avalon

Judge A Book By Its Cover

Book Reviews and Synopses

T.A. BARRON

The Great Tree of AVALON

T.A. Barron. The Great Tree of Avalon. Philomel Books. New York, NY. 2004.

The Great Tree of Avalon is an inspiring, courageous story about an explorer traversing the arctic. A book that is rich with emotion and intrigue, The Great Tree of Avalon is sure to not disappoint.

The Great Tree of Avalon is about an explorer by the name of Samuel attempting to be the first to journey to the South Pole and back. Samuel brings with him ten men, sixteen dogs, a lot of food and other essentials with him to the supposed end of the world. On the way, Samuel meets many troubles. Overcoming each challenge, Samuel leads the men to victory, almost. When they cross the last mountain, trudge through the last lake, survive the last blizzard,victory is in sight. Suddenly, a shadow falls upon them. They turn around and face the most horrendous creature you can imagine. Samuel and his men fight to the last but are overpowered by the creature. As the creature comes in for the final kill, Samuel and some of his last men run away. Now lost in the frozen lands of Antarctica, Samuel and his men are walking the thin line between life and death.

Suddenly, like a mirage, a great tree appears before the tired exhausted men. They stumble towards the tree and to their great relief, the tree is not a hallucination of their tired minds. They rest for the night under the shelter of the tree. When they wake up, they are no longer in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica. They are in a fruit filled, abundant, tropical island. They are no longer resting under a fruitless tree, they are under a tree with overflowing abundance. Fruits are tumbling out of the tree from a seemingly endless supply. Samuel and his men are starved and help themselves to these fruits. It’s too good to be true!

Samuel begins to wonder where they are and try and find out. Suddenly, out of thin air, a saintly man appears. He tells them that if they ever want to see the place that they came from ever again, they must complete seven tasks. Samuel and his men agree, but they have no idea how hard these seven tasks really are. The tree of Avalon may have saved Samuel and his men, but everything comes at a cost. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

The Great Tree of Avalon is truly a great read. Sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats until the last page, The Great Tree of Avalon is sure to not disappoint. Recommended for readers 12+.

5 out of 5 stars.

Contributed by D.Zhu

May 9, 2013