The Last Green Tree
Bisexual female and male protagonists. Graphic violence.
. Not Recommended.
January 20, 2010 | Revid 459 < prev | next >
Peace has reigned for centuries over the worlds connected by the great gates. But unrest is stirring in the remote wilderness of Ajhevan where human rebels have found a powerful new ally in the alien Dirijhi—sentient trees who want more than independence.
A disappointing follow-up to the quiet grace of The Ordinary. A handful of characters are introduced as narrators, but none of them advance beyond shallow sketches as they're abruptly plunged into war. There's a lot of travel, but little action, with updates on the war conveyed through literal info-dumps from various news services. Despite three worlds and a long history, no primer is given to reacquaint the reader, depending instead on a glossary in the back of the book and several short-stories published in "Asimov's Science Fiction," none of which I've read.
In the end, I was struck once more by the differences between Grimsley's contemporary fiction and this particular sci-fi saga which began in 2000 with Kirith Kirin. His novels and short-stories tend toward blasted internal landscapes, severe monochromes where every flaw is picked out in merciless detail, where a breathless moment might shatter with the turn of a head or the flicker of an eyelid.
But his fantastical science-fiction is almost exactly the opposite, spilling over with an abundance of names and places and epic events and weird concepts. Ten thousand singing magicians! The end of time and space! Giant face-eating mantises!
Maybe it's a creative safety valve. Maybe he needs a better editor.
Either way, I'd steer clear of this one. Instead, I'll just recommend the rest of his body of work, especially Dream Boy, Winter Birds, My Drowning, Comfort & Joy, and Jesus Is Sending You This Message. Jim Grimsley is a powerful writer when it comes to contemporary fiction—unyielding, uncompromising, courageous.
But sci-fi... not so much.
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