What do you think?
The Trees of Zharka
The people of Zharka were born only to suffer, kept ignorant of the Great Sin of their Earthian ancestors but forced to atone for it by the stern priests of the Sacred Grove. Poverty and despair were their lot, and would remain so forever....Then one renegade priest, Toma Alexan, broke free of the High Council. Two youths had committed the ultimate blasphemy of bringing happiness to the Sacred Grove and Toma, outraged by their death sentence, knew what he must do. He must flee with them to the City of Sorrow and confront there the terrible secret of Zharka's past -- the secret that might destroy his people.
- GenresScience Fiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 27, 2012
"Seventy-nine gigantic Trees towered hundreds of feet into the sky, their leaves touched radiantly by the rising sun. Seventy-nine men, tiny and insignificant, groveled at the base of the Trees, praying to a God who didn't listen. The people of Zharka had sinned, and God had turned away from them."
So since I had such good luck with reading the Healer recently, I decided to once again buy a book and, rather than let it linger on my shelf like so many others for years, read it immediately.
Would that I had let this one linger, where it could have remained an emblem of platonic perfection on my bookshelf, rather than be discovered to be the dull, dumb book that it truly is!
I picked this book up at the bookstore because 1) It had a cool cover 2) It was 80 cents and 3) The plot ("The people of Zharka were born only to suffer, kept ignorant of the Great Sin of their Earthian ancestors but forced to atone for it by the stern priests of the Sacred Grove") sounded intriguing, and reminded me, however minutely, of the vastly superior Klarion the Witch-Boy storyline in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers.
Unfortunately, the author of "The Trees of Zharka" seems to have at best a rudimentary and at worst a wrong-headed understanding of basic human psychology, society, history, religion, linguistics and the workings of a totalitarian state. The religion of Zharka is depicted so shallowly and unimaginatively I was left with no reason to believe why anyone would chose to remain in its grasp for thousands of years, especially considering the rest of the world is depicted as being fertile and not some barren wasteland the people of the planet must huddle together against in order to survive. But the religion is given the bare-bones treatment, and its leader is depicted with such vitriolic contempt I couldn't help but imagine him looking like Arjen Rudd, the bad guy from Lethal Weapon 2, with a sidekick, considering when this book was written, perhaps based upon Henry Kissinger.
One aspect I always hate in totalitarian fiction: the lone dissenter. The One Man who, despite a history of indoctrination and propagandizing into core beliefs, somehow strikes against them, and leads others to revolt. It always seems to be simple-minded, unbelievable, and often striking of a bit of superiority-fascism.
But here, in the world of Zharka, there are so many who seem to only shruggingly submit to the control of a few old men that I found it hard to understand why their institutionalized religion hadn't fallen a thousand times before.
This book offers no great insights into totalitarian systems, personal freedom, existential worries or attacks on religious institution. But in a way, the drab writing works, however unintentionally, to portray the drabness of a drab, uninteresting alien world.
The "Great Sin," once revealed, is so obvious and uninspired and corny it bares not mentioning. Suffice it to say this whole novel could have been a rather mediocre episode of the Twilight Zone, and perhaps was meant to be one for all I know.
I could see someone like Philip Dick having fun with some of the ideas in this story, such as a religion of guilt based on a forgotten sin, and using the gratuitous 70's telepathy and overpopulation issues to confront ideas of paranoia and alternative realities. Perhaps more form and depth could have been reached in the novel had the atagonistic characters become narrators with their own opinions and goals and intertwining narrative threads.
But as it is, this novel was only perhaps meant for young adults, and for those young adults to enjoy it and quickly forget.
So since I had such good luck with reading the Healer recently, I decided to once again buy a book and, rather than let it linger on my shelf like so many others for years, read it immediately.
Would that I had let this one linger, where it could have remained an emblem of platonic perfection on my bookshelf, rather than be discovered to be the dull, dumb book that it truly is!
I picked this book up at the bookstore because 1) It had a cool cover 2) It was 80 cents and 3) The plot ("The people of Zharka were born only to suffer, kept ignorant of the Great Sin of their Earthian ancestors but forced to atone for it by the stern priests of the Sacred Grove") sounded intriguing, and reminded me, however minutely, of the vastly superior Klarion the Witch-Boy storyline in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers.
