Official Review: The Immortal Tree by Scott Devon

[ciecheesemeister]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Immortal Tree" by Scott Devon.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Immortal Tree by Scott Devon is a re-imagining of the tale of Adam and Eve intermingled with creation stories from various ancient mythologies. The focal points of the story are a human-dragon hybrid who rules over a vast garden paradise, and a wondrous tree called Vivar that grows miraculous fruit. Anyone who eats the fruit of Vivar will be granted wisdom and eternal life. The garden is protected by two enormous snakes called Naga and Tiamat. The Dragon King reigns over the animals who reside in the garden.

The first humans dwell in the desert near the garden kingdom. They are called James and Lilith. One day while James is out working in the fields, Lilith goes into labor. She experiences complications. The Dragon King saves her life by giving her fruit from Vivar. Lilith gives birth to a son whom she names Jaaling. Jaaling is a good-natured and peaceful fellow, but his father is frustrated by his slow development. A few years later, Lilith gives birth to another son, whom the couple names Kahn. Kahn is quick-witted and inventive but bloodthirsty and cruel. He causes great trouble for animals and humans alike throughout the remainder of the story.

The thing I liked best about The Immortal Tree was its imaginative retelling of the well-known story of Adam and Eve intermingled with other mythologies. The result is a unique and thought-provoking tale. I looked forward to reading what came next every time I returned to the story. I also appreciated the fact that the story pointed out the problems with the historical mistreatment of women, who in both real-world and mythological contexts are abused, subjugated, raped, and treated as brood animals for men to do with as they see fit.

The thing I disliked most about the story was the fact that I do not think it was professionally edited. There were numerous small errors in the text, and, although the tale was compelling, it seemed unpolished. In its current form, I give The Immortal Tree three out of four stars. This could easily be a four-star story with professional editing.

I recommend The Immortal Tree to readers who are interested in mythology and who enjoy imaginative retellings of well-known myths. I do not recommend this book to readers who would be bothered by unpolished text or to more sensitive readers who might be upset by violence. The book contains several instances of violence including rape and murder, and it touches on disturbing subjects such as incest as well.

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The Immortal Tree
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[sirbobthewise]

While the errors in the text are unfortunate, it sounds like the author has an interesting idea here. Using well-known stories as a base and then spinning them a bit is very clever, but it isn’t something that everyone can do well. I’m glad to see that this author used a great deal of creativity, while also allowing the reader to still be able to see glimpses of the original story. Great review!

[Moh2]

Well, this one seems interesting. The plot seems complicated though. Thanks for the review.

[Gabrielle Sigaki]

The plot of this book seems to be pretty interesting, different, and unique. Some aspects of fantasy and supernatural that the author made brings a great premise. But I'm not interested in reading it, because of the great number of errors. Thanks for the great review!

[Muhereza Obedi]

I will read the book ,

[josh obayi]

The plot of this book is really interesting .It is also different and unique.The author brings it live by some scenes of humor and fantasy.I love reading this book..it's a nice book to read.

[NetMassimo]

Basically, it's an ancient story retold with a modern sensitivity, despite some brutal moments. With another round of proofreading it could be great. Thank you for your terrific review!

[Edwin Amah]

What a great way of developing a creative story from an existing one. Will love to read this book because I want to understand for myself the author's writing view. Excellent review.

[Barbie_sidhu]

great review. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Nisha Ward]

Reimagining the story of the Garden of Eden is an interesting take, as is mingling it with other mythologies. It's clear too that Jaaling and Kahn are based on Abel and Cain, so I can see how that might play out. It's a pity about the errors, though.

[Priyanka2304]

Creating another story out of a widely acknowledged one is a challenging task. Looking forward to seeing how the author has crafted the story to make it look different.