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The Memory of Trees
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie owns a vast tract of land on the Pembrokeshire coast. His plan is to restore the ancient forest that covered the area before medieval times, and he employs young arboreal expert Tom Curtis to oversee this massively ambitious project.
Saul believes that restoring the land to its original state will rekindle those spirits that folklore insists once inhabited his domain. But the re-planting of the forest will revive an altogether darker and more dangerous entity – and Saul’s employee Tom will find himself engaging in an epic, ancient battle between good and evil. A battle in which there can be only one survivor.
Saul believes that restoring the land to its original state will rekindle those spirits that folklore insists once inhabited his domain. But the re-planting of the forest will revive an altogether darker and more dangerous entity – and Saul’s employee Tom will find himself engaging in an epic, ancient battle between good and evil. A battle in which there can be only one survivor.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
16 people are currently reading
1084 people want to read
About the author
F.G. Cottam
19 books478 followersReading is a cheap and totally effective way of being transported to another world. The same is true of writing. Mundane concerns only afflict your characters if you decide you want them to.
University was where I first thought seriously about fiction; hearing about Hemingway's iceberg theory and Eliot's objective correlative and having the luxury of time to ponder on the mechanics of the novel.
My first writing was journalism and pieces for I-D, Arena and The Face brought me to the attention of mainstream magazine publishers. In the '90's I edited FHM when it still majored on sport and fashion rather than Hollyoaks starlets and weather girls. Then I launch-edited the UK edition of Men's Health magazine and then came to the conclusion that if I didn't try to write some fiction it was never going to happen.
I read all kinds of fiction, but write stories with a paranormal element I think really because history fascinates me and ghosts allow the past to resonate shockingly, scarily and I hope convincingly, into the present.
I got off to an encouraging start but have suffered a few disappointments since then. I wouldn't in honesty want to do anything else, though. If I write a terrible novel it's my fault entirely. If I write a good novel, it's entirely my achievement.
University was where I first thought seriously about fiction; hearing about Hemingway's iceberg theory and Eliot's objective correlative and having the luxury of time to ponder on the mechanics of the novel.
My first writing was journalism and pieces for I-D, Arena and The Face brought me to the attention of mainstream magazine publishers. In the '90's I edited FHM when it still majored on sport and fashion rather than Hollyoaks starlets and weather girls. Then I launch-edited the UK edition of Men's Health magazine and then came to the conclusion that if I didn't try to write some fiction it was never going to happen.
I read all kinds of fiction, but write stories with a paranormal element I think really because history fascinates me and ghosts allow the past to resonate shockingly, scarily and I hope convincingly, into the present.
I got off to an encouraging start but have suffered a few disappointments since then. I wouldn't in honesty want to do anything else, though. If I write a terrible novel it's my fault entirely. If I write a good novel, it's entirely my achievement.
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March 6, 2025
Holy Moly!
The Memory Of People...
THE MEMORY OF TREES
by F.G. Cottam
No spoilers: 2 1/2 stars. I will try to review this story without spoiling it for anyone...
Loosely, the plot goes like this:
Tom Curtis is hired by the dying millionaire Saul Abercrombie to reforest some Welsh land he owns with some imported mature trees in a short time frame...
The land has an ancient cast iron signpost pointing to 3 divisions on the acreage: Raven Dip, Gibbet Mourning, and Loxley's Cross...
What is the significance of the names? I don't know, the reader is never told!...
Additionally...
There is a mysterious, foul-smelling stone cairn. What is it? I still don't know.
It is mentioned prominently throughout the book but remains a mystery at the book's end...
There is an old stone church stripped of pews and altar. All that remains is a flagstone floor and a stained glass window depicting a warrior who has cut off the head of a monster.
Why is the church there? Why is it stripped bare? Just another unsolved mystery...
Now, if these missing pieces don't turn you off, keep reading because there are more loose ends scattered throughout...
Forget the memory of trees. What about the memory of people? I'll be sure to remember this author because I won't be reading any more of his novels...
This story could have been so much better, but the author told his tale in the most plodding, methodical, and boring way possible. It took me a week to finish this relatively short book.
The Memory Of People...
THE MEMORY OF TREES
by F.G. Cottam
No spoilers: 2 1/2 stars. I will try to review this story without spoiling it for anyone...
Loosely, the plot goes like this:
Tom Curtis is hired by the dying millionaire Saul Abercrombie to reforest some Welsh land he owns with some imported mature trees in a short time frame...
The land has an ancient cast iron signpost pointing to 3 divisions on the acreage: Raven Dip, Gibbet Mourning, and Loxley's Cross...
What is the significance of the names? I don't know, the reader is never told!...
Additionally...
There is a mysterious, foul-smelling stone cairn. What is it? I still don't know.
It is mentioned prominently throughout the book but remains a mystery at the book's end...
There is an old stone church stripped of pews and altar. All that remains is a flagstone floor and a stained glass window depicting a warrior who has cut off the head of a monster.
Why is the church there? Why is it stripped bare? Just another unsolved mystery...
Now, if these missing pieces don't turn you off, keep reading because there are more loose ends scattered throughout...
Forget the memory of trees. What about the memory of people? I'll be sure to remember this author because I won't be reading any more of his novels...
This story could have been so much better, but the author told his tale in the most plodding, methodical, and boring way possible. It took me a week to finish this relatively short book.
August 31, 2016
I don’t usually subscribe to the belief in Fate. People talk about it like it’s unavoidable and inexplicable and irreversible. Still others use it to explain away eerie coincidences or the chaos of a sometimes violent world. Me, I just try to avoid thinking about it. Most of the time.
Then something happens that makes me question if those people are right and that there really is some universal pattern being woven out of our souls by the fingertips of the gods on a loom made of stars.
See what happens when I get philosophical? The Snark gets replaced by The Purple.
You see, I could argue that fate led me to this book. I had just ordered a copy of A Monster Calls from my favorite used book seller and then switched over to NetGalley to browse the latest releases only to be hit with this. Though they’re vastly different stories, there were striking similarities in the covers. Both have hulking figures in the left foreground, ominous, stormy skies, and trailing landscapes. Both had creepy and intriguing book blurbs and both made me really want to read them.
Thankfully, unlike A Monster Calls, I really enjoyed this book.
One of the things that makes it so good is how intelligently the characters are developed. Pretty much all of the things I want to rave about when it comes to this aspect are spoilery so instead I’ll say that I was forever making assumptions about them and I was continuously wrong. And it would be criminal of me not to mention that this myth-based thriller is gorgeously written. It somehow manages to be both stark and lyrical at the same time.
Say it with me now: HALLELUJAH!
Aaaaaand then you have the creep factor. I always appreciate books that keep me on the edge of my seat but those rare few that allow my own imagination to fill in the gaps are the ones that usually keep me up at night. Because let’s face it, our minds (mine especially) can be dark and dangerous places, and when left to our own devices we’ll usually fill that dense fog that’s creeping up the shoreline with the most horrific creature our twisted thoughts can come up with.
This book made me afraid of trees.
Damn you, Cottam. Damn you.