Unfortunately, the author of "The Trees of Zharka" seems to have at best a rudimentary and at worst a wrong-headed understanding of basic human psychology, society, history, religion, linguistics and the workings of a totalitarian state. The religion of Zharka is depicted so shallowly and unimaginatively I was left with no reason to believe why anyone would chose to remain in its grasp for thousands of years, especially considering the rest of the world is depicted as being fertile and not some barren wasteland the people of the planet must huddle together against in order to survive. But the religion is given the bare-bones treatment, and its leader is depicted with such vitriolic contempt I couldn't help but imagine him looking like Arjen Rudd, the bad guy from Lethal Weapon 2, with a sidekick, considering when this book was written, perhaps based upon Henry Kissinger.
One aspect I always hate in totalitarian fiction: the lone dissenter. The One Man who, despite a history of indoctrination and propagandizing into core beliefs, somehow strikes against them, and leads others to revolt. It always seems to be simple-minded, unbelievable, and often striking of a bit of superiority-fascism.
But here, in the world of Zharka, there are so many who seem to only shruggingly submit to the control of a few old men that I found it hard to understand why their institutionalized religion hadn't fallen a thousand times before.
This book offers no great insights into totalitarian systems, personal freedom, existential worries or attacks on religious institution. But in a way, the drab writing works, however unintentionally, to portray the drabness of a drab, uninteresting alien world.
The "Great Sin," once revealed, is so obvious and uninspired and corny it bares not mentioning. Suffice it to say this whole novel could have been a rather mediocre episode of the Twilight Zone, and perhaps was meant to be one for all I know.
I could see someone like Philip Dick having fun with some of the ideas in this story, such as a religion of guilt based on a forgotten sin, and using the gratuitous 70's telepathy and overpopulation issues to confront ideas of paranoia and alternative realities. Perhaps more form and depth could have been reached in the novel had the atagonistic characters become narrators with their own opinions and goals and intertwining narrative threads.
But as it is, this novel was only perhaps meant for young adults, and for those young adults to enjoy it and quickly forget.
June 9, 2010
Quick read. A fun, pulpy sci-fi novel from the 70's, about a planet called Zharka and the people who live there and worship trees out of respect for the gods, of whom they know almost nothing.
One day, a newly appointed Zharkan priest takes a few cues from his novice, and begins seriously questioning why his people do any of the things they do--and why such harsh punishments are inflicted on those who don't do as their told. Their religious rules make no sense, and are bathed in confusion and secrecy, yet to not obey means death.
There are obviously plenty of parallels to our contemporary society. This futuristic novel was written 35 years ago, but its message isn't dulled any, and it hasn't particularly lost anything due to age; its message is still applicable.
One day, a newly appointed Zharkan priest takes a few cues from his novice, and begins seriously questioning why his people do any of the things they do--and why such harsh punishments are inflicted on those who don't do as their told. Their religious rules make no sense, and are bathed in confusion and secrecy, yet to not obey means death.
There are obviously plenty of parallels to our contemporary society. This futuristic novel was written 35 years ago, but its message isn't dulled any, and it hasn't particularly lost anything due to age; its message is still applicable.
April 22, 2018
The world of Zharka lives in perpetual penance—as dictated by its priests—for a great sin committed long ago. Though the specifics of that sin have been lost to time, the majority of the priesthood is convinced that it caused their god to turn from them, and only a life of drudgery and hard work will regain his favor.
One young priest, Toma, isn’t so sure.
I went into The Trees of Zharka with skepticism. The few reviews that do exist slant towards outright negative, and I have enough baggage about growing up in a punitive, puritanical world. Still, it was a book on my ForFemFan shelf, which meant it’d get read someday. Why not now?
As the plot of The Trees of Zharka is about 192 pages long and revolves around the effect of a religious system on the world, I expected a shallow, pulpy sprint to an unbelievable yet high-spirited conclusion.
I was proven wrong by a surprisingly nuanced world and a more meandering—and infinitely more believable—course to the conclusion. And unlike some other fun, pulpy novels, the characters of The Trees of Zharka were memorable. I actually remember Toma’s name! Hell, I remember his full name.
If I was surprised by the deft characterization of this super-short novel, I was even more surprised by the simple-yet-profound aspects of the religion, specifically that it revolves around 79 great trees. Priests tend to them, doing everything from watering and fertilizing them to mending broken branches. And when the priests aren’t caring for the well-being of the tree, they’re laying prostrate beneath them, praying and grovelling and otherwise trying to assure their god of their humility and servitude. It's simple and yet it feels authentic. That's the sort of religion I could see existing on our earth.
I also really enjoyed the only sci-fi element of the world: something about the local atmosphere grants some people special powers. Most are the usual sort of thing like telekinesis or telepathy, but there are stranger, one-off powers, too. Toma, for example, can sense the history of a place. He might enter a room and realize that the last person in there had been laughing. Or he might enter a house and feel overwhelmed with the remnants of anger. It’s a subtle power, but it really grounds him in his world.
It also is profoundly useful for learning about unwritten history, which proves incredibly useful as Toma sets about to uncover the secrets of his world.
The ending of The Trees of Zharka isn’t perfect, but it’s doggedly optimistic, and I find it hard to find fault with optimism. The path toward the ending, though, is the perfect blend of meandering-toward-a-point. Unlike a lot of pulpy novels that buckle down and stay buckled, we get to see Toma on boring, lazy days. I appreciate that as much as I appreciate seeing him tear shit up.
I appreciate the weight of the great sin, too. It looms, larger than life, always on the horizon. I hate to say almost anything about it, but, well, the great sin, and the story surrounding it, is heavy. It bucks the popcorn-like trend of pulp novels and just goes for it. I love that this sort of novel clearly has something to say.
Sadly, it appears that Nancy Mackenroth didn't really publish any other fiction. I went out on a hunt and came back lacking. Oh well. I appreciate the approach of leaving us wanting more. But, you know, if you know of anything else by her, hit me up with a comment.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
One young priest, Toma, isn’t so sure.
I went into The Trees of Zharka with skepticism. The few reviews that do exist slant towards outright negative, and I have enough baggage about growing up in a punitive, puritanical world. Still, it was a book on my ForFemFan shelf, which meant it’d get read someday. Why not now?
As the plot of The Trees of Zharka is about 192 pages long and revolves around the effect of a religious system on the world, I expected a shallow, pulpy sprint to an unbelievable yet high-spirited conclusion.
I was proven wrong by a surprisingly nuanced world and a more meandering—and infinitely more believable—course to the conclusion. And unlike some other fun, pulpy novels, the characters of The Trees of Zharka were memorable. I actually remember Toma’s name! Hell, I remember his full name.
If I was surprised by the deft characterization of this super-short novel, I was even more surprised by the simple-yet-profound aspects of the religion, specifically that it revolves around 79 great trees. Priests tend to them, doing everything from watering and fertilizing them to mending broken branches. And when the priests aren’t caring for the well-being of the tree, they’re laying prostrate beneath them, praying and grovelling and otherwise trying to assure their god of their humility and servitude. It's simple and yet it feels authentic. That's the sort of religion I could see existing on our earth.
I also really enjoyed the only sci-fi element of the world: something about the local atmosphere grants some people special powers. Most are the usual sort of thing like telekinesis or telepathy, but there are stranger, one-off powers, too. Toma, for example, can sense the history of a place. He might enter a room and realize that the last person in there had been laughing. Or he might enter a house and feel overwhelmed with the remnants of anger. It’s a subtle power, but it really grounds him in his world.
It also is profoundly useful for learning about unwritten history, which proves incredibly useful as Toma sets about to uncover the secrets of his world.
The ending of The Trees of Zharka isn’t perfect, but it’s doggedly optimistic, and I find it hard to find fault with optimism. The path toward the ending, though, is the perfect blend of meandering-toward-a-point. Unlike a lot of pulpy novels that buckle down and stay buckled, we get to see Toma on boring, lazy days. I appreciate that as much as I appreciate seeing him tear shit up.
I appreciate the weight of the great sin, too. It looms, larger than life, always on the horizon. I hate to say almost anything about it, but, well, the great sin, and the story surrounding it, is heavy. It bucks the popcorn-like trend of pulp novels and just goes for it. I love that this sort of novel clearly has something to say.
Sadly, it appears that Nancy Mackenroth didn't really publish any other fiction. I went out on a hunt and came back lacking. Oh well. I appreciate the approach of leaving us wanting more. But, you know, if you know of anything else by her, hit me up with a comment.
[I read old fantasy and sci-fi novels written by women authors in search of forgotten gems. See more at forfemfan.com]
November 3, 2018
Great quick read with a story and message that today's readers can learn something from.
September 8, 2016
I saw the dated cover art on a pile of free books, and gave the first page a read mostly out of amused curiousity, but to my suprised I was pulled in. I wouldn't exactly say this book was an overlooked masterpiece, but it was an increadibly fun and fulfilling read. It is what all good science fiction is: a unique setting that pulls you in and considers what it means to be human.
May 10, 2011
One of my favorite scifi books.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews