The Memory of Trees

The Memory of Trees
by F. G. Cottam
Sutton, Surrey, England: Severn House
2013
249 pages


This is another adult book that I think teens might also like that also involves some mythology, this time British mythology and history.

Tom Curtis is a tree expert. He has been hired by billionaire Saul Ambercrombie to complete a very unusual job. Saul has purchased a very large expanse of land in Wales and wants to convert it back to the medieval forest that existed there over 1000 years ago. But he doesn't want baby trees, he wants full-grown, authentically Welsh trees that would have existed there originally.

Clocaenog Forest, North Wales

Tom is going through a bad divorce and custody battle, so he is looking for work that will help him gain financial stability in order to gain credence in the courts. He takes the job, despite its odd nature. Where else is a "Tree Man" going to find such a good opportunity?

Soon after Tom arrives to the estate, he discovers that all is not as it seems. There are local legends surrounding the place, and the few landmarks are steeped with eerie vibes. He takes an instant dislike to a humongous thorn bush at a spot called "Gibbet's Mourning," which seems to move on its own. There is a small unidentified church with a stained glass window of a knight holding up the head of a monster. The knight just coincidentally (not really) looks very much like Tom. There is also a mysterious cairn near the edge of the sea cliff, called Puller's Reach.

Tom plants some ceremonial yews near the cairn to mark the beginning of the project. This is where the creepy events begin to take place. Checking back the next day, there is not only one yew at Puller's Reach but two full grown yews, and every day they multiply. Work begins on the forest renewal and trees appear faster than they are planted, as if the forest is trying to replenish itself. But why? And why does Saul want to help it?

We eventually learn that long ago, the forest was ruled by Morgan le Fay, enchantress and nemesis of Arthur. She walked the land, with evil smelly beasts to do her bidding, and woe to any who got in her way.The knight of the window was Gregory of Avalon, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and renowned for slaying dragons, who was commissioned to kill the monsters and eliminate or at least render her harmless. He accomplishes his task and the forest is burnt to the ground.

Tom is contacted by a mythologist, Professor Andrew Carrington, who has learned of the project and is greatly disturbed by it. He knows the stories that have been passed down and suspects that reclaiming the forest to its original state would not be a good idea. He tells Tom some of the story of Gregory, and also that of another man who wanted to study the forest but experienced terrible disaster there, but it is rather hard to believe, and anyway, what can Tom do? He needs the job and is committed to it. But soon the situation becomes so intense and tragic that Tom can no longer pretend that the project should continue.

I thought the mythology in this story was interesting, the characters were realistic and motives explained well. The suspense of the horror is built well and convincingly. I was glad that Tom survives to the end and Morgan is again incapacitated, but it is not a happy ending at all. Too many characters that I cared about ended up missing or dead, but this is horror after all.

In looking up a cover photo for this book, I found other "Memory of Trees," a mystical song by Irish songwriter and singer Enya. It doesn't have the same spirit as this book, but it is still worth a listen.

Dead Set

Dead Set
by Richard Kadrey
New York: Harper Voyager
2013
307 pages


I found this book in the adult section of my public library, but it seems to be a teen crossover book.

This is the story of Zoe, a teen whose family has fallen apart. Her father died unexpectedly, and her mother is left with the problems of dealing with insurance companies who say he never existed. The pair have had to move several times and are struggling to make ends meet while Zoe's mother tries to find a job and straighten out the insurance troubles. Zoe is left on her own to grieve, and her escape is found in recurrent dreams of a brother she never knew, named Valentine, who takes her to a pleasant place, up high in a tree house, where they can talk about her feelings and their father.

One day, Zoe finds life at the new school so intolerable that she leaves and wanders the streets, only to discover a small record shop called "Ammut Records, Rare, Used & Lost". There, she meets Emmett, a strange man who runs the empty, rundown store. He follows her into a back room where there are unusual records that turn out to be recordings of the lives of dead people. Emmett hooks Zoe up to a machine called an Animagraph. Zoe is fascinated as she watches and relives moments in the life of a young woman who had died recently, actually being the woman and experiencing her feelings and thoughts.

We can guess where this is going now. Emmett reveals that he has a recording of Zoe's father, so of course Zoe wants to experience it. This is where the story gets creepier. Emmett tells Zoe that she can view her father's recording but for a price, a lock of hair. Zoe does and learns about how her parents met, her father's job, and her father's last minutes. She is heartbroken at the end and wants more. Is it possible to speak to her father? Emmett says yes, for a price.

Warning sirens should be going off now for the reader. Any time the price for something involves something personal, such as a lock of hair, piece of fingernail, or drop of blood, you have to know that it won't be a good idea to pay. Valentine also tells Zoe not to do it, but Zoe is hurting too much from the death of her father and wants to see him, no matter the cost. She is not totally stupid, though, and tries to trick Emmett, but in the end it doesn't quite work the way she wants.

The next part of the story reminds me of several stories, including Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Overlander and Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Zoe follows Emmett from the store, hoping to find out where he keeps her father's recording so she can take it for herself, but he leads her down under the street and through the sewer tunnels. There she descends into a strange place called Iphigene. I won't go into detail but we have been to Iphigene previously, but it did not look like this. Everything now is dark, dank, and decaying.

