Tymon grows up at Argos seminary in the lush heart of the Central Canopy, where science is a heretical pursuit and travel beyond the Tree is banned. But he yearns to break free of these rules and discover new horizons. When he meets a despised Nurian slave in the city baths, his dreams of freedomtake on a completely different meaning. Banished to a drought-ridden colony, Tymon falls in with a group of Nurian rebels and finds himself facing difficult choices. Fighting for freedom and power is not so enticing when it may mean betraying his own people and severing all ties to the world he knows...

Tymon's Flight:

"I Don't Know What's Out There, But It Knows Me..."

Tymon is a young man growing up amongst strict priests in a seminary, an indentured orphan whose life and future have been organized in full by his guardians. Only occasionally is he able to escape his chores to visit an exiled heretic and dabble in the work of science that has been all but banned by the priests. Life for Tymon is made up of routine and dreaming, but when his friend Galliano constructs a new flying device, his desire for a world beyond the confines of the seminary suddenly seems as though it could be realized.

Tymon's world is a giant tree: its boughs divided under two massive outcroppings, upon whose branches are built entire cities for its population. Transportation is achieved with floating airships, and religion, culture and social structure are all defined by the growth and lifecycle of the tree on which they live. It's all described and presented a lot less strangely in the text than I'm making it sound in this review, and Mary Victoria's inspiration (I'm guessing) comes from the Norse myth of Yggdrasil, the World Tree that holds all of creation between its roots and canopy.

According to the people who live amongst its branches, there is no world beyond the tree itself — only passage between the Central and Eastern Canopies. From the East come shiploads of pilgrims, more accurately described as refugees or slaves, who are attempting to find a new life for themselves away from the increasing entropy of the eastern colonies. To do so, these Nurians sign away their livelihoods to the priests of Argos city, and are transported en masse on airships to be forced into lives of drudgery and manual labour. An unlucky few are offered up as sacrifices to the tree itself.

To Tymon, all this is simply a way of life and it's not until a series of increasingly odd events that he begins to question his upbringing; namely a run-in with a red-haired pilgrim who is in Argos for reasons that seem to defy the priests' control. As he learns more, Tymon begins to make choices that are considered heretical to the priests that rule the Central Canopy, and his bid for freedom comes at a very high price.

In many ways Tymon's Flight has all the trappings of a typical fantasy-adventure: an orphaned youth, a crazy inventor, a mysterious woman, a stigmatized race getting ready to fight back against their oppressors, and a backdrop of conflict that can basically be divided into enlightened spirituality versus stuffy religion. But by keeping almost everything that happens tied up tightly within Tymon's point of view, these familiar components are handled in such a way that makes every plot development feel mysterious and suspenseful. We learn along with Tymon: the cruelties and delights of the world, the true nature and identities of his companions, and the truth behind the Grafting heresy — that is, the sacred sight that is accorded to those who can communicate with the tree itself (and thankfully, this has more to do with the concept of fate than any ham-fisted environmental moralizing).

Tymon makes a great protagonist for the reader to follow. He's neither indecisive nor gung-ho, he makes his decisions and follows through on them, he keeps an open mind and isn't too proud to admit when he's wrong, and though he sometimes doubts himself, he's confident enough to stand up for himself when threatened. Heroic without being superhuman, he's someone that you could easily imagine braving the adventure that presents itself to him. Because so much of the story's emphasis is on Tymon, the supporting characters are more lightly sketched, but are all intriguing in their own right, with plenty of room to grow in subsequent books.

Mary Victoria's prose is both clear and descriptive, and though the plot is a little exposition-heavy at first, the slow pacing of the first few chapters involves incidents that are revealed in a new light later on in the story as Tymon's knowledge expands along with the reader's. As the first in the CHRONICLES OF THE TREE books, the ending of Tymon’s Flight is left wide open for sequels, though it thankfully ends on a conclusive note rather than a cliffhanger. Also included is a map, glossary and translation guide for the Nurian language.

Though I tried to pace myself with a chapter a night, I soon found that this was impossible. Once the story picks up, reading becomes compulsive, and an entire weekend was devoted to finishing up Tymon’s Flight. Mary Victoria has created an intriguing world, likeable characters, and a tried-and-true conflict of heroic underdogs versus corrupt priestly bureaucrats. I'd be first in line to pick up the sequel.
—Rebecca Fisher

Samiha's Song

This is the second book of Mary Victoria's Chronicles of the Tree trilogy, following closely on the heels of Tymon’s Flight and preceding the final book Oracle’s Fire. As is always the case with middle installments, the story neither begins nor ends, though there is more scope for world-building, character development, and getting the disparate plot-threads in place for the final book.

The setting of the story is one of its most unique aspects, as the trilogy takes place in a giant tree. To the people that live upon and within its boughs, the Tree is all there is. Their culture and society are built around the tree's life cycle, their religion revolves around concepts such as "the Sap," and the lingo is marked by sayings such as "green grace!" Entire cities are built on various boughs and outcroppings, and the possibility of life existing outside the domains of the two main canopies is dismissed as a legend. Sometimes it's difficult to visualize the sheer size of such a tree, but it certainly makes for an intriguing backdrop to the story.

In this world conflict is born out of religious discordance between the corrupt priests and a group of suppressed "heretics" who preach a different method of understanding the Tree that they all live upon. Pulling strings behind the two factions are certain individuals that are still shrouded in mystery as to their nature, motivation and ultimate goals — though they pose a terrifying threat as they manipulate the minds of the populace. At the heart of this controversy is the title's namesake, a young woman called Samiha who is a religious leader prophesied to die as a martyr for the sake of her cause.

Despite the title, (and several chapters told from Samiha's point of view) this is still Tymon's book. Tymon has grown significantly from his persona in the previous book, where he was a young orphaned teenager caught up in revolutions largely beyond his control. Though he was already surprisingly proactive in his adventures, he now takes on more responsibilities, faces difficult decisions, and endures challenges of a physical, emotional and spiritual nature. There is no time wasted in establishing this darker tone, for within the first chapter Tymon is being forced to part from the woman he loves.

Tymon is reluctant to leave Samiha after just a few short weeks together, but having discovered that he has the latent power of a Grafter (a type of mystic that has the ability to communicate with the Tree itself), Tymon agrees to learn more about his abilities under the tutelage of the mysterious Oracle.

From there, things begin to go very wrong for our heroes. Samiha's death at the hands of the Argosian priests has been predicted by Grafters for generations, and when she is arrested on charges of heresy, she is resigned to her fate. But when Tymon hears of this, he is naturally desperate to save her life, even if it means abandoning his studies and defying the prophecies that surround her.

Readers have a funny relationship with the use of prophecy and destiny in novels: on the one hand we expect things to happen as they've been foretold (at least to some degree), on the other we don't expect characters to just bow unquestioningly to fate. In this case, the idea of fate and freewill becomes the central theme of Samiha’s Song as both Tymon and Samiha grapple with its presence in their lives. Mary Victoria has some interesting ideas about destiny, how mutable it is, and to what extent it should be embraced by its characters — at various points her protagonists fear it, rage against it, accept it and finally embrace it, though there is still room in the final volume to see just how their choices regarding their future will truly pan out.

There is a lot of exposition to get through concerning the spiritual and philosophical makeup of this world, but it's interspersed with action sequences and political intrigue, keeping the pacing swift. Furthermore, there are several intriguing twists scattered throughout the narrative that keep you guessing and are sure to be resolved in the forthcoming third book.

Mary Victoria is good at blending the usual fantasy tropes with a level of ambiguity that allows for shades of grey in her worldview. Ultimately Samiha’s Song is less about good versus evil as it is corruption versus innocence, freedom versus conformity, trust and faith versus fear and hatred. As with many middle instalments, the story ends with the antagonists maintaining the upper hand, as well as a cliff-hanger that will have readers restless for the final book. Can't wait! —Rebecca Fisher

Oracle's Fire

Note: When this review was written, this book was not yet available in the US.

The third and final book in Mary Victoria’s CHRONICLES OF THE TREE trilogy, Oracle’s Fire is a worthy conclusion to the story started in Tymon’s Flight and Samiha’s Song, wrapping up the multiple storylines and giving closure on all the characters. Although the trilogy is classified as fantasy, it veers more toward science fiction what with its distinct lack of swords and sorcery, and use of religious sects, rudimentary technology and mystical visions to shape Mary Victoria’s imaginary world.

However, the trilogy’s most unique feature has always been its setting. Perhaps set some time in the distant future (or even in an alternate dimension) the entire story takes place within the roots and branches of a colossal tree. Much like Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse mythology, this tree is not simply mountainous, but universal. The characters’ entire culture and society is built around the significance of that which they live on, and the Tree makes up the crux of the story as various factions fight for its future.

The conflict of the trilogy lies mainly between a corrupt priesthood and suppressed minorities who believe in an alternative understanding of the tree and its relationship to those that live upon it. Both sides are controlled to various extents by higher powers, all with their own motivations and agendas, and each have their own methods with which to ensure the completion of their goals. While war brews among the canopies of the tree, various agents from both sides make their way down into the depths of the Tree, where answers to the mysteries that everyone has sought to unravel await them.

In the midst of this chaos are our two protagonists, Tymon and Samiha, cruelly separated when Samiha is thrown into the abyss and Tymon sent to a life of slavery in the mines. Refusing to believe that his love is really dead, Tymon plots his escape among the other slaves so that he may search for her in the very heart of the Tree. Meanwhile, his erstwhile ally Jedda is making her own way across the breadth of the tree in her search for Tymon, carrying with her Samiha’s final testament, and Tymon’s old enemy Wick is sent down into the legendary World Below on a secret mission of his own.

Another interesting aspect of the trilogy is that it is not divided along strict lines of good-and-evil; instead the conflicts can be described as corruption against innocence, freedom against control, trust and faith against fear and hatred. Spiritualism, philosophy and mysticism are at work, making the protagonists’ journey an internal one just as much as a physical one, as they learn that it’s not enough to change the world; they must change the perception of those living within it. Think the general atmosphere of James Cameron’s Avatar meets the religious/political wrangling of Frank Herbert’s Dune — a fairly broad comparison, but one that kept popping into my head during my reading experience.

Although there is room for more stories to be told in this world, Oracle’s Fire brings the major plot-threads of the previous two books to a satisfying, if bittersweet, conclusion. The characters are well-defined, the story is unique, and the world-building is rich without diving into irrelevant minutiae. Altogether, it’s been a fun and intriguing read, and certainly not what you’d expect from the usual fantasy fare. —Rebecca Fisher