Customer Reviews

Merro Tree

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a fabulous book. Waitman is brilliant.

Allan Cole

"The Merro Tree" can be best described as "The Lion King" meets "A Bug's Life" on the set of "Star Wars". And, indeed, this milder, more verbose variation on "Ender's Game" would feel right at home in a galaxy far, far away. There is absolutely no science involved here. The dull, unimaginative aliens include dog-men, snake-men, bee-men, emotionless, mechanical men, and blue-skinned men. Apparently, all planets in the galaxy share a Mediterranian climate and atmosphere, and any alien can survive on a diet of foreign food.

Yes, this book deals with personal freedoms, censorship, and same-sex love, but it deals with those subjects in a shallow, inadequate way. The good is a bit too good, and the evil, instead of being ambiguous, is definitely, outrageously evil. Even the book's centerpiece same-sex (but different species) romance is contrived and artificial. Ms. Waitman seems convinced that the success of such relationships lies in two things: constant mutual gratification and a knack for femininity.

"The Merro Tree" is about the blossoming talent of a young prodigy, told in parallel with our now-aged hero's struggle against a galactic ban on his unique art. An entertaining concept, certainly. But the characters are almost entirely two-dimensional and the prose tends to be flowery and melodramatic. Mikk is not entertaining in his role as the main character. As the book starts out, his personality seems shifting and impermanent. For a good deal of time, his young aspect is shy and clumsy, but that goes away within several pages with little or no explanation. Which is really a pity, since two-thirds of the way in, Ms. Waitman wakes up and takes advantage of the reader's pent-up jealousy for Mikk's apparently inborn talents. Soon, she starts pulling on other strings, and the book gains a surprisingly effective amount of drama and pathos, but nevertheless manages to end on a flat and mystifying note.

Ms. Waitman has definite talent. Unfortunately, her characters in "The Merro Tree" take a great deal of time to take shape, and most of the dialog is either stunted or predictable. In her next work, "The Divided", Ms. Waitman fixes some of her errors, but some are still there. Watch for her upcoming works.

I love this book!

Katie Waitman shows true talent with a wide variety of interesting characters, an enthralling plot and a beautiful love story!

This book was so good that the first time I read it I turned it over and began reading it again just so I could become part of Katie's well thought out and vivid world again!

I picked up this book because I thought it had an interesting cover. I didn't expect to be blown away. I have to say, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time: right up there with "Watership Down" and "The Sun Also Rises." It's powerful and inspiring. (And Mikk and Thissizz are just plain cute! *giggle*) I highly reccomend this to anyone with a passion for art and a sense of freedom.

This story is about the redeeming power of beauty and integrity. The main character, Rikk, is a misfit child, abused by his parents, who becomes a great entertainer. This gives him too much power, and the Stalinist trade unionist who regulate the entertainers try to bring him down.

This book works well because the characters are well defined, and they relate to each other in a believable way. The plot is well structured, moving seamlessly between different times. Rather like the main character in the Fountainhead, Rikk triumphs because he remains true to his art and himself.

This is real science fiction, although there is little in the way of fancy gadgets. But there is no end of strange tribes and creatures, and interplanetary travel. This is a book that I like to re-read (it takes me about 2 hours), and recommend to my friends.

Some sci-fi has great characterizations but lacks the "gee whiz" factor that makes the genre so much fun. These stories often read like classic tales transported to outer space. Another type of sci-fi spends a lot of effort creating alternative worlds with complex biology/ecology/socially--and forgets to include interesting characters with whom the reader can identify. Ms. Waitman manages to create some of the most well rounded, memorable characters that I have come across since the last time I read Dickens. At the same time, she satisfies the urge to "explore strange new worlds."

This book is a must-read for artists of any genre. It explores many facets of the life of an artist: the need for self-confidence, the relationship of a work to the artist itself, the need to explore and break boundaries in art. It also explores Mikk's experience with these, and with his own talents. Besides that, this book is a coming-of-age story, interspersed with a very odd courtroom drama.

For the non-artists, this might give an insight into an artist's mind. It's also, plain and simple, a good story, a love story, a multi-world space opera. There are millions of interesting characters, from Maya to Hom to Ahvi to Thissizz; as well as interesting alien races: the Vyzanians, the Droos, the Somalites, the Kekoi, the Freen . . .

Every time I read this book (I've read it five or six times) I become hooked first by the characters, the world-building, the plot, then the deeper implications of everything. A wonderful read. I also heard that she might come out with a sequel. One can only hope . . .

Few science-fiction writers, other than Jack Vance, have dealt with the role of art in an age of interstellar travel. But Katie Waitman makes up for this lack in her gracefully written and compassionate first novel. (and probably you'll discern some similarities with Waitman's Master Mikk and Vance's Cugel the Clever). _The Merro Tree_ demonstrates that when a vibrant endeavor is controlled by the dead hand of a bureaucracy those at the creative end of the process will indeed suffer.

The novel generates a terrific amount of suspense, even though you learn at the outset that Mikk has been taken into custody for having performed a forbidden dance routine. The suspense is all in what got him into the predicament in the first place. You'll probably have the tendency to read rapidly just to see what will happen next, but the advice here is to slow down, because Waitman, a skilled wordsmith, makes every one of her words count. Skim over a passage and you're sure to miss something.

Since the publisher herself makes reference on Amazon's boards to sex with a snake, it gives nothing away to say that Waitman renders the impossible plausible, thus adding a stratum of Freud to a work that already has layers enough.

I really enjoyed Katie Waitman's book, The Merro Tree. The book was written with great detail and description, unparalled by any other recent author. The book revolves around the story of Mikk of Vyzania, who was born into a family with an abusive mother. The boy manages to survives, and is sent to a music academy by his father, where he does well in languages but not in music. He is noticed by a performance master who happens to visit the academy on a "premonition" and joins him to travel the stars.

The organization of the book involves the story skipping from Mikk's trial to the story behind the trial. The trial of Mikk is for him breaking a ban involving the Somalites, a race that was made extinct by a freak star explosion. Mikk had performed Songdance, which was banned to him by the Council, a tryannical band of dictators who control all the actors in the galaxy.

The book is a delightful change from the repetitive shoot-em-up sci-fi books that have been appearing recently. This book will become a classic.

I was blown away by the style, detail, characters, and eloquent story. Katie Waitman has written a delightful story that is addresses unlining issues such as acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness and value. I anxiously await the sequel.