August 28, 2013
4.5
I'd never heard of F. G. Cottam when I stumbled upon this book on NG. My decision to hit request was driven by an intense case of cover-cum-title love, and the fact that this was due for release on my birthday (yes, I can be shallow like that sometimes). But if all his books are this wonderfully creepy, then I sure have a lot of reading to do in the near future.
The Memory of Trees is an immaculately crafted piece of horror driven by the age-old formula of dread. It's the kind of book that makes you intensely uneasy for no clear reason and then takes advantage by amplifying that anxiety with every other chapter, like that feeling you sometimes get of being watched but when you turn there's no one there. The build-up is so intense that even though you have no idea where it's going, you dread reaching there anyway.
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie hires Tom Curtis a.k.a the "Tree Man" to restore his vast sea-side estate to it's ancient verdant glory. But the land harbors dark secrets, hidden in myths and Arthurian legends, and it may be too late before Curtis realizes that some forests aren't supposed to exist.
The best, or in this case, creepiest aspect of the book is the setting. There is something very wrong about Abercrombie's land and Cottam captures that vile atmosphere brilliantly. The ancient desolate church with it's single large montage depicting a legendary hero, the cairn of stones where the wind shrieks and whistles as it passes, the undiscovered cave that folklore claims is the abode of ancient monsters, and most of all, the thorn bush, oh Lord, THAT THORN BUSH - I'm expecting them all to feature in my nightmares.
Cottam's writing is fantastic. It's lush and descriptive with minimum dialogue.
Just what I was saying earlier but in Cottam's lovely words.
Things don't start happening right away, of course. There are many characters and back-stories to get through in the first few chapters so I can't guarantee you'll be hooked from page 1 even though I was. I never felt bored, I never felt the mood or pace falter. This book definitely has five-star potential and I'm only holding out on the rating because this is my first (and surely not last) Cottam book.
The Memory of Trees is one of the creepiest books I've read in recent times. I'm not a girl who's easy to scare but I would be lying if I said I didn't have goosebumps on my arms at a certain point while reading. I live on the fourth floor and there are many trees around my apartment. No willows or yews, thank God, but there are some palm trees that are waving their feathery fingers at me right now and creeping me out.
Just for tonight, I'll sleep with the window shut tight and the curtains drawn.
*With thanks to Netgalley for the free digital copy*
I'd never heard of F. G. Cottam when I stumbled upon this book on NG. My decision to hit request was driven by an intense case of cover-cum-title love, and the fact that this was due for release on my birthday (yes, I can be shallow like that sometimes). But if all his books are this wonderfully creepy, then I sure have a lot of reading to do in the near future.
The Memory of Trees is an immaculately crafted piece of horror driven by the age-old formula of dread. It's the kind of book that makes you intensely uneasy for no clear reason and then takes advantage by amplifying that anxiety with every other chapter, like that feeling you sometimes get of being watched but when you turn there's no one there. The build-up is so intense that even though you have no idea where it's going, you dread reaching there anyway.
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie hires Tom Curtis a.k.a the "Tree Man" to restore his vast sea-side estate to it's ancient verdant glory. But the land harbors dark secrets, hidden in myths and Arthurian legends, and it may be too late before Curtis realizes that some forests aren't supposed to exist.
The best, or in this case, creepiest aspect of the book is the setting. There is something very wrong about Abercrombie's land and Cottam captures that vile atmosphere brilliantly. The ancient desolate church with it's single large montage depicting a legendary hero, the cairn of stones where the wind shrieks and whistles as it passes, the undiscovered cave that folklore claims is the abode of ancient monsters, and most of all, the thorn bush, oh Lord, THAT THORN BUSH - I'm expecting them all to feature in my nightmares.
Cottam's writing is fantastic. It's lush and descriptive with minimum dialogue.
"There was something unlovely about the acreage Abercrombie owned, a baleful quality beyond its vastness. It was a place where things seemed to lurk and hide and to have qualities other than those they ought rightfully to possess."
Just what I was saying earlier but in Cottam's lovely words.
Things don't start happening right away, of course. There are many characters and back-stories to get through in the first few chapters so I can't guarantee you'll be hooked from page 1 even though I was. I never felt bored, I never felt the mood or pace falter. This book definitely has five-star potential and I'm only holding out on the rating because this is my first (and surely not last) Cottam book.
The Memory of Trees is one of the creepiest books I've read in recent times. I'm not a girl who's easy to scare but I would be lying if I said I didn't have goosebumps on my arms at a certain point while reading. I live on the fourth floor and there are many trees around my apartment. No willows or yews, thank God, but there are some palm trees that are waving their feathery fingers at me right now and creeping me out.
Just for tonight, I'll sleep with the window shut tight and the curtains drawn.
*With thanks to Netgalley for the free digital copy*
December 29, 2016
What a super slow-burn, subtle tale of horror this was.
I relished the setting; the bleak, unforgiving Welsh coast, all grey and doom-laden. The premise is one I find very much appealing as well, the idea that more-money-than-sense billionaire Saul Abercrombie is funding the reforestation of a vast swathe of land so that it might be returned to its former glory is a fantastic one. He does, of course, have ulterior motives and this might be one green initiative that the Forestry Commission might want to pass on. The trees are relocated and thrive, but then there are far more trees than Tom Curtis and the rest of the team hired for the job planted and it's very unnerving. The idea of sentient, possibly malevolent plant life is positively spine-tingling! It's not just the trees themselves that are eerie, they're a sort of preamble, a life-support system for something far worse that wants to reassert itself.
And then, of course, there's the whole back story of Tom Curtis with its links to folklore and myth,and richly built history of the area itself.
Overall this was an excellent example of English horror writing, and I will certainly be reading more by Mr. Cottam.
I relished the setting; the bleak, unforgiving Welsh coast, all grey and doom-laden. The premise is one I find very much appealing as well, the idea that more-money-than-sense billionaire Saul Abercrombie is funding the reforestation of a vast swathe of land so that it might be returned to its former glory is a fantastic one. He does, of course, have ulterior motives and this might be one green initiative that the Forestry Commission might want to pass on. The trees are relocated and thrive, but then there are far more trees than Tom Curtis and the rest of the team hired for the job planted and it's very unnerving. The idea of sentient, possibly malevolent plant life is positively spine-tingling! It's not just the trees themselves that are eerie, they're a sort of preamble, a life-support system for something far worse that wants to reassert itself.
And then, of course, there's the whole back story of Tom Curtis with its links to folklore and myth,and richly built history of the area itself.
Overall this was an excellent example of English horror writing, and I will certainly be reading more by Mr. Cottam.
June 9, 2013
Eccentric billionaire Saul Abercrombie (think one of the stars of Dragons' Den crossed with Keith Richards) is gravely ill, but there's one project he's determined to complete, at any cost: the large-scale recreation of an ancient forest across a vast slice of land on the Welsh coast. Called in to mastermind this ambitious plan is arboreal expert Tom Curtis. Desperate to raise funds for a legal battle for access to his young daughter, Tom takes the job with few questions asked, and quickly assembles a team of friends and colleagues to assist him. But on arriving at Abercrombie's domain, Tom and the others sense something increasingly strange about the place.
