Tymon's Flight ( Chronicles of the Tree #1) by Mary Victoria

Tymon's Flight
Mary Victoria 
Harper Collins Publishers
RRP: $22.99

I finally got around to reading this book! With proof copies from work constantly piling up, this book kept slipping through the cracks and ending up sitting on my bookshelf - but I took it to QLD for a week and finally had time to relax and immerse myself in this wonderful world. Nothing like relaxing on a beautiful beach, in beautiful weather with a good read :)

Tymon's Flight was a surprise to be honest. On first sight, the cover didn't really grab me, it was dark and the images didn't really capture me. But then I can be quite critical of  covers- when I have so many things to get to, often if the cover doesn't grab me, it gets put aside.

But this book is a classic example of  "Don't judge a book by its cover".

Set in the world of a huge tree where all life comes from, Mary Victoria has created a wonderful world- cities are supported by huge branches and every utensil the characters use are somehow based on the materials you would find when living off nature. It was amazing.

The tale follows Tymon, a young boy who dreams of adventure. He wants to command a dirigible and explore the canopy. The Argosian priests have banned science and travel beyond the confines of the tree, but Tymon yearns to discover if there really is another world above and below. He gets a bit more than he bargained for when he disobeys his orders and meets Samiha, a female foreigner and one of the Nurian pilgrims brought to the city every year as slaves - and sacrifices. 

Tymon is punished and exiled to the eastern canopy, a dry dirty place where the Nurians live - they show him there are other ways to determine the will of the tree, introduce him to magic and "grafting" and send him on a new path and a new fate.

The pace of the first few chapters is quite slow compared to the rest of the book. You can tell it is building up to something big, but it takes a while to get there. It is full of adventure and Mary's incredible world building makes everything feel so believable. It's all so natural - the way the societies are built around the system of the tree, the structure, everything- its hard to describe how complex it all is until you read it. 

The book has been marketed by Harper as an Adult book but after speaking with the author, I found out that she had originally planned for it to be a YA/Adult book. Its sort of a coming of age novel. Apparently the next two books in the series go quite a bit darker than Tymon's Flight, so I am definitely looking forward to that.

I couldn't fault this novel - its captivating, heart wrenching and the second book "Samiah's Song" looks to be very impressive ( i have read the first few chapters courtesy of Mary Victoria).