What do you think?
Rate this book
The Talking Trees
51 pages, Paperback
Published November 20, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 6, 2025
Bryan Padelford’s The Talking Trees is a gentle, beautifully rendered novel that feels like a rediscovered classic, a pastoral fable for our modern, noisy age. It belongs to that cherished tradition of contemplative fiction where the natural world is not merely a setting, but a conscious, communicative character, offering its slow, patient wisdom to those willing to listen. This is a book that moves at the pace of growing roots and shifting sunlight, offering a profound sense of peace and a timely reminder of our intrinsic connection to the living earth.
The novel’s central conceit is its magic. In a secluded, ancient forest, the trees do speak, not in human words, but in sensations, memories held in rings of growth, and a deep, resonant knowing passed through mycelial networks and rustling leaves. Padelford brings this concept to life with remarkable skill, avoiding whimsy in favor of a grounded, almost ecological spirituality
The novel’s central conceit is its magic. In a secluded, ancient forest, the trees do speak, not in human words, but in sensations, memories held in rings of growth, and a deep, resonant knowing passed through mycelial networks and rustling leaves. Padelford brings this concept to life with remarkable skill, avoiding whimsy in favor of a grounded, almost ecological spirituality
Displaying 1 of 1 review