I always love Cottam's books, and The Memory of Trees was no exception. I must admit, though, that I didn't immediately get into it - it's more of a slow burner than the author's previous novels. There's a fairly large cast of characters to get to grips with and, perhaps because of this, it wasn't until I was about halfway through the book that I truly felt glued to the story. The author's characters are always so believable that I'd prefer to read in more detail about two or three likeable ones than a larger group of people, some of whom are (deliberately!) rather unpleasant: however, once I'd settled in to the plot and figured out who everyone was, I warmed to the cast a lot more. I really enjoyed the fact that, despite the limited amount of narrative they had devoted to them, many of the characters had far more to them than I at first assumed. Dora, for example - she went from bad to good to bad again to good again, and was more complex than I would have imagined a supporting character could be. I was happy none of the obvious potential relationships/couplings actually came to be, and it was almost refreshing, if that's not too gruesome a word to use about this topic, that a number of the main characters and some of the 'good guys' were killed off, instead of just the people you were meant to dislike and/or not care about. Oh yes, and I also really liked !
I have come to rely on this author to deliver a certain kind of story with finesse and fantastic characterisation: if you're a fan of ghost stories and/or subtle horror and Cottam isn't on your radar, you really need to sort that out as soon as possible. The Memory of Trees is another fantastically enjoyable spooky tale filled with believable characters, and it ends on an unexpected note. Great fun, with hidden depths.
I always love Cottam's books, and The Memory of Trees was no exception. I must admit, though, that I didn't immediately get into it - it's more of a slow burner than the author's previous novels. There's a fairly large cast of characters to get to grips with and, perhaps because of this, it wasn't until I was about halfway through the book that I truly felt glued to the story. The author's characters are always so believable that I'd prefer to read in more detail about two or three likeable ones than a larger group of people, some of whom are (deliberately!) rather unpleasant: however, once I'd settled in to the plot and figured out who everyone was, I warmed to the cast a lot more. I really enjoyed the fact that, despite the limited amount of narrative they had devoted to them, many of the characters had far more to them than I at first assumed. Dora, for example - she went from bad to good to bad again to good again, and was more complex than I would have imagined a supporting character could be. I was happy none of the obvious potential relationships/couplings actually came to be, and it was almost refreshing, if that's not too gruesome a word to use about this topic, that a number of the main characters and some of the 'good guys' were killed off, instead of just the people you were meant to dislike and/or not care about. Oh yes, and I also really liked !
I have come to rely on this author to deliver a certain kind of story with finesse and fantastic characterisation: if you're a fan of ghost stories and/or subtle horror and Cottam isn't on your radar, you really need to sort that out as soon as possible. The Memory of Trees is another fantastically enjoyable spooky tale filled with believable characters, and it ends on an unexpected note. Great fun, with hidden depths.
December 26, 2013
Once again, Cottam has given me what I want from a paranormal/horror novel---moments of extreme creepiness, this time linking the present to pre-medieval times in Wales. An extremely wealthy man has decided to re-forest the vast open lands he has purchased on the coast of Pembrokeshire. There is talk of an early Arthurian era hero having slain an evil creature on that land a millenium or more in the past. There have been no trees since that time.
The question now is what will happen when this forest is reintroduced. How foolhardy is this project or is the talk just that, talk.
I'll leave it to other readers to learn the details from the book itself. There's no fun in having spoilers for a book like this.
P.S. For those interested, Cottam tends to go with "offstage" gore and implied violence which I find all the more effective.
The question now is what will happen when this forest is reintroduced. How foolhardy is this project or is the talk just that, talk.
I'll leave it to other readers to learn the details from the book itself. There's no fun in having spoilers for a book like this.
P.S. For those interested, Cottam tends to go with "offstage" gore and implied violence which I find all the more effective.
July 26, 2013
I am delighted to review The Memory of Trees. This has to be one of Cottam's best (and I love them all).
The story is well-told and the action never stops. Nor does the sense of being watched that stalks characters and readers alike. It takes art to write so well! No one in the genre today approaches Cottam's mastery. Personally, I always read his books outside in broad daylight....doesn't feel safe to read them at night!
Why is he so effective at his craft? A number of reasons: I note that he appears influenced in a good way by those greats who went before. This story reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft because of the Elder Gods and evil monsters which can when called up encroach upon man's turf and make it perilous. I thought of M.R. James' Casting the Runes, in which people including a professor use ancient magic to fend off the malevolence wrought by the same. I thought of all the old myths about the woodlands and indeed Cottam mentions the Green Man in this tale.
Another aspect is the way Cottam writes: a spare, lean, honed style which doesn't flutter about wasting the reader's time with any unnecessary fluff...in fact, one must pay close attention so as not to miss important clues. His use of adjectives is ever the more effective, because when he does, we know it's serious. "Juddering" is for Cottam's readers as "eldritch" was for Lovecraft's.
I personally like the clever wordplay to which the astute and attentive reader looks forward. In Trees, the ones which struck me were Loxley's Cross....in a story about woodlands we have the actual name of the legend known popularly as Robin Hood. The Victorian Alfred Crawley reminds one of Aleister Crowley, another Victorian a black magician who plays a role in other Cottam stories. Saul was not, I think, named accidentally...King Saul's downfall was pride, and relying upon black arts when told by God in no uncertain terms not to. Tom, the protagonist, is named Curtis or "well bred" as we are told in the book he is. Thomas may allude to the doubter in the Bible...although Tom sees and experiences so much we are nearly at the end of the book not to mention his own potential demise before he believes. Raven's Dip led me to "quoth the raven "Nevermore!" ... at any rate, ravens are usually a bad sign in a ghost story.
Cottam also mixes the action, following Tom Curtis, the "Tree Man" as he is called by his megabucks employer, then other characters. This heightens the suspense and certainly holds reader interest...this reader was equally caught up in each thread, not distracted, as can happen when it's not done right.
Spiritually and psychologically this is a deep story. We could think of the Abercrombie domain as a living being, and the woods with which it is sometimes taken over as the fears or ghosts of its subconscious being....darkness from within. Perhaps the reader relates to this as he reads, sparking off his own delicious scare. We have the element of The Sorcerer's Apprentice...the folk tales inform us that it's dangerous for the neophyte to mess about with these things. There is the quest for immortality which Saul evidently feels able to purchase. As is always the case in the myth, he gets what he wants but not what he expects.
Spiritually there is the theme of the old pagan gods, whose power lingers and can be ignited by carelessness (or indeed by carefulness). I liked the professor in this yarn, Carrington...I was amused when we caught him practising ancient rituals to appease the elder gods. I was delighted when he was of use against The Dark Side at the thrilling and suspense-filled finale. The deconsecrated church was utterly creepy...perhaps because it was where it was, in a place on the boundaries of the spiritual plane. Atmospherically, this story was dark, menacing, and addictive...very well done indeed!
This was a marvelous book and I will place it on my "keep to re-read" shelf along with Cottam's other supernaturally-themed novels. The Memory of Trees is a masterpiece!
