Review: Very nice debut
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 30, 2012
For the plot, read the description online.It's hard to quibble about anything here. The characters are all credible. So are their various relationships, both old and new. The occult elements of the novel are nicely handled. Romantic interludes flow smoothly from the plot; they are never forced as in so many novels. The writing is quite competent from a technical standpoint, as is the editing. I enjoyed how Dana's character is allowed to develop. Loyalty and friendship seem to be the major themes, and they are well-conveyed.SO, why only four stars? It may sound odd, but all the characters are just too good; everything and everybody is a little too vanilla. Also, there isn't much in the way of suspense. Yes, we understand things *could* go wrong with Dana's task (not the academic one) but there never is any real sense that they will. Success seems assured almost from the get-go, despite the characters' forebodings. There is never any sensation of action rising toward a climax, which is key to the structure of any novel. No real conflict, here, either. If you were to graph the structure of _Talking to Trees_ I'm afraid it would be a straight line, neither rising nor falling.Still, because of all the good things outlined in my first paragraph, definitely recommended. Enjoyable, thugh hardly riveting.