3-Headed Hecate

The inhabitants, all dead, are dejected and in the power of a queen so terrible and ruthless that there is no hope. Zoe learns most of the story of the queen's arrival and subjugation of the residents from her brother Valentine, who also does not resemble the brother of her dreams but rather a patchwork robot, pieced together with spare parts of metal discarded from broken machinery.

This story blends fantasy, horror, and mythology into an intriguing tale. The queen, we discover, is Hecate, a Greek deity known for her connection to crossroads, death, and witchcraft. Her son in this book, is Emmet--really Ammut, an Egyptian female deity, the devourer of hearts, soul-eater, and the embodiment of everything Egyptians feared about death. Although these two deities come from different traditions, their powerful connection to death explains their presence in this story.

Ammut is waiting to see if the soul Anubis weighs will be her next meal.

I would recommend this story for older teens, maybe 15 and up, who like retro culture and may also have an interest in the mythological aspects of this story.

The Shining

The Shining
by Stephen King
Prince Frederick, MD: Recorded Books
2005
Read by Campbell Scott
14 sound discs (16 hours)


Every winter, I listen to the audiobook of The Shining on my long drive back and forth to work. It has become a ritual of mine, as has listening to Duma Key, also by Stephen King, in the summer.  I really hate winter and especially driving in it, and you would think that listening to a story about a family at a secluded and hauntingly evil hotel in the winter is pretty weird for a person who doesn't like snow, winter, and being cold. Actually, listening to the description of the howling winds around the Overlook Hotel, and about Mr. Hallorann's terrible drive up the canyon on that last day, makes my drive seem less onerous, and I find both a sense of sympathy and understanding for the Torrance family and also a sense of relief that I don't have to face what they do in the story. Besides, I also really like haunted house stories and this one is probably the ultimate!

In this year's listening, I was struck by the descriptions of the wasps' nest and the images of destroying it. We encounter the wasps several times:

1. Jack finds a wasps' nest in the roof of the Overlook when he is re-shingling. The wasps are sluggish and he is able to kill them and remove the nest for Danny to see.
2. The wasps somehow return to the nest and life when the nest is in Danny's room. They come out to sting Danny while he is vulnerable in sleep, and this is the first stage in driving doubt into the relationship Jack has with his wife and son.
3. Jack recalls the occasion when he and his brothers watched his father burn a wasps' nest with gasoline. The event seems like it could have been dangerous, not just to the wasps, but to the young boys, and shows the cruelty of Jack's father as he obviously enjoys the destruction.
4. Danny tries to read the mind of the Woman in Room 217 but finds out it is like "sticking your hand in a wasps' nest". She only has thoughts to sting and hurt, like the wasps he encountered earlier.
5. The descriptions of the snowmobile in the tool shed compare it to a wasp. Its colors and sounds resemble a wasp, and Jack's reaction is a desire to destroy it so that it can't hurt him and his plans to leave the Overlook.
6. The black cloud of evil spirits leaving the Overlook as it is burning is likened to wasps swarming from a nest.
7. Mr. Hallorann also has an experience as a youth with a wasps' nest when he was a boy and recalls the he experience, which is quite similar to Jack's.

What is the best way to remove a wasps' nest anyway? Besides calling an exterminator, that is. Is dousing the nest with gasoline and burning it up really a good idea? 

Several websites advise no, burning the actual nest can only cause the wasps to leave quickly and angrily. Using  smoke can be effective, however, because it makes them sluggish when they fly away and then you can remove the nest.Several websites mention insecticides like Jack's bug bomb, but they also say there are better, more natural ways of removing them. Water, dish soap, or a shop vac are also mentioned as methods. Waiting until evening to use any method is also a good idea because the wasps will also be more lethargic. And always wear your protective gear!

The explosive burning of the Overlook at the end, like dousing the wasps' nest by Jack's father, causes the ghosts there to leave hurriedly, but they are not obviously harmed. Mr. Hallorann encounters them in the tool shed where they desperately attempt to make him complete their mission, but Dick gets away and the shed burns, too. We are then supposing that this might be the end of the ghosts as they have no home to fasten on to, but for those of you who go on to read Doctor Sleep, we find out that the ghosts of the Overlook are far-reaching and still very much a danger to Danny and others as they search for new places to build nests.

Most people have an instinctive fear of flying insects that sting. Our natural reaction is to run and swat. As we see with the ghosts at the Overlook, running and swatting doesn't work either. Danny, despite his young age, has to use his intelligence and insightful powers to out-think the Hotel mastermind, employing patience in the face of fear if he and his mother are going to have a chance to survive.

One last word about the audio version, Campbell Scott. Campbell Scott is the son of famous actors, George C. Scott and Colleen Dewhurst. He also is the reader/performer for another classic Stephen King book, The Cell. I find his voice clear, soothing but not soporific, engaging, and one of the main reasons I listen to the audiobook version rather than reading the book myself.