The story is well-told and the action never stops. Nor does the sense of being watched that stalks characters and readers alike. It takes art to write so well! No one in the genre today approaches Cottam's mastery. Personally, I always read his books outside in broad daylight....doesn't feel safe to read them at night!
Why is he so effective at his craft? A number of reasons: I note that he appears influenced in a good way by those greats who went before. This story reminded me of H.P. Lovecraft because of the Elder Gods and evil monsters which can when called up encroach upon man's turf and make it perilous. I thought of M.R. James' Casting the Runes, in which people including a professor use ancient magic to fend off the malevolence wrought by the same. I thought of all the old myths about the woodlands and indeed Cottam mentions the Green Man in this tale.
Another aspect is the way Cottam writes: a spare, lean, honed style which doesn't flutter about wasting the reader's time with any unnecessary fluff...in fact, one must pay close attention so as not to miss important clues. His use of adjectives is ever the more effective, because when he does, we know it's serious. "Juddering" is for Cottam's readers as "eldritch" was for Lovecraft's.
I personally like the clever wordplay to which the astute and attentive reader looks forward. In Trees, the ones which struck me were Loxley's Cross....in a story about woodlands we have the actual name of the legend known popularly as Robin Hood. The Victorian Alfred Crawley reminds one of Aleister Crowley, another Victorian a black magician who plays a role in other Cottam stories. Saul was not, I think, named accidentally...King Saul's downfall was pride, and relying upon black arts when told by God in no uncertain terms not to. Tom, the protagonist, is named Curtis or "well bred" as we are told in the book he is. Thomas may allude to the doubter in the Bible...although Tom sees and experiences so much we are nearly at the end of the book not to mention his own potential demise before he believes. Raven's Dip led me to "quoth the raven "Nevermore!" ... at any rate, ravens are usually a bad sign in a ghost story.
Cottam also mixes the action, following Tom Curtis, the "Tree Man" as he is called by his megabucks employer, then other characters. This heightens the suspense and certainly holds reader interest...this reader was equally caught up in each thread, not distracted, as can happen when it's not done right.
Spiritually and psychologically this is a deep story. We could think of the Abercrombie domain as a living being, and the woods with which it is sometimes taken over as the fears or ghosts of its subconscious being....darkness from within. Perhaps the reader relates to this as he reads, sparking off his own delicious scare. We have the element of The Sorcerer's Apprentice...the folk tales inform us that it's dangerous for the neophyte to mess about with these things. There is the quest for immortality which Saul evidently feels able to purchase. As is always the case in the myth, he gets what he wants but not what he expects.
Spiritually there is the theme of the old pagan gods, whose power lingers and can be ignited by carelessness (or indeed by carefulness). I liked the professor in this yarn, Carrington...I was amused when we caught him practising ancient rituals to appease the elder gods. I was delighted when he was of use against The Dark Side at the thrilling and suspense-filled finale. The deconsecrated church was utterly creepy...perhaps because it was where it was, in a place on the boundaries of the spiritual plane. Atmospherically, this story was dark, menacing, and addictive...very well done indeed!
This was a marvelous book and I will place it on my "keep to re-read" shelf along with Cottam's other supernaturally-themed novels. The Memory of Trees is a masterpiece!
April 24, 2020
This is what I like most about Mr. Cottam's books: Amosphere, atmosphere, ATMOSPHERE. The setting is another character, often wholly unlikable, always unpredictable, and threatening enough for me to keep his books out of the bedroom...
Also, if, when you finish a book, you continue to mull it over in your mind for a day or two, or a week or more, then that's a keeper, a good'un, one you might want to re-read later.
The story: a man is asked to reforest an entire swatch of Welsh countryside-seaside for a very wealthy man with only a short time to live. Yes, he wants this entire, somewhat barren area - stretching miles in all directions - to look just as it did about 1,000 years ago. When Tom Curtis, a noted tree-expert, says yes, he has no bloody awful terrible idea what he's getting into...
This is a premise in many similar books - or books of horror, and thrillers, etc. Someone says YES when they really ought to have said NO. We readers might get it, even it takes a little while, but all you can do is keep reading to find out what...happens...next...
Some reviewers have claimed there are 'too many characters,' but I found them distinct enough to keep track of. (Sometimes I keep a little cue-card to do so; didn't need to here.) Cottam has a knack for creating characters I seldom see elsewhere. A woman who is gorgeous, who you know every man wants to...but it doesn't happen! Another one who you learn later really isn't all she seems, well that's a usual trope, but in this case I didn't see it coming! (Me, reader of 1,000s of books. You'd think I have a clue.) I love the fact he can sprinkle in these kind of spooky characters who later turn out to be...
Well, not all of them are spooks! Anyhow, the book moves right along, with details about the planting of this giant forest, with full-size, mature trees. I had no idea this could really be done until I saw a neighbor, at my second house on the Cape, do just this thing! One day no tree, next day a gigantic magnolia - and I mean a BIG one. My family was like what the heck? Did that grow overnight? (It sheds all over the yard now.)
Back to story, there are inter-relationships which are complex, a backstory which is compelling, an 'expert' who comes along to explain things yet he's not excessive as some experts in some books often are. There's also an old centuries-old church on the property and this horrible thorny bush, which...
Well, if you want a different kind of creepy story, with a forest that's not as perfect and benign as one might think, this is the perfect read. Just remember...
ATMOSPHERE.
Five stars.
Also, if, when you finish a book, you continue to mull it over in your mind for a day or two, or a week or more, then that's a keeper, a good'un, one you might want to re-read later.
The story: a man is asked to reforest an entire swatch of Welsh countryside-seaside for a very wealthy man with only a short time to live. Yes, he wants this entire, somewhat barren area - stretching miles in all directions - to look just as it did about 1,000 years ago. When Tom Curtis, a noted tree-expert, says yes, he has no bloody awful terrible idea what he's getting into...
This is a premise in many similar books - or books of horror, and thrillers, etc. Someone says YES when they really ought to have said NO. We readers might get it, even it takes a little while, but all you can do is keep reading to find out what...happens...next...
Some reviewers have claimed there are 'too many characters,' but I found them distinct enough to keep track of. (Sometimes I keep a little cue-card to do so; didn't need to here.) Cottam has a knack for creating characters I seldom see elsewhere. A woman who is gorgeous, who you know every man wants to...but it doesn't happen! Another one who you learn later really isn't all she seems, well that's a usual trope, but in this case I didn't see it coming! (Me, reader of 1,000s of books. You'd think I have a clue.) I love the fact he can sprinkle in these kind of spooky characters who later turn out to be...
Well, not all of them are spooks! Anyhow, the book moves right along, with details about the planting of this giant forest, with full-size, mature trees. I had no idea this could really be done until I saw a neighbor, at my second house on the Cape, do just this thing! One day no tree, next day a gigantic magnolia - and I mean a BIG one. My family was like what the heck? Did that grow overnight? (It sheds all over the yard now.)
Back to story, there are inter-relationships which are complex, a backstory which is compelling, an 'expert' who comes along to explain things yet he's not excessive as some experts in some books often are. There's also an old centuries-old church on the property and this horrible thorny bush, which...
