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A review by tsana
The Other Tree by D.K. Mok
4.0
The Other Tree by DK Mok is the author's first novel and the second thing I've read of hers, the other being a story in One Small Step. The Other Tree is an amusing adventure story that takes our Australian protagonists around the world (well, to Europe and the Middle East anyway).
The story follows Chris, a cryptobotanist, and Luke, the hapless priest she drags into her mission. With a few starting advantages, they race against the big corporation's cronies to locate and get to the Tree of Life first. I would have been more sceptical about their ability to even come close to competing with the corporation if it weren't for the fact that Chris and Luke generally took different paths and different approaches (and to some extent were lucky). After three intercontinental flights I was pretty sceptical about their finances, however...
The Other Tree was a mostly entertaining read with quite a bit of humour thrown in throughout. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it a comedy, but it was definitely light hearted most of the time (basically, apart from the bits with high body counts or weird creatures trying to eat the protagonists). As an adventure tale, I thought it dragged a bit in the second half. They got pretty close to their goal not far past the half-way mark — which made me sceptical about how the climax would play out, but the climax climaxed as it should — and then a lot of words were spent getting from just outside Eden to the inner part where the climax happened. I suspect it didn't help that there were fewer jokes (because there was more almost dying) in the latter half also. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it was boring, but the writing could have been tighter.
I was also half-expecting Luke to have some kind of mysterious secret — since there was a definite mysterious past vibe about him — and maybe turn out to be a vampire or something vaguely supernatural. (Especially after a bit implying that the power had a tendency to flicker in his presence, but maybe I misinterpreted that.) Alas the only supernatural things that made an appearance were plants and animals. And sort of Eden, but Eden turned out to be really damned weird.
While I enjoyed reading about Chris and Luke I wasn't that attached to the premise. I suspect that's why I didn't like that so many words were given over to the goal (or well, the bits close to the goal) and I think it's similar to my dislike of angel books, ie personal preference. I thought the best bits were Chris and Luke's banter and random high jinks along the way. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Also, Mok's approach to some of the players on the corporation side was refreshing and somewhat plausible, especially in the case of Emir, the most important fleshed-out lackey.
I should also mention the setting. Chris and Luke are based in Australia and, although there's a significant amount of travel, there's also a significant amount of Australian setting. The Australian locations are all fictional and yet feel very familiar. I always enjoy reading Aussie settings and, despite its fictitiousness, The Other Tree did not disappoint in that department.
I would recommend The Other Tree to fans of contemporary-set fantasy looking for something different to most urban fantasy or paranormal romance books. At it's heart it's an adventure story, following two adventuring laypeople in their quest to find the Tree of Life (or, well, on their quest to find out what happened to Chris's mother and also to see what happens next). A fairly enjoyable read.
3.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
The story follows Chris, a cryptobotanist, and Luke, the hapless priest she drags into her mission. With a few starting advantages, they race against the big corporation's cronies to locate and get to the Tree of Life first. I would have been more sceptical about their ability to even come close to competing with the corporation if it weren't for the fact that Chris and Luke generally took different paths and different approaches (and to some extent were lucky). After three intercontinental flights I was pretty sceptical about their finances, however...
The Other Tree was a mostly entertaining read with quite a bit of humour thrown in throughout. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to call it a comedy, but it was definitely light hearted most of the time (basically, apart from the bits with high body counts or weird creatures trying to eat the protagonists). As an adventure tale, I thought it dragged a bit in the second half. They got pretty close to their goal not far past the half-way mark — which made me sceptical about how the climax would play out, but the climax climaxed as it should — and then a lot of words were spent getting from just outside Eden to the inner part where the climax happened. I suspect it didn't help that there were fewer jokes (because there was more almost dying) in the latter half also. I wouldn't go quite so far as to say it was boring, but the writing could have been tighter.
I was also half-expecting Luke to have some kind of mysterious secret — since there was a definite mysterious past vibe about him — and maybe turn out to be a vampire or something vaguely supernatural. (Especially after a bit implying that the power had a tendency to flicker in his presence, but maybe I misinterpreted that.) Alas the only supernatural things that made an appearance were plants and animals. And sort of Eden, but Eden turned out to be really damned weird.
While I enjoyed reading about Chris and Luke I wasn't that attached to the premise. I suspect that's why I didn't like that so many words were given over to the goal (or well, the bits close to the goal) and I think it's similar to my dislike of angel books, ie personal preference. I thought the best bits were Chris and Luke's banter and random high jinks along the way. There were a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Also, Mok's approach to some of the players on the corporation side was refreshing and somewhat plausible, especially in the case of Emir, the most important fleshed-out lackey.
I should also mention the setting. Chris and Luke are based in Australia and, although there's a significant amount of travel, there's also a significant amount of Australian setting. The Australian locations are all fictional and yet feel very familiar. I always enjoy reading Aussie settings and, despite its fictitiousness, The Other Tree did not disappoint in that department.
I would recommend The Other Tree to fans of contemporary-set fantasy looking for something different to most urban fantasy or paranormal romance books. At it's heart it's an adventure story, following two adventuring laypeople in their quest to find the Tree of Life (or, well, on their quest to find out what happened to Chris's mother and also to see what happens next). A fairly enjoyable read.
3.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.