Well, if you want a different kind of creepy story, with a forest that's not as perfect and benign as one might think, this is the perfect read. Just remember...
ATMOSPHERE.
Five stars.
August 11, 2016
I marvel at authors who can transform mundanities into atrocities. Axe-wielding murderers, spiky-jawed sharks, rabidly hungry wolves: these are everyday horrors, implicitly terrifying. But trees? What horror writer would ever endeavor to make trees—those limbed and leafy things we know from birth and walk beneath daily—as frightening as a deranged killer? Stephen King did it with the Overlook’s Hotel topiary animals in The Shining and F.G. Cottam does it here in The Memory of Trees.
He certainly creates an eerie atmosphere as the ill-fortuned protagonist replants an ancient Welsh forest, a well-intentioned act that awakens a centuries dormant curse. Among the yews and the elms and the willows, a decidedly malignant horror stirs, and it is this slow progression of evil that makes the novel quite the page-turner. Plotwise, I have very little to complain about. I found the ending underwhelming, but that's expected. Horror novels normally revel in the exposition, the descent into madness, not the climax. I absolutely loved how Cottam chose to base the origins of the curse in medieval mythology. In fact, I would have preferred even more exploration of the history of the forest and its horrors.
What I appreciated less, however, was the writing. There are too many simple sentences and the dialogue is something awful. Particularly tiresome is Saul Abercrombie, the main character who desires to restore the forest, who frequently calls his hired arborist, “Tree Man”, and at the age of 70+ seriously uses phrases like “fucking cool” and “simpatico.” The lack of authenticity in the dialogue may derive from the weak characters who never feel real. They never seem to be anything other than players in a drama who have a role to fulfill. The writing is poorly worded to the point where some sentences require multiple readings before becoming comprehensible. For instance” “he did not delude himself he would enjoy the protection he did from the trivial nuisance Isobel Jenks had become when that confrontation occurred.” A few more thats and a few less sentence modifiers tacked on would have helped me decipher that monstrosity.
In spite of those misgivings, I enjoyed The Memory of Trees. I’m becoming convinced that horror is one of the hardest genres to write. Scary is scary—anyone with a word processor can do it. But to create a horror novel with a well-established backstory and an ingenious vector of terror? Well that’s rare and should be applauded.
He certainly creates an eerie atmosphere as the ill-fortuned protagonist replants an ancient Welsh forest, a well-intentioned act that awakens a centuries dormant curse. Among the yews and the elms and the willows, a decidedly malignant horror stirs, and it is this slow progression of evil that makes the novel quite the page-turner. Plotwise, I have very little to complain about. I found the ending underwhelming, but that's expected. Horror novels normally revel in the exposition, the descent into madness, not the climax. I absolutely loved how Cottam chose to base the origins of the curse in medieval mythology. In fact, I would have preferred even more exploration of the history of the forest and its horrors.
What I appreciated less, however, was the writing. There are too many simple sentences and the dialogue is something awful. Particularly tiresome is Saul Abercrombie, the main character who desires to restore the forest, who frequently calls his hired arborist, “Tree Man”, and at the age of 70+ seriously uses phrases like “fucking cool” and “simpatico.” The lack of authenticity in the dialogue may derive from the weak characters who never feel real. They never seem to be anything other than players in a drama who have a role to fulfill. The writing is poorly worded to the point where some sentences require multiple readings before becoming comprehensible. For instance” “he did not delude himself he would enjoy the protection he did from the trivial nuisance Isobel Jenks had become when that confrontation occurred.” A few more thats and a few less sentence modifiers tacked on would have helped me decipher that monstrosity.
In spite of those misgivings, I enjoyed The Memory of Trees. I’m becoming convinced that horror is one of the hardest genres to write. Scary is scary—anyone with a word processor can do it. But to create a horror novel with a well-established backstory and an ingenious vector of terror? Well that’s rare and should be applauded.
November 5, 2014
F. G. Cottam never ceases to amaze and delight me. Somehow Cottam managed to write an intriguing and sometimes spooky story about creating a forest. And not even a forest featuring old creepy trees -- just plain old trees . What I love about Cottam and is plain in this novel is how he treats the supernatural as natural. For example, having the ghost of your dead mom just sort of pop up for a chat seems perfectly plausible -- it's a neat trick. This book is not his best, in my opinion, but like his others it is incredibly well-written and entertaining.
August 8, 2018
I love a good horror story. And Francis Cottam is one of my favorites. He can take something like a bunch of trees, and turn it into a dark, moody, chill creating story. He is not a blood and guts in your face horror writer, he creates nightmares. This story revolves around a rich, dying man who wants to renew a forest on a great piece of property on the coast of Wales, which had become barren. What sounds like a wonderfully selfless idea soon turns into anything but. I love Francis' writing style, which is beautiful. The plot was well done, and his characters were believable. As strange as the tale was, it felt so believable that I found myself googling various aspects. Francis, I have your next book on order, and have read all your others!
October 18, 2023
2 stars--it was OK. I liked the idea behind this book's plot (the old ways, ancient monsters, ancient magic), but the execution wasn't very good. Very slow with unnecessary characters, awful portrayals of women, and a climax that lasted about two pages.
December 22, 2013
F. G. Cottam's The Memory of Trees is definitely better than just three stars but not quite a four. The pacing is stunted and the action slowly driven. The main characters are hard to bond with and you are not so sure you are wanting them to win as much as you want the villain to win even less. What it does have and what makes it so intriguing; is story. This is a well developed and written story. In fact, in my opinion, could have been developed and built upon even more. Spanning centuries in its scope and blending science and mythology, Cottam's The Memory of Trees is as moving in story as it is unsettling.
...Yes, you honoured the old gods. They had known that in the ancient world. Even when the sum of human knowledge had been compiled in the library of Alexandria, When the answers to every possible question had been within reach of the scholars there, they had remembered in ancient times the oldest and most universal rule: if you wish to survive and prosper, you honour the gods...
Eccentric billionaire Saul Abercrombie has decided to do something quite radical on a remote strip of land on Welsh coast. He plans to restore the ancient forest that once ruled the land. It will be a grand undertaking that will leave his mark on this land long after he is gone. To help him he hires the young scientist Tom Curtis. Tom sees this as a last opportunity to win back his family and cement his reputation in his own field.
However Abercrombie is keeping a truth of this barren land from Curtis. A truth of an ancient evil once defeated that is binding its time to return. A forgotten power, that if restored, may heal Abercrombie from the disease that is ravaging his body. An evil, that craves the forgotten forest to live again.
The Memory of Trees is a story that spans the dawn of time to medieval battles to modern day horror. It creeps along, sometimes a little too slowly with the twists that are coming easily seen, but steadily it does build. Until the end where our heroes, flawed and weak as they are, face down the evil that awaits them.
A good read.
...Yes, you honoured the old gods. They had known that in the ancient world. Even when the sum of human knowledge had been compiled in the library of Alexandria, When the answers to every possible question had been within reach of the scholars there, they had remembered in ancient times the oldest and most universal rule: if you wish to survive and prosper, you honour the gods...
Eccentric billionaire Saul Abercrombie has decided to do something quite radical on a remote strip of land on Welsh coast. He plans to restore the ancient forest that once ruled the land. It will be a grand undertaking that will leave his mark on this land long after he is gone. To help him he hires the young scientist Tom Curtis. Tom sees this as a last opportunity to win back his family and cement his reputation in his own field.
However Abercrombie is keeping a truth of this barren land from Curtis. A truth of an ancient evil once defeated that is binding its time to return. A forgotten power, that if restored, may heal Abercrombie from the disease that is ravaging his body. An evil, that craves the forgotten forest to live again.
The Memory of Trees is a story that spans the dawn of time to medieval battles to modern day horror. It creeps along, sometimes a little too slowly with the twists that are coming easily seen, but steadily it does build. Until the end where our heroes, flawed and weak as they are, face down the evil that awaits them.
A good read.
January 31, 2020
Great premise, I really liked the idea of the story - replant an ancient forest and then be attacked by an ancient evil that gains power with the rise of that forest. How fantastic!
Sadly the execution leaves much to be desired, for me. I was mostly bored, didn't feel any real dread or anything similar, not even really suspense. And honestly it was, imo, sexist which I found annoying and distracting and detracting. Every woman is gorgeous, of course, and every character is seemingly on the hunt for sex with each of the other characters. The women all hate each other, or at the least dislike each other and are jealous of each other and think catty and bitchy things about each other. Because of course. We women do all hate each other don't we? Ugh. Even the antagonist is female, although of course being not quite human her gender isn't really real - but still she is a woman, just like all other notable evil creatures like Eve and Medusa. The infidelity of the main male character isn't his fault and his ex is just a bitch keeping his daughter away from him for no reason and how dare she do that, but isn't that what all women do to the poor innocent men?
Yeah, no, just no.
The premise was so good too, I would love to read a good version of this idea.
Sadly the execution leaves much to be desired, for me. I was mostly bored, didn't feel any real dread or anything similar, not even really suspense. And honestly it was, imo, sexist which I found annoying and distracting and detracting. Every woman is gorgeous, of course, and every character is seemingly on the hunt for sex with each of the other characters. The women all hate each other, or at the least dislike each other and are jealous of each other and think catty and bitchy things about each other. Because of course. We women do all hate each other don't we? Ugh. Even the antagonist is female, although of course being not quite human her gender isn't really real - but still she is a woman, just like all other notable evil creatures like Eve and Medusa. The infidelity of the main male character isn't his fault and his ex is just a bitch keeping his daughter away from him for no reason and how dare she do that, but isn't that what all women do to the poor innocent men?
Yeah, no, just no.
The premise was so good too, I would love to read a good version of this idea.
February 5, 2016
I read The Colony, which I greatly enjoyed and was intrigued by the blurb of this one. I'm 70% in and quite enjoying it.
I'll update when done.
Finished.
I didn't enjoy this as much as The Colony, but I did finish it. I found the amount of suspension of disbelief I had to do rather off-putting. I'm all for creepy supernatural events being woven into otherwise normal-life novels, but characters have to respond appropriately. If a tree spontaneously grows over night, I'd expect a little more reaction than anyone in this book gave. Huh. Big tree. Wasn't there yesterday. I mean, seriously? The end was a bit of an anti-climatic non-event too.
But for all that, this is a readable book and if you like spooky stuff and tree hugging then you might enjoy this.
I'll update when done.
Finished.
I didn't enjoy this as much as The Colony, but I did finish it. I found the amount of suspension of disbelief I had to do rather off-putting. I'm all for creepy supernatural events being woven into otherwise normal-life novels, but characters have to respond appropriately. If a tree spontaneously grows over night, I'd expect a little more reaction than anyone in this book gave. Huh. Big tree. Wasn't there yesterday. I mean, seriously? The end was a bit of an anti-climatic non-event too.
But for all that, this is a readable book and if you like spooky stuff and tree hugging then you might enjoy this.
March 9, 2020
Another enjoyable and creepy tale from F G Cottam. My taste in horror novels may be quite limited, but I have an endless appetite for themes of nature and pagan mythology in my horror genre selections. Cottam delivers that and although I am not a completist I may end up reading all of this author's work.
January 2, 2021
Great atmosphere but characters? All women are horny for Mc and hate each other. All guys a jealous of Mc. Mc doesn't know how hot he is. Mc's ex wife who divorced him bc he cheated is characterized as an unreasonable vindictive bitch. All characters react to magical happening in a way that implies they pop tranquilizers like candy.
May 17, 2016
Another great read from this author. I always feel swept away to a time and place in a strange world when reading this authors stories. They are always full of secrets, mysticism and wickedly dreadful things.
April 11, 2017
What a wonderfully original story! Great plot and the narration was wonderful.
April 12, 2019
This was a great addition to the niche sub genre known as Folk Horror.
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie wants to create a fully grown forest on his land for mysterious reasons of his own that have little to do with ecology or reforestation. Tom Curtis is the specialist hired to oversee the project. Tom is recovering from the break down of a relationship which he inexplicable instigated, and there are secrets in his past of which he is unaware. And beneath it all is the memory of the forest of Mourning and a sinister presence that has no love for mankind and wants its rightful domain returned.
This was wonderfully atmospheric and chilling (to most normal people I assume). I enjoyed the interweaving of folklore, legend and history. The supernatural subplot enhanced and reflected the main plot as all good gothic horror/ ghost stories should.
The end didn't quite land for me. I could see what Cottam was going for but it felt too abrupt. However I still enjoyed every minute of this creepy book.
Billionaire Saul Abercrombie wants to create a fully grown forest on his land for mysterious reasons of his own that have little to do with ecology or reforestation. Tom Curtis is the specialist hired to oversee the project. Tom is recovering from the break down of a relationship which he inexplicable instigated, and there are secrets in his past of which he is unaware. And beneath it all is the memory of the forest of Mourning and a sinister presence that has no love for mankind and wants its rightful domain returned.
This was wonderfully atmospheric and chilling (to most normal people I assume). I enjoyed the interweaving of folklore, legend and history. The supernatural subplot enhanced and reflected the main plot as all good gothic horror/ ghost stories should.
The end didn't quite land for me. I could see what Cottam was going for but it felt too abrupt. However I still enjoyed every minute of this creepy book.
October 7, 2024
I love this book!
The premise is great; the rewilding of a remote Welsh coastal estate unleashes the force of an ancient malevolent being!
The characters are meaty, the pacing is just right, the tension and unease build and the story unfolds with increasing horror.
It is highly entertaining and imaginative. A 5 star enjoyable horror/supernatural romp.
The premise is great; the rewilding of a remote Welsh coastal estate unleashes the force of an ancient malevolent being!
The characters are meaty, the pacing is just right, the tension and unease build and the story unfolds with increasing horror.
It is highly entertaining and imaginative. A 5 star enjoyable horror/supernatural romp.
June 29, 2021
“What it looked, he thought, was ancient. And malevolent. He shivered. There was something dismaying about the spot. Isolated places did sometimes feel desolate just after sunset, a feeling that was really just momentary grief in the person stranded in them for the light recently lost. It was probably a human instinct survived from prehistoric times, when primitive man was not confident when darkness fell that the sun would ever return.”
So very dark, moody, atmospheric! It’s that feeling you get when walking through the fog in the woods. It’s eerie and unsettling. The creep factor is strong here. But I still love a walk through the forest even though this depiction gives me pause.
So very dark, moody, atmospheric! It’s that feeling you get when walking through the fog in the woods. It’s eerie and unsettling. The creep factor is strong here. But I still love a walk through the forest even though this depiction gives me pause.
September 25, 2019
Meh. Not particularly creepy, and the writing was clunky. Too many characters, too many POVs, some of which we only get once.
September 22, 2014
I grew up with trees....lots and lots of trees. Cleveland is known as The Forest City for a reason. Despite the rusted out reputation the urban core of the city continues to endure, the Greater Cleveland area is ringed with a Metroparks system replete with trees. (This is known as The Emerald Necklace) Furthermore, I spent 14 years of my life living 20 miles east of the city on a tertiary -- and originally dirt -- road known as "Forest Lane". Our home was overshadowed by old growth trees...maple, beech, cottonwood, elm, and poplar. Shade and shadow were everywhere...even on the hottest of summer days. Large patches of the back yard were perpetually covered in moss. I spent many hours alone in the woods in the back of the house, mainly just sitting and thinking. In autumn the place was post card gorgeous. We raked piles of multicolored leaves by the hundreds each October. Yet there was an underlying feel of forboding; a scrape of a branch against a window at night, a shadow that appeared to move from behind a trunk just off to the periphery, the crack of a stick or twig behind you as you walked alone, the screech of an owl in the pitch black night as you scurried up the driveway after being dropped off from a night out with friends. I love trees. They are stately and lovely and essential to our well being. - - But yes, I can view them with dread.
F. G. Cottam has created a nightmare in a forest and the first half of this book is evocative and convincingly weird and chilling. This is a perfect autumn read. The plot surrounds a dying billionaire named Saul Abercrombie and his astounding and egomaniacal plan to re-forest a large vacant piece of land he owns along a remote coastal area in Wales. He contacts an arborist named Tom Curtis to manage this incredible project -- a complete reversion to the Medieval forest that once stood there. Curtis is somewhat dubious about the 'rock star personality' of his new employer and the over-reaching scope of the project. However Curtis has issues in his personal life which make it imperative that he earn more money than someone of his arcane specialization would typically pocket. He takes on the job.
Immediately, Curtis feels an unnatural and repugnant quality to the mainly empty lands he has been asked to transform. In an ancient and deserted church located on Abercrombie's holdings, Curtis discovers a shocking reverberation to the distant past...a connection that is uncanny and deeply unsettling. Further exploration of the property reveal more signals that this is an area to flee.
Luckily for us, Curtis does no such thing. And, like all good horror story protagonists, he barges head first into the plot.
We are introduced to Abercrombie's daughter, his 'go-to guy' (an ex con named Sam Freemantle), and, eventually, two of Curtis's hand picked arboreal colleagues. As the characters settle into this darkly enchanted and dangerous place, things begin to get weirder and weirder.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. However, I believe the narrative was rather rushed in the second half. I would have enjoyed seeing the character of the professor more developed. His presence, though vital, was too brief. I also think the flow would have benefited from more of a back story with the Crawley Family and their experiences on the same property back in Victorian times. In other words, this was a good story and I wanted a bit more of it. I enjoy stories with multiple time lines and I believe there could have been a more thorough inter-connection of the Saxon, Victorian, and Modern story arcs.
Thus I rate this my more typical 3 star ("I liked it") rather than a more effusive 4 star ("really liked it"). I will check into this author's other work. The Memory of Trees was enough of a hook to get me interested.
F. G. Cottam has created a nightmare in a forest and the first half of this book is evocative and convincingly weird and chilling. This is a perfect autumn read. The plot surrounds a dying billionaire named Saul Abercrombie and his astounding and egomaniacal plan to re-forest a large vacant piece of land he owns along a remote coastal area in Wales. He contacts an arborist named Tom Curtis to manage this incredible project -- a complete reversion to the Medieval forest that once stood there. Curtis is somewhat dubious about the 'rock star personality' of his new employer and the over-reaching scope of the project. However Curtis has issues in his personal life which make it imperative that he earn more money than someone of his arcane specialization would typically pocket. He takes on the job.
Immediately, Curtis feels an unnatural and repugnant quality to the mainly empty lands he has been asked to transform. In an ancient and deserted church located on Abercrombie's holdings, Curtis discovers a shocking reverberation to the distant past...a connection that is uncanny and deeply unsettling. Further exploration of the property reveal more signals that this is an area to flee.
Luckily for us, Curtis does no such thing. And, like all good horror story protagonists, he barges head first into the plot.
We are introduced to Abercrombie's daughter, his 'go-to guy' (an ex con named Sam Freemantle), and, eventually, two of Curtis's hand picked arboreal colleagues. As the characters settle into this darkly enchanted and dangerous place, things begin to get weirder and weirder.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. However, I believe the narrative was rather rushed in the second half. I would have enjoyed seeing the character of the professor more developed. His presence, though vital, was too brief. I also think the flow would have benefited from more of a back story with the Crawley Family and their experiences on the same property back in Victorian times. In other words, this was a good story and I wanted a bit more of it. I enjoy stories with multiple time lines and I believe there could have been a more thorough inter-connection of the Saxon, Victorian, and Modern story arcs.
Thus I rate this my more typical 3 star ("I liked it") rather than a more effusive 4 star ("really liked it"). I will check into this author's other work. The Memory of Trees was enough of a hook to get me interested.
September 4, 2013
We have a collective unease when it comes to deep forests and that unease has pervaded our storytelling world for a long time. From Hansel and Gretel abandoned in the woods to Dorothy's trek with her companions to the simple stories of British highwaymen, we've been preconditioned to prefer open space. With that mindset, I anticipated a good scary tale in The Memory of Trees. Alas, it didn't quite pan out that way.
The idea of megalomaniacal men trying to manipulate sorcery to obtain good health or immortality is not a new idea and it's a serviceable motive for Saul Abercrombie's desire to rebuild a vast forest on his land but I found his total disregard for what might happen to his daughter rather unlikely. Even more so was everyone's lack of serious alarm when confronted with abnormal and threatening situations. As an example, Tom Curtis and Sam Freemantle go to a location called Gibbet Mourning where they observe something that is undeniably menacing and actually begins to "rustle and shiver" and make sighing noises when Sam approaches it. Should I find myself in such a scenario, I'd run for the nearest collection of people and hide in a dark corner but Sam and Tom calmly talk about hauntings and agree that they don't like the place. That's it. That's also pretty unbelievable.
The growing malevolence is made very obvious but, somehow, it didn't really make much of an impact on me, possibly because the cast of characters is too big and too widespread, making it a little difficult to remember exactly who they are. If you can't connect with a character, it's hard to really care about what happens to them. When very strange things begin to occur with the plantings, there's little reaction beyond noting the strange things.
That lack of reaction to practically everything that goes on in this story is essentially why it didn't work for me because it meant there was no real tension. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for The Memory of Trees, I enjoyed Mr. Cottam's style and obvious ability to write and will try something else by him. I do think other readers would enjoy this book more if they take logic and normal human behavior out of it and just read it as a tale of ancient evil come to life.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2013.
The idea of megalomaniacal men trying to manipulate sorcery to obtain good health or immortality is not a new idea and it's a serviceable motive for Saul Abercrombie's desire to rebuild a vast forest on his land but I found his total disregard for what might happen to his daughter rather unlikely. Even more so was everyone's lack of serious alarm when confronted with abnormal and threatening situations. As an example, Tom Curtis and Sam Freemantle go to a location called Gibbet Mourning where they observe something that is undeniably menacing and actually begins to "rustle and shiver" and make sighing noises when Sam approaches it. Should I find myself in such a scenario, I'd run for the nearest collection of people and hide in a dark corner but Sam and Tom calmly talk about hauntings and agree that they don't like the place. That's it. That's also pretty unbelievable.
The growing malevolence is made very obvious but, somehow, it didn't really make much of an impact on me, possibly because the cast of characters is too big and too widespread, making it a little difficult to remember exactly who they are. If you can't connect with a character, it's hard to really care about what happens to them. When very strange things begin to occur with the plantings, there's little reaction beyond noting the strange things.
That lack of reaction to practically everything that goes on in this story is essentially why it didn't work for me because it meant there was no real tension. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for The Memory of Trees, I enjoyed Mr. Cottam's style and obvious ability to write and will try something else by him. I do think other readers would enjoy this book more if they take logic and normal human behavior out of it and just read it as a tale of ancient evil come to life.
Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, August 2013.
February 5, 2015
I'm going to write a more in-depth review for my own blog, but I'm just going to give a Cliff Notes version here.
I had high hopes for this book. It seemed creepy and atmospheric, and gave us a good mystery. But the characters were underdeveloped, we were told a lot of things about them but never shown (most egregious example: a characters thinks about how she sensed something wrong in an earlier scene, but she never thought that at all in the scene itself), and the only interesting character is the stereotypical ex-hippie. Cottam seems to set up a lot of plot points and then lets them drop in favor of rushing on to the end.
The strangest thing about this book is that, of the female characters shown, every one of them is motivated by Tom Curtis in some way. They have no motivations of their own (except for Francesca, but her motives center around her father, then expand to include Tom Curtis). Even the villain's actions center around Tom Curtis. A strong, muscle-bound character is inexplicably jealous of Tom Curtis. It's like I'm reading a male version of Bella Swan, right down to being two dimensional and bland.
It's a mildly entertaining book, but certainly not one I would have chosen if I had known it was going to be like this.
I had high hopes for this book. It seemed creepy and atmospheric, and gave us a good mystery. But the characters were underdeveloped, we were told a lot of things about them but never shown (most egregious example: a characters thinks about how she sensed something wrong in an earlier scene, but she never thought that at all in the scene itself), and the only interesting character is the stereotypical ex-hippie. Cottam seems to set up a lot of plot points and then lets them drop in favor of rushing on to the end.
The strangest thing about this book is that, of the female characters shown, every one of them is motivated by Tom Curtis in some way. They have no motivations of their own (except for Francesca, but her motives center around her father, then expand to include Tom Curtis). Even the villain's actions center around Tom Curtis. A strong, muscle-bound character is inexplicably jealous of Tom Curtis. It's like I'm reading a male version of Bella Swan, right down to being two dimensional and bland.
It's a mildly entertaining book, but certainly not one I would have chosen if I had known it was going to be like this.
August 12, 2013
A brilliant story of historical supernatural events involving an environmental work of grandiose proportions. Really easy read and thoroughly enjoyable in it's scare factor!
When a billionaire entrepreneur is told he has terminal cancer he enlists arboreal specialists to realize his dream of replanting his land. Based on information he has from research into how his estate used to look he drafts in Tom Curtis, an expert into redeveloping areas of this size.
On his arrival to the Pembrokeshire coastal estate, Tom stumbles upon an old church site which has a stained glass window of a remarkable likeness to himself. Hearing more abut the folklore of the estate and ancient woodland he is about to re-cultivate, Tom becomes aware of the suspiciously dark atmosphere surrounding the site.
As the re-planting continues Tom and his crew become increasingly aware that things have taken a mystical bearing and the team slowly start to disappear without reason.
It seems the repopulating of the estate to it's historical start has awakened an evil that previously had no hold or cause. Tom realizes he needs help to fight the darkness that's increasingly taking over.
When a billionaire entrepreneur is told he has terminal cancer he enlists arboreal specialists to realize his dream of replanting his land. Based on information he has from research into how his estate used to look he drafts in Tom Curtis, an expert into redeveloping areas of this size.
On his arrival to the Pembrokeshire coastal estate, Tom stumbles upon an old church site which has a stained glass window of a remarkable likeness to himself. Hearing more abut the folklore of the estate and ancient woodland he is about to re-cultivate, Tom becomes aware of the suspiciously dark atmosphere surrounding the site.
As the re-planting continues Tom and his crew become increasingly aware that things have taken a mystical bearing and the team slowly start to disappear without reason.
It seems the repopulating of the estate to it's historical start has awakened an evil that previously had no hold or cause. Tom realizes he needs help to fight the darkness that's increasingly taking over.
December 1, 2013
Having now read three novels by F.G. Cottam, I think I am done; the last two (this title and The Colony) were disappointingly similar in the plethora of characters, the slow pace, and the unsatisfying ending. The many characters of Trees were especially uninteresting, in their subdued responses to the potentially rather creepy supernatural events that were happening to and around them. No one seemed terribly alarmed; some of them were just downright stupid. The whole thing just felt unlikely and not well thought out. I realize that "unlikely" is a hallmark of supernatural fiction, but a good writer takes the unlikely and makes it believable and frightening. Cottam just can't deliver.
October 23, 2015
Saul Abercrombie, a seemingly eccentric billionaire, had a project. He wants to undertake a complete reforestation on an island that is not exactly what it seems. While on the outside this looks like a wonderful philanthropic deed, Saul has ulterior motives for this task. He is hoping that once the trees are planted, the aliens will return. He calls in an expert in the field and Tom, desperate for money agrees to take on the project.
But there is more going on here than meets the eye, which is what I love about Cottam's books. Things start off bleak and continue on to the Whoa! at the end. I look forward to more of one of my favorite authors next works!
But there is more going on here than meets the eye, which is what I love about Cottam's books. Things start off bleak and continue on to the Whoa! at the end. I look forward to more of one of my favorite authors next works!
January 27, 2016
The story was interesting enough but the style of writing or, perhaps more specifically, the editing left something to be desired. At times it was distracting. I like the element of legend and supernatural forces...it lent a new, fresh take on that which is to be feared in a thriller novel. Character development was adequate. The ending was very abrupt...When I read the first sentence on the last page, the story still had us steeped in the climax. There was a quick resolution and then the abrupt